Practical Tips for Implementing Veterinary Telemedicine
Telemedicine is revolutionizing veterinary care delivery, offering convenience and improved care access for pet owners and efficiency and reduced stress for veterinary teams. Most veterinary professionals assume that the primary telecommunications method in practice is video consultations, but veterinary telemedicine also includes asynchronous tools such as email, texting, and photo-sharing.
Harnessing and organizing these tools can help you capture revenue for current services and provide clients with a direct and reliable line to their care team, improving the client experience and patient outcomes. Here’s a look at how you can incorporate telemedicine in your practice.
Veterinary telemedicine benefits
Telemedicine can benefit clients, patients, and veterinary teams. Clients and patients have better clinic accessibility, convenience, and reduced stress compared with an in-person visit. Veterinary teams can conduct consultations quickly without using physical clinic space, leaving exam rooms for in-person visits and helping prioritize more complex cases. Telemedicine also helps capture the current remote consultation work, opening a new revenue stream to account for professional time.
Video consultations in veterinary telemedicine
Real-time video interactions work similarly to a traditional appointment, allowing veterinarians to assess a pet’s condition, discuss concerns, answer questions, and offer guidance. To provide quality video consultations, you must choose the right apps and platforms that integrate with your existing software. Most modern, cloud-based software systems allow seamless integrations so you can work in one window during visits.
Video telemedicine requires establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR), which usually—but not always—involves seeing a patient in person. However, state laws are rapidly changing to accommodate improved telemedicine access, so check with your state association if you aren’t sure. Teams should also work to establish clear protocols regarding the appointment types and conditions amenable to telemedicine and when in-person care should be recommended.
Asynchronous veterinary telemedicine
Veterinary teams use asynchronous communication every day, but not always in a formal, organized way. Most teams respond to incoming emails, texts, and voicemails whenever they can squeeze extra time out of their day and don’t typically charge for these services. However, a dedicated telemedicine app can provide clients and teams with a centralized location for remotely managing client inquiries and cases.
Choose a platform your team enjoys working with and select a few of your best clients to test the process. Add times to the schedule for team members to check in with their remotely managed cases, work out the kinks, and then roll out the program to other clients.
Formalizing telemedicine services
Thoughtfully implemented telemedicine creates a new revenue stream by harnessing the value of your team’s time and expertise. Clients want your expert help and are willing to pay a small fee to get personalized advice from someone who knows their pet rather than paying another service for generic recommendations. Try the following models:
- Charging per service — Clients using your telemedicine app can pay a fee for each consultation or follow-up directly in the app, which ideally integrates with your practice management software. You can also offer clients access to the app for a flat monthly rate or classify services into tiers.
- Bundling services — Consider bundling telemedicine services with other offerings, such as inclusion in wellness plans or wrapping a discounted follow-up consultation into charges for certain in-person care visits.
- Offering after-hours care — If you have enough interested staff, allow them to work from home to provide telehealth and triage services on a rotating after-hours and weekend basis.
Veterinary telemedicine best practices
As with any other practice change or new service, implementing telemedicine may involve a few speed bumps. Gain initial team buy-in by discussing telemedicine expectations, concerns, and possible outcomes so each team member feels heard. Choose a platform with team member input, establish clear protocols, and provide comprehensive training before adopting a pilot program. Ensure frequent, repetitive communication with clients across all platforms, so they know what to expect and how their pet’s care will change.
Veterinary telemedicine is a versatile tool that can enhance care, improve client relationships, and boost revenue. Veterinary practices that embrace video and asynchronous methods offer flexibility and will stay relevant with today’s tech-savvy and time-strapped clients.
