Suzanne Cannon - starving for relationships in vet med

Suzanne Cannon co-founded VetBilling in 2014, after a $4000 emergency vet bill for her schnauzer’s pancreatitis catapulted her into the uncomfortable realization that many pet owners find themselves without accessible options for financing the cost of veterinary care.

After a yearlong quest to uncover the roots of the problem, VetBilling was born as a collaborative effort with her life and business partner, Tony Ferraro, whose 3 decades of experience in electronic payments and receivables management became the foundation upon which VetBilling was built.

The company’s mission is to keep pets and their families together, by reducing economic euthanasia and surrenders driven by pet owners’ frequent inability to absorb the upfront cost of acute, surgical, or emergency veterinary care.

To that end, VetBilling equips veterinary practices with a cloud-based payment management platform that enables them to provide in-house payment and budgeting plans to the approximately 60% of clients who fall into what Suzanne calls the “black hole” – they are ineligible for conventional credit-based financing, but their income is too high to qualify for charitable assistance.

Behind the scenes, VetBilling’s team of payment support specialists ensures that pet owners successfully fulfill their payment obligations by tracking and monitoring payments, and providing immediate, supportive interventions if a payment fails.

Representing VetBilling, Suzanne is an active participant in organizations and initiatives seeking to develop sustainable solutions to the problem of financial access to care. The company has sponsored events for the Access to Veterinary Care Coalition/Program for Pet Health Equity at UT Knoxville and the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association.

Suzanne has presented or contributed to panel discussions on the topic of financial access to care for Maddie’s Fund, Cornell University’s Center for Veterinary Business and Entrepreneurship, VetPartners, and the Veterinary Science Technology Program at SUNY-Delhi.

Suzanne holds an M.S. in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University of Maryland and an M.A. in Jewish Studies from Baltimore Hebrew University.

Owing to her prior professional background as a pastoral counselor and hospital chaplain, Suzanne is passionate about helping veterinarians and pet owners find ways to navigate financial discussions and identify workable payment solutions in an atmosphere of emotional safety.

Outside of VetBilling, Suzanne is a devoted dog and horse mom who loves being outdoors when she isn’t reading 5 books at the same time! She spends her free time at the barn caring for her horse Chase, or in the saddle hacking out across the woods and fields of central Maryland near her home in Westminster. She also enjoys exploring the rural landscape near the home that she and Tony share with their two dogs - Scout, an Otterhound, and Finch, a miniature schnauzer.