CASE STUDY
Middle River Veterinary Hospital elevates client communication and preventive care with Vello
Middle River Veterinary Hospital, a practice in Verona, VA, adopted Vello in August 2024 to modernize client communication and reduce the burden on their lean front-desk team. By replacing manual reminder processes with automated appointment confirmations, two-way SMS, and preventive care checklists, the practice saw stronger compliance with fecal testing and wellness bloodwork, fewer interruptions from phone calls, and a better overall client experience.
The seamless integration with their existing ezyVet system eliminated duplicate work, while features like online appointment requests and the client app helped them reach pet owners who prefer not to call. The team now considers Vello a core part of their daily workflow and plans to expand its use further by bringing client surveys and online forms into the same platform.
Company
Middle River Veterinary Hospital
Verona, VA
Practice info
General practice, 2 doctors
Products
ezyVet + Vello
Vello Go‑live
August 2024
Early adopter (among first Vello users)
Features Used
Medical service reminders, appointment reminders, fecal checklist, preventive care recommendation, two‑way SMS, online appointment requests, pet owner app & portal, mass messaging.
Challenge
Middle River Veterinary Hospital is a close‑knit practice where personalized client relationships and clear communication have always been core to how they operate. But as demand grew—and with limited staff managing most front‑desk responsibilities—the team needed a more efficient way to:
- Reduce phone volume.
- Automate appointment confirmations.
- Keep clients engaged and prepared for upcoming visits.
- Support preventive care conversations before pets arrive.
- Share photos and updates via text message without giving out personal phone numbers.
The team had been using native ezyVet reminders, but sought a more modern, flexible, and efficient system in a single platform that aligned with how their clients wanted to communicate.
Solution
The practice adopted Vello to streamline client communication and modernize their reminder system. They began slowly, starting with medical service reminders and gradually adopting more features as trust grew across the team.
Today, Vello plays a central role in their daily workflow:
- Effortless preventive care reminders: Vello’s automated appointment reminders that include a fecal checklist and preventive care recommendation now spark client questions before appointments, making in‑room education smoother and more effective. Pet owners remember to bring fecal samples and questions about wellness bloodwork with them to their appointments, increasing compliance and making conversations in the exam room much less unexpected.
- Two‑way texting that fits their practice culture: Texting allows the support staff and doctors to multitask their day-to-day duties and client communication without the interruptions or workload of phone calls. Clients send photos, ask questions, and receive quick updates, all from the hospital’s dedicated SMS phone number and Vello inbox.
- Online appointment requests: Middle River recognizes the need to offer various paths for appointment scheduling to meet their clients’ preferences. In addition to phone calls and texts, they utilize online scheduling in Vello for pet owners to request appointments online.
- Client app for easy access to records: Clients appreciate being able to view their pet’s medical records, reminders, and appointment instructions in the Vello app, and the staff loves the experience for their own pets.
- Seamless integration with ezyVet: Vello’s effortless integration with their PIMS has helped reduce manual steps to record client communication and eliminate duplicated work.
Results
- Improved preventive care compliance: Vello reminders have significantly increased engagement with fecal testing and wellness bloodwork. Clients arrive informed, with fecal samples in hand, and ready to discuss options.
“It puts it on their radar. By the time they walk in, they’ve already seen it and know what to ask.”
— Susan, Practice Manager.
- Smoother operations & major time savings: Automated confirmations removed a tedious daily task from the front desk staff’s plate, freeing time for client service and care coordination.
“I don’t even think about reminders anymore. Vello just does it.”
- More efficient communication: The team uses two‑way texting every day, sending updates, receiving photos, and handling medication refills with ease.
“We use it every day, multiple times a day. I don’t know what we would do without it.”
- Better client experience for every pet owner’s needs: Pet owners appreciate a wide array of options for communicating with their veterinarian, and Middle River’s clients are no different. Adding text messaging and online appointment requests has allowed them to be more inclusive of people who would rather steer away from speaking on the phone.
“Some clients absolutely will not make phone calls, they only text, and Vello lets us meet them where they are.”
- A flexible scheduling workflow that still gives the team control: Appointment requests allow Middle River to maintain the personalized scheduling approach their staff needs. They can accommodate the unique needs of each pet and exam while still offering pet owners an alternative to phone calls for scheduling appointments.
“Our schedule is unique, and Vello lets us customize it the way we need to.”
Looking ahead
Middle River Veterinary Hospital plans to:
- Promote the Vello app more widely to clients using Vello’s convenient online customer toolkit.
- Transition their client surveys from SurveyMonkey® into Vello.
- Explore Vello’s online forms to consolidate workflows.
The team is especially excited about expanding their use of Vello’s communication tools and simplifying even more systems under one platform as Vello continues to grow.
“I would tell anyone using ezyVet: 100% yes—get Vello. It helps everything run smoother so we can focus more on medicine, which is what we’re here for.”
— Susan Gleadow, Practice Manager