As AI tools flood the pet care market, opinions are divided. Some veterinary professionals rave about time savings, decision support, client communication improvements and enhanced hospital operations. Others are disappointed by the accuracy of the results and remain skeptical. Many simply dread the changes and challenges introduced by artificial intelligence. So, how can veterinary practices cut through the noise and choose the right tool to meet their needs without ending up with another software no one uses?
Here are a few questions to answer.
Do I Need AI in My Practice?
Think about your daily activities — using voice assistants like Alexa to control smart home devices, picking a movie based on Netflix suggestions, shopping on Amazon, riding with Uber and turning to ChatGPT for party ideas. AI is involved in many aspects of our daily routines, helping with personal productivity and automating repetitive tasks. Could it also help you at work?
Here are a few common scenarios in which you can call on artificial intelligence:
- Complete SOAP notes.
- Review records from other DVMs.
- Serve as a medical scribe.
- Answer phone calls.
- Write client emails or personalized discharge notes.
- Assist with patient intake forms.
- Summarize documents to understand a patient’s complete history.
AI can fix efficiency issues. But with so many options available, choosing the right one for your practice is difficult.
How Do I Determine the Type of AI Software I Need?
Each AI technology is designed for a specific purpose, such as natural language processing or decision-making. AI solutions often leverage multiple pretrained models, which AI engineers further customize for particular tasks.
Start by identifying the pain points or inefficiencies in your hospital’s workflows. For instance, if your employees struggle with time-consuming documentation processes, a productivity tool like voice-to-text software could be beneficial. On the other hand, if your urgent care hospital cannot wait for an X-ray interpretation, a diagnostic tool such as AI-driven radiology software would be better.
How Do I Assess the Cost and Value?
AI tools with similar functionality can vary considerably in price. Create a checklist of features important to you and where you can compromise to optimize value. For example:
- The output’s accuracy and reliability. How quickly are the results delivered?
- The AI tool’s memory capacity. Can it handle brief interactions or more extensive conversations?
- Does the tool use your data solely to generate personalized outputs or to train its model? What are the implications for privacy and data ownership?
- Will it integrate with other systems?
- Is it multilingual?
- What is its ease of use, including the user experience, interface and intuitive navigation?
- Is it designed for veterinary medicine in general or a specific type of practice?
- How well does it organize data for later reports and analytics?
- Is it trained using general internet data or veterinary-specific sources and human experts?
- Where is your data stored? (Remember, if something is free, you might be the product.)
- How often is the software updated and new features introduced?
- What is the price structure — for example, per doctor, user or hospital?
- Are bundle discounts or a free trial available?
The goal is to decide which AI tool will best meet your needs and budget.
Is the Tool Tailored to Veterinary Medicine, and How Is It Learning?
The technology behind artificial intelligence and the training methods can significantly impact an AI tool’s effectiveness and relevance. Does it understand medical terminology? How up to date is the information it provides? Were veterinarians and specialists involved in the testing? While vendors are not obligated to disclose their secret sauce, the more they share, the more trust they build with you.
Generative AI is not static. The more you use it, the more it will adapt to your tone of voice and other preferences.
How Often Is the Software Updated?
AI technology changes every few months, and the software must keep pace. Ask the vendor for examples of recent new features and planned improvements. If the product was built a year ago and hasn’t seen any upgrades, that’s a red flag. Also, check whether the company regularly collects and acts on user feedback and feature requests.
Ultimately, curiosity about customer needs sets a great product apart.
Does It Integrate With My Existing Software?
Evaluate your software and hardware systems to ensure compatibility with a potential AI tool. Ideally, the new product must be natively built into your hospital’s software. That way, artificial intelligence accesses information about a specific client or case, requires less input, and provides personalized rather than hypothetical output.
Also, confirm that the tool integrates with your practice management software. For example, voice-to-text transcription is great, but it can be time-consuming to manually copy and paste the output into SOAP notes and juggle multiple tabs if it doesn’t communicate with your PIMS.
How Is My Data Protected?
Despite its significance, data protection is often the least discussed topic when someone purchases software or downloads an app. When conducting your research, ask about compliance with industry standards, General Data Protection Regulation or the California Consumer Privacy Act.
Inquire about data backup and recovery and access controls. Ask the AI company you are considering whether it has a department you can contact in a data emergency.
Is the Vendor Independent?
Whether the AI provider is independent might be the tiebreaker in your decision. Consider the company’s affiliations and where your inputs might travel. Ask about which data is collected, where it is kept, how long it is retained, and whether the vendor shares it with third parties. Ensure your data remains private and is used only for your intended purposes.
Ultimately, AI technology must work for you and not vice versa. Whichever tool you choose — whether for diagnostics, recordkeeping, client interactions or another purpose — should enhance your veterinary practice’s productivity and efficiency rather than complicate processes or add stress to your workday. The ideal tool must be intuitive, user-friendly and seamlessly integrated into your workflows. One of the best metrics to assess the effectiveness of an AI tool is the increase in team satisfaction.
ROOM FOR GROWTH
Digitail’s 2024 survey of artificial intelligence in veterinary medicine revealed that 38.7% of veterinary professionals are interested in incorporating AI tools into their practice in the near future. At the same time, 42.9% of respondents cited a lack of knowledge and training as a barrier to AI adoption. The survey responses highlight the dilemma that while significant interest in AI exists, knowing how to get started is a different story.