Veterinary teams face a number of time-consuming, energy-depleting challenges on any given day. Those challenges may range from inefficient systems and workflows to difficult pet owners, leading to longer hours, increased stress, and sometimes poorer patient outcomes.
This article will explore these challenges and offer solutions to be found in veterinary practice management software. Tools like built-in automations, and third-party integrations can be strategically deployed to address many of the challenges and lead to time-savings and a more productive, happier team.
Challenge #1: Missed or delayed appointments
Veterinary no-show rates have been increasing since the Covid pandemic.
Some quick math to illustrate the challenge: If your average transaction is $200 and your clinic experiences 400 no-shows per year, that amounts to ($200 x 400) $80,000 of lost revenue annually.
Solution #1: Veterinarian-specific automated appointment reminders
Choose a practice management platform – or connect with veterinary software integrations – that enable you to send automated appointment reminders via text message and email, reducing reliance on time-heavy telephone reminders.
On the client-facing side, integrated apps like AllyDVM or PetsApp give clients the ability to schedule or change appointments, request prescription refills, and view their pet’s health information – all from their phone.
Challenge #2: Poor in-clinic or new patient experience
Miscommunication or misunderstandings about any aspect of the patient experience can lead to negative online reviews. Studies show that 71% of pet owners use online reviews to help them choose a doctor or veterinarian.
Negative client reviews can hurt your business substantially: 27% will choose another veterinarian if they see a high proportion of one-star reviews.
Solution #2: Client education tools
Client education templates are one key to better in-clinic visits. For example, a new puppy visit client education template can include recommendations for a vaccine schedule, nutritious diet, reducing infectious disease risks, or scheduling wellness visits. Bonus tip: save precious time by integrating these templates into your veterinary practice management software – so you won’t have to re-write recommendations for each new patient.
Additionally, many client-facing apps include text chat features to triage issues, accept new patient registrations, and provide inpatient updates, which not only supports revenue growth but provides a more seamless means of communicating with clients.
Challenge #3: Low team morale and difficult clients
According to a University of Aberdeen study (published in the journal Veterinary Record), client incivility is a key stressor linked to increased anxiety and risk of burnout.
Rude clients damage team morale and increase your clinic’s absenteeism and turnover rates.
Solution #3: Veterinary software integrations that promote staff retention and patient satisfaction
Give clients an avenue to voice their feedback on your clinic’s services. It may seem risky, but using the Provet Cloud client feedback tool allowed Bury St. Edmonds Veterinary Centre to boost team morale and grow its practice. The clinic now has 3,700 clients, providing care for more than 6,000 beloved pets, and staff retention has been high.
Challenge #4: Missed charges and lost revenue
Are you still processing payments manually?
Missed charges typically represent a whopping 5-10% of lost revenue. If your clinic grosses $3 million a year, missed charges can mean $300,000 less in earnings.
Solution #4: Veterinary software automations
- Use item bundling when invoicing for common procedures, to avoid missed charges.
- Offer pet parents more flexibility in payments – like tokenized cards on file – to reduce errors and guarantee receipts of payment.
- Leverage veterinary software integrations like iVET360 to track revenue-to-expense ratios. If your ratio falls within a given period, it may suggest missed charges are torpedoing your bottom line.
- Integrate your veterinary practice software with your payment processor. Provet Cloud has partnered with Xero, so your payment processor receives each invoice total automatically.
Challenge #5: Inefficient workflows and systems
Consider these customer service statistics:
- 33% of customers hate having to repeat themselves
- 59% of customers believe that companies need to provide cutting-edge digital experiences to keep their business
More than 70% of consumers think companies should collaborate on their behalf so they don’t have to repeat information to different staff members
Solution #5: Practice management software integrations and automations
Streamlining workflows and providing personalized services will be key to keeping clients happy:
- Insurance: Provet Cloud integrates with pet insurance providers so you can easily send insurance claims on your client’s behalf.
- Telemedicine: Gen Z and millennial pet parents are the key demographics driving the rise in telemedicine. And, veterinarians are paying attention: the global veterinary telehealth market is set to expand at a 17.7% CAGR by 2034. Telehealth is a key service to consider if you’d like to attract more Gen Z and millennial clients.
- Digital client communications tools allow your clients to book appointments online and complete new patient forms before they step into your clinic.
- Staff scheduling integrations like Quinyx offer fully automated schedule optimization, allowing you to achieve nearly 100% scheduling accuracy to meet client demand. It does this by analyzing thousands of data points to anticipate peak and down times. It also allows shift swapping, so your staff members can approve and manage swap requests themselves in the app.
Challenge #6: Lack of business insights
Supposing you’ve noticed a growing number of cancellations at your clinic. But you have no idea why they’re occurring. So you speak to your front-office staff.
After several conversations, you suspect that wait times are too long for some types of care. However, you’re not sure which ones are leading the fall-off in numbers.
Because of this, you have little idea whether you should hire more internal medicine veterinarians, emergency care veterinarians, or another type of veterinarian.
A lack of business insights can negatively impact your clinic’s profit margin and reputation.
Solution #6: Practice management software that includes BI (business intelligence) tools
Provet Cloud comes with built-in BI, and it also integrates with popular solutions like Power BI or Tableau. With these tools you’ll gain a stronger financial picture and insights into productivity, clinic performance, and resource allocations.
Regardless of which Cloud BI platform you choose, be sure that it offers the following:
- Built-in reports to inform decision-making
- A 360-degree view of practice health so you can identify opportunities for improving care, increasing patient satisfaction, closing gaps in efficiency, and growing your practice
- Easy-to-use data visualization tools so you build dashboards from which you can glean insights, removing the need for outsourced business or data analysts.
It's time for a new veterinary workflow solution that works
Veterinary teams like yours face time-consuming, energy-depleting challenges every day. They lead to longer work days, increased stress, and poorer patient outcomes.
If you’re looking for veterinary software integrations and automations that deliver time savings, increased productivity, happier clients, and more revenue, you’re in the right place – and your timing couldn’t be better.
At Provet Cloud, our mission is to help you address logistical challenges, empower your staff, and ensure your success.
With Provet Cloud:
- You eliminate the guesswork of veterinary practice management.
- You enjoy significant growth potential with limited risk.
- You master the veterinary workflows that result in more clients and higher revenues.
To learn how Provet Cloud can solve your biggest challenges, click here for a free demo.
