Veterinary practices are sometimes hesitant to implement change. Despite increasing specialization and patient care advances that rival human medicine, the steps required to set up new technology can seem overwhelming. But, with increasing client demand, the time to institute new efficiencies and client-friendly technology is now. Veterinary practices should adapt to ever-changing client needs — or risk being left behind in the technological wake.
This article is sponsored by MWI Animal Health.
So, how can you embrace change and leverage technology that works for — and not against —your veterinary practice?
Shifting your focus to create a user-first digital experience will provide modern pet parents with the connection they crave while also taking weight off your team’s shoulders.
Meeting the demands of an evolving veterinary client base
Veterinary client demographics are rapidly evolving, and practices that fail to adapt will likely struggle as client expectations and needs shift. Twenty-three million U.S. households added a new pet during the pandemic, driving demand for veterinary care and creating opportunities for veterinary practice growth.
However, many practices are not achieving their potential because of the challenges facing the profession as a whole, including mental health concerns and a widespread staffing crisis.
Practices today are seeing more and more millennial and Gen Z clients who have a high level of comfort with technology and expectation for the conveniences it can provide. Millennials are three times more likely to become pet parents — 76% own a pet — than to have children.
Julia Loew, senior vice president of companion animal commercialization services at MWI Animal Health, sees technology as a valuable tool for clients and veterinary practices.
“It’s the perfect intersection right now for technology to step in and facilitate that environment without adding any more burden on an already burnt-out veterinary staff,” said Loew.
Focusing on creating a differentiated user-first digital experience can help your practice stand apart from the rest, Loew said.
Courtney Carter, vice president and head of AllyDVM at MWI, echoed Loew’s sentiments on the value of technology in the veterinary practice. “If your practice has the right collection of the right tools focused on the right objectives set forth by the clinic, the combination approach actually enhances the [client] relationship,” she said.
Steps to create a user-first digital experience
Veterinary practices can build a user-first digital experience by strategically choosing and implementing digital tools and solutions that focus on the customer at every turn. Consider the following four steps as you begin your journey:
1. Inform
Most pet owners still consider their veterinarian a better source of health information than Dr. Google, but they also want information conveniently and quickly. You can attract and keep pet owner attention by meeting them where they are: on the internet. A carefully curated digital presence with informative content emphasizes to clients that you are the expert and your practice is the best possible choice for their pets.
2. Reassure
Reassure pet owners that you can provide all their needs by fostering a personal veterinarian-client connection with technology. Clients want to feel well cared for and confident that your team provides exceptional care. For example, use a simple texting service to send photo updates of patients that are undergoing surgery or other procedures and reassure your clients that their pet is in good hands.
3. Educate
Keep clients engaged with your practice using digital tools to explain your care plans and payment options. For example, we know that veterinarians see far fewer cats than dogs and that cat owners do not perceive wellness care as high-value for cats.3 This is an opportunity to educate your clients through interactive, user-led content and close the pet owner knowledge gap.
4. Partner
Help pet owners connect with your veterinary practice in a side-by-side partnership that demonstrates your commitment to their pet’s long-term care. Digital tools, such as AllyDVM’s PetPage® app, support the pet owner–veterinarian relationship by anticipating client needs and making care more accessible with 24/7 access/self-serve functionality to your veterinary practice to request appointments, refills, and more, thereby improving compliance.
Leveraging digital tools to streamline practice workflow
An effective digital user experience can support not only the veterinarian-client-patient relationship, but also clinic workflows and efficiencies to elevate your practice to the next level. The right technological tools can automate tasks and free up your human staff to do what they do best: serve patients and customers and uphold high-level medical standards. Choose tools that also offer analytic modules that can identify practice weaknesses and strengths and pinpoint targeted strategies to improve performance.
AllyDVM’s client engagement platform consists of 5 individual client engagement modules that can save team members hours of work each week. With the client communication module, “staff members can save up to three to five hours of work a week by simply texting their clients important updates and post-surgical status updates with images. They can even automate these texts to send at the same time as other important reminders without lifting a finger,” said Carter.
The future of veterinary data
No discourse on the advantages of technology is complete without an examination of data safety. Data management is a hot topic among consumers and business owners concerned with protecting their image, reputation, and personal or financial data, including the wealth of information collected and stored in electronic medical record systems or client-facing apps.
Most veterinary practices are reluctant to share data with external partners for fear of breaking their client’s trust or letting them down. Partnering with companies that maintain high digital security and ethical standards is crucial to reap the benefits of data-driven technology without putting your client’s cybersecurity at risk.
MWI and Loew believe the future of veterinary medicine lies in responsible data use and AI integration to better understand pets and their medical issues.
“It’s really interesting to understand as an industry how we can start to look at data differently and how, without giving away pet parent information, we can break down some of these data silos to predict disease outcomes or emerging diseases to better serve pet patients,” Loew said.
Leveraging technology and creating ethical business partnerships appeals to the modern veterinary client demographic. Creating a user-first digital experience shows veterinary clientele how much you value their lifestyle and needs, improves practice efficiency, reduces veterinary team workloads and builds the pet owner-veterinarian connection that will bond clients to your practice for generations to come.
Discover more about AllyDVM’s client engagement platform by visiting https://www.allydvm.com/solutions.