Best Veterinary Practice Management Software

What is Veterinary Practice Management Software?

Why Use Veterinary Practice Management Software?

Who Uses Veterinary Practice Management Software?

Kinds of Veterinary Practice Management Software

Aside from the different types of veterinary practices that exist (for example, equine, farm animal, and pet clinics all have significantly different clientele), practice management software can either be deployed in an on-premise server on in the cloud. While many veterinary practice management options are turning to the cloud for deployment (for ease of remote access, efficient communication with patients, and centralization of medical data), on-premise solutions continue to exist.

Server-Based — Server-based software requires installation on a physical server in a single location. Two benefits of on-premise solutions are 1) security over sensitive patient data and 2) the lack of reliance on an internet connection to work. While users do not need to worry about bandwidth limitations of server-based solutions, they do need to consider a specialist to deal with any technical issues or necessary backups that are required of an on-premise software.

Cloud-Based — Cloud-based software gets rid of the need of a physical server and any maintenance costs that go hand-in-hand with a physical server. Cloud-based software works well with veterinarians who are often traveling or meeting patients outside the office. Veterinarians can easily access and update patient files in real time from wherever they are.

Veterinary Practice Management Software Features

Veterinary practice management software helps veterinarians focus on delivering the best care to their patients by streamlining workflows, automating time-consuming tasks like sending out upcoming visit reminders and pulling lab results, and providing crucial data analytics regarding the state of the practice. Common software features include:

Health Records — Veterinary clinics must effectively manage and reference their patient records. They need to be able to record patient visits, delivery of care, lab test results, and any other patient data. Ease of access also helps veterinarians provide a better level of care to both their patients and their owners.

Automated Scheduling — Easy online or automated scheduling of patient appointments and veterinary staff benefit both veterinarian staff and clients. Manually scheduling appointments can be prone to human error and miscommunication. The automation of that appointment process results in a reduction of client wait-time and no-shows.

Billing and Invoicing — For any services rendered, veterinarians must send out invoices and then regularly reconcile any billing. Most veterinary practice management solutions offer built-in invoice and billing management and reporting functionality. If not, then they integrate easily with standard accounting solutions.

Customer Messaging and Communication — Aside from an easy-to-use appointment scheduling tool, client satisfaction increases when they are able to use a self-service portal to check on health records and their financial history with the practice. Additionally, veterinary practice management can equip veterinarians with methods of client communication, whether that’s a patient-facing portal, email newsletters, or text messaging.

Reporting — A veterinary practice’s clinical, administrative, and financial operations all benefit from the accurate reporting of its business activities. Veterinary practice management solutions that can generate a variety of reports on the performance of the practice equip the practice with actionable insight. A bonus reporting feature that benefits practices is simplified exporting and importing of data.

Additional Veterinary Practice Management Features

Integration with Labs — Lab test queries and results are often used by veterinary practices because veterinarians routinely run tests on their patients. Some practices host basic laboratory facilities, but even those may need to turn to a more comprehensive lab for more complex texts.

Integration with Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) — Veterinary practices that take X-rays or other digital images of their patients need ways to store them and synchronize them with third-party services when necessary.

Trends Related to Veterinary Practice Management Software

The growing competition within the veterinary industry space is resulting in an interesting slew of partnerships between established veterinary software companies. Additionally, software is evolving and offering new, more niche functionalities (like pharmacy management) that had been lacking. A few of the trends happening within the veterinary practice management space are:

Vet-Specific Pharmacy Management — Previously, when veterinary clinics prescribed medicine and compound drugs to their patients, both veterinarians and patients had to deal with a subpar pharmacy experience that paled in comparison to the kind of service offered to humans. Now, veterinary-specific pharmacy services are cropping up, offering better continuity of care, improved compliance, and increased convenience to clients. Veterinary pharmacy reference (VPR) tools and databases have evolved into existence, providing practices and pharmacies with accurate, up-to-date drug databases.

Open Data Exchange — The animal industry would benefit from a population health management tool. Veterinary practice management solutions streamline the process of storing and assessing both performance and patient data, and they also promote clinical communication. It makes sense, then, that the next step involves promoting clinical communication across veterinary practices and related services, in order to equip all veterinary practices and animal businesses with critical industry data in, for example, the mapping of chronic diseases.

Telehealth — Telemedicine is making its presence known in the veterinary industry, both as an alternative to visits from dispatched veterinarians and unnecessary clinic visits.

Potential Issues with Veterinary Practice Management Software

Steep Learning Curve — Learning how to best use a newly deployed veterinary practice management solution can be difficult. Veterinarians are extraordinarily busy, and they might already have their own, specific best practices that don’t necessarily line up with any new workflow processes or automation that can result from a new practice management software. Training may be required to ensure that all veterinary staff can best utilize the solution. If not, then they may need to lean on expert customer support. Both training possibilities and customer support options must be considered to make up for any resulting gaps that could potentially bottleneck operations.

Bulky Transition — Veterinary practices and animal hospitals that had previously been using other practice management systems (or none at all) must reconcile and transfer data when implementing a new system. That requires both an adjustment period for staff as well as a system that’s capable of transferring data smoothly and correctly.

Technology Updates — The whole point of investing in a veterinary practice management solution is to better anticipate and leverage any new technology that impacts the veterinary industry. If your chosen practice management solution cannot handle or support developments in veterinary software, then it cannot help your business provide your patients and clients satisfaction.

Software and Services Related to Veterinary Practice Management Software

Medical Practice Management — Medical practice management software optimizes and streamlines the operations of any health care organization, practice, or clinic. That includes veterinary practices and clinics. Medical practice management solutions support integration with third-party solutions that can fill in the gaps of any practice management functionality.

Livestock Management — Livestock management software monitors, tracks, and records livestock on a farm, which includes livestock breeding activity, feed costs, livestock sales metrics, and animal inventory. Veterinary practices span any animal population, including farm animals.

Kennel — Kennel software stores pet and client information, manages business performance information, and provides scheduling functionality for pet boarding and daycare businesses. Some of the more comprehensive veterinary practice management solutions offer boarding modules that simplify boarding management and scheduling.

Field Service Management — Field service management software manages the business activities of dispatched workers across industries. While the majority of field service businesses revolve around manufacturing, construction, and field sales, the veterinary and animal care industry also participates in field-service-related activities.