Same tasks, day in and day out? Certainly not a day in the life of a veterinarian.
Each dawn breaks with a new adventure, but it is equally filled with unexpected challenges that keep everyone on their toes.
Veterinarians have a lot to take care of, including scheduled surgeries from early morning to late at night, checkups, emergency referrals, follow-ups, check-ins, reviews, discharges, client communication, appointment management, referral discussions, business administration, and everything in between.
Oh, and hopefully eating lunch at some point!
The more veterinarians and staff at one hospital, the more operational complexity increases, creating a need for department-wide collaboration, streamlined efficiencies, and simply better ways of managing everything.
We can only manage what we can control, so when it comes to providing structure, predictability, automation and ease, technology and integrated veterinary solutions can make all the difference.
Integrated veterinary solutions = improved collaboration
At every step, collaboration is key. Efficient processes are required for a variety of tasks, whether you’re collecting records or transferring information from your receptionist to your veterinarian during consultations.
The good news is that there are a plethora of revolutionary and trending tools, such as telemedicine apps and veterinary software features, available to streamline your day-to-day operations.
Whether it’s advanced diagnostics or multiple apps being used to streamline and improve patient care, your veterinary software should be able to integrate with your current equipment and tools so that data can be more easily retrieved or exchanged. For instance, your software can facilitate an efficient workflow by importing lab results into medical history records and subsequent treatment plans.
By outlining all of your hospital's necessary workflows and using software that will make those workflows simpler, you can achieve true collaboration.
Collaboration contains effective communication and time-saving hacks. Whether it’s internal department communication or external conversations with referring veterinarians or clients, by using automated features such as Provet Cloud's “shared inbox," you can receive records directly into the patient's file and quickly email feedback with the click of a button, making referrals much easier.
Key veterinary efficiency tools for a busy hospital
In a 2022 study of 60 animal hospitals and veterinary practices, it was identified that ‘high efficiency’ practices enhance the quality of services, increase access to animal healthcare and build a healthier and stronger workforce.
The reality is that many veterinary practices and hospitals are struggling, particularly with the global veterinary shortage, cost of living crisis and mental health crisis. Over 50% of veterinarians are still reporting moderate to high level of burnout. One practice even describes their days as such:
“Vet technicians are much more than just animal nurses. They are part-time receptionists, laboratory technicians, anesthesiologists, pharmacy techs and janitors. There’s more to the job than what you see in the exam room, and yes, a lot of it involves poop...”
So, how do we create the ideal environment and the conditions for a more efficient, balanced hospital work/life?
We’ve already identified the collaboration component of it. Therefore, teamwork within the organization is just as important as collaboration with the referring vet and other outside parties. Your veterinary nurses might be looking to spend more time on patient care rather than time-consuming administrative tasks, so an efficiency gain might be to reduce the efforts in manual inputs, loading, consolidating, or extracting records.
Ultimately, veterinary efficiency tools are about making daily working life easier. At Provet Cloud, we’ve automated as many predictable workflows as possible to reach the same level of routine needed in a chaotic environment. Whether it’s adding items to an invoice or updating medical records, every tweak can make a tangible difference in reclaiming your time.
Leveraging the power of integrated client-patient management
Efficient client-patient management and striking a balance between business management and clinical duties are big parts of the puzzle when it comes to changing the face of veterinary hospital care.
To reach the ideal scenario of a sustainable, smooth-running, and efficient hospital operation, it’s wise to implement the following:
- Use proper triage mechanisms for identifying high-priority cases like a Digital White Board to get a bird's-eye view, track progress and next step actions.
- Ensure your teams have a quick patient history review in one page to facilitate easier decision-making and save time.
- Leverage or add in an efficient CRM to handle client communication with automated reminders, digital forms, estimates, payments, and more.
Overall, integrating these modules or veterinary tools are just a few of the examples that can optimize day-to-day affairs for your team, making it much easier for visibility, collaboration, and communication.
Practical takeaways
In revolutionizing veterinary care, technology really is an enabler. An easy win is to optimize existing infrastructure and here are three practical things you can do today to achieve efficiency:
- Evaluate and map out your existing processes or workflows: Check if your software facilitates these processes. It can be discussed or brainstormed with your technology providers.
- Review integrations: This is another key way to save time - do you have all primary integrations switched on with your current provider?
- Have open conversations with your staff: Ask them, based on their experience, if they think there’s anything to improve processes or help them do their job better.
As your team wraps up for the day and gets ready for the beautiful chaos at your hospital the following day, here's a reminder for more efficiency gains in general, put forth by best-selling author James Clear:
“Getting 1% better every day counts for a lot in the long-run.”
With the many hats veterinary staff may wear, that’s why small tweaks, pivots, and consistent 1% efforts can go a long way, especially when the job can be “sweaty, smelly, physically challenging, and emotionally draining,” but we know it’s equally rewarding and done for the love of animals.
