"Provet lets us focus on what we set out to do – building trust and real relationships with our clients, and being a practice that's truly part of the community."
When Katie Wain and her business partner Aisling McGrath first talked about opening a veterinary practice, it wasn’t in a clinic office or at an industry conference. “We met on the doorstep to the nursery, dropping our kids off one day,” Katie recalls. “We’d never worked together before, but we became friends and realized we both wanted to do something different.”
Both had worked in a mix of independent and corporate practices, and both felt there was room for a clinic built around community and traditional values. “We found ourselves wanting a practice that was truly community based, always going back to our relationships with clients,” Katie explains. “Because we’re asking them to make tricky decisions, and they need to be able to trust us. And to do that, they need to know us.”
That philosophy, together with a desire for independence and agility, became the foundation for Pear Tree Vets. “From past experience, I found that changes that could fix or improve a lot of things may take months going up the chain – and often never come back down again. We wanted to be able to make things happen quickly.”
Aisling McGrath (L) and Katie Wain (R) were inspired by a centuries-old pear tree when they named their practice.
A name with deep roots
The name “Pear Tree” wasn’t an accident. “We spent hours and hours agonizing over what to call ourselves,” Katie remembers. Inspiration finally struck with the story of the Cubbington pear tree – at one time the oldest pear tree in the UK, sadly felled for rail development. But the community had taken cuttings, which now grow around the area.
“It was sort of new growth, new shoots, but community-based,” says Katie. “That was exactly what we wanted. And we want to be as green as possible, so it fit with our ethos.” In their clinic today, a wooden pear carved from the original tree sits as a daily reminder of those values.
Choosing the right software from the start
While opening an independent clinic brought countless decisions, Katie and Aisling knew that selecting their practice management software had to come early. “It impacts so many other things – how you work, what you can integrate with,” she says.
Cloud-based access was a must. “We wanted to be able to access the system at home. Running the business, you do occasionally need to do that.” Reliability was another factor. “I’ve worked in places where the server would go down, and everything would grind to a halt. We haven’t had those issues with Provet.”
In the end, Provet’s integrations sealed the decision. “We loved the idea of using Digital Practice alongside it, sending clients pictures and really personalizing their journey. That factored hugely,” Katie says.
Other features stood out as well: a customizable diary view, integrated health plans, and Provet Pay. “Provet Pay has been huge for us. You just can’t make mistakes with the card machine, which makes life a lot easier.”
Getting started before day one
Pear Tree Vets didn’t wait until their official opening to put Provet to use. “We were able to set up client pre-registration before we opened, and we used the diary in a slightly adapted way for that,” Katie explains. “By the time we opened, we had 300 clients registered – and eight appointments on our very first day.”
Implementation support helped them make the most of that early start. “We worked with Jay, who was amazing. They spent three or four weeks with us, taking a lot of time to go through everything. They also introduced us to Provet Academy. It was really useful for us as owners to learn the technical side before staff came onboard.”
While the flexibility of the system sometimes meant multiple ways of doing the same task, Katie sees that as part of the adjustment. “Now we’re working on standardizing how we do things so everyone is consistent.”
Growing with the community
Today, Pear Tree Vets has more than 800 clients, and one of the keys to their success has been health plans. “We’ve got about 33% of our pets on plans,” Katie says. “We even offer a holistic plan that includes blood tests and fecal worm counts, so we’re not just treating routinely but being more conscientious.”
The plans not only provide preventive care but also strengthen the clinic’s relationship with clients. “Before we opened and were meeting people at events talking about Pear Tree, one of the first questions people asked was if we have a health plan. They appreciate being able to spread the cost. Having different options to suit different people and styles was really great.”
Clients have also embraced the online booking feature. “It’s so simple, and clients love it,” Katie says. “You see the emails start stacking up on a Sunday night for the next day’s appointments. It makes sense – people want to book on their own time, like I do with my dentist.”
The fruits of Pear Tree's labor
For Katie, the real success of Provet lies in how it helps them spend more time with patients and less time untangling admin. “Daily reconciliations take far less time now, and most things just tally,” she notes. “Having estimates built in is straightforward, and consolidated invoices make a huge difference.”
Reflecting on Pear Tree Vets’ journey so far, Katie sees Provet as an important part of their growth. “At the end of the day, it lets us focus on what we set out to do – building trust and real relationships with our clients, and being a practice that’s truly part of the community.”
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