In most emergency practices, cost decides who gets treated. At East End it does not. That was the plan before the doors opened.
Case Study
How East End Animal Surgery & Urgent Care Captured $1.1M With Managed Payment Plans
“There’s never a time where I have that kind of weight on me; economic euthanasia is just not a problem here. I’m euthanizing things that really, really need to be euthanized. Not because of money. Because they have a poor prognosis even with treatment.”
Dr. Mackenzie Gallegos / Owner, DVM · East End Animal Surgery and Urgent Care
Dr. Mackenzie Gallegos
Owner, DVM
East End Animal Surgery & Urgent Care
Houston, TX
Companion Animal •
Surgical and Urgent Care
The Numbers
What the Numbers Say About East End Animal Surgery & Urgent Care
~90%
Revenue Collected On Time
Without VetBilling’s optional soft credit check feature.
1,300+
Managed Payment Plans Extended
Offered across every case type since the practice opened.
2022
Using VetBilling
Opened October 8, 2022, live with VetBilling from day one.
~7 mo.
Average Payback Period
The typical plan is paid off in about seven months.
Before VetBilling
What Wasn't Working
Dr. Gallegos did not bring VetBilling into a practice that already existed. The before here is the emergency career that came first.
In emergency practice, Dr. Gallegos describes routinely triaging cases by ability to pay: “You always have a dashboard you’re looking at and 10 things come in and you already know: I’m going to euthanize half of these or they’re going to leave without appropriate care just because of the cost.”
- Explored a buy now pay later app and credit-based tools before opening, but found them lacking: no follow-up, merchant fees, credit checks as a barrier to care
- Found VetBilling through a continuing education talk and built the practice around it before opening day
That is not a payment problem. That is a system problem. She opened East End to build the practice she could not find, and chose VetBilling before the doors opened because it was built for veterinary medicine rather than adapted to it.
“A patient would walk in and immediately I was like: they better have $10,000 or else we need to euthanize. And that was a really dark place to be.”
Dr. Mackenzie Gallegos / Owner, DVM · East End Animal Surgery and Urgent Care
The Shift
Putting VetBilling Into Practice
VetBilling launched practice-wide from day one, championed by the practice manager: “Everyone pays with payment plans. We should offer payment plans.”
- Offered across every case type from day one, not piloted in a single clinical area
- Monthly recurring payments began smoothing cash flow through slow months almost immediately
The proof was in who used it. Not clients delaying a payment they could have made. Clients with about $250 to their name, for whom the plan was the only reason the case moved at all.
“The monthly payment that’s coming in over time helps offset any closure or slow month. It kind of evens it out. So you’re not feeling the weight of the economy or whatever disaster is happening so much.”
Dr. Mackenzie Gallegos / Owner, DVM · East End Animal Surgery and Urgent Care
The After
What Changed After VetBilling
Three things changed for East End Animal Surgery & Urgent Care.
The Team
The Conversation Nobody Dreaded Anymore
Adoption has held since before opening: some staff have never practiced without VetBilling in place. It’s invisible infrastructure, not a special case reserved for hardship.
Pet Owner Trust
When There Was Finally Something to Offer
Payment plans are the first thing many pet owners know about the practice, and often the reason they call. Almost none of that came from advertising.
- Clients who have never set foot in the practice already know it offers payment plans
- Practice reputation built primarily through word of mouth, with little to no paid marketing
Doctor Confidence
What Cost No Longer Decides
In emergency medicine the reasoning runs: if the owner cannot fund the whole estimate, the prognosis is poor, so euthanasia is kinder. At East End the estimate is not what decides.
- Treatment recommendations no longer constrained to fit a client’s up-front budget
- Pricing reflects what the case requires, not what a client can pay today
Measurable Proof
From Story to Measurable Proof
These are the numbers a practice leader uses to close the conversation internally.
$1.1M
Revenue Generated Through VetBilling
In procedures delivered that might otherwise have been delayed or lost.
1,300+
Payment Plans Offered
Since partnering with VetBilling in October 2022.
86%
Payment Plan Success Rate
Plans repaid in full across the practice’s complete plan history, October 2022 through June 2026.
Because cost no longer dictates every recommendation, Dr. Gallegos and her team can recommend the treatment they believe is medically appropriate rather than the version that fits a client’s up-front budget.
“I didn’t open this practice to make money. I opened it because I spent years watching pets get euthanized for financial reasons, and I couldn’t accept that anymore. VetBilling is how we live those values every day.”
Dr. Mackenzie Gallegos / Owner, DVM · East End Animal Surgery and Urgent Care
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Let's Explore What Payment Flexibility Could Look Like in Your Practice
After you submit the form, we’ll contact you within one business day to schedule a 30-minute demo. We’ll walk you through how VetBilling-managed payment plans work in a practice like yours, so you can see how a structured approach to flexible in-house payment options helps more clients move forward with care while protecting your practice’s time, revenue, and client relationships.
You’ll walk away with a clear sense of whether VetBilling is the right fit for your practice, your clients, and the way you want to deliver care.