This is the twelfth in a series of telehealth blogs published on the VetPartners.org site. Each article in the series features a different veterinary telemedicine option.

Background: 

In 2017, John faced an issue with his dog, Patrick. He picked up the phone to call his veterinarian and all he got when he called was a voicemail, telling him: 

“leave a message or go to the emergency room”. 

John thought it was an awful customer service experience. Later, he then realized veterinary professionals were overworked and did not want to be on-call 24/7. 

Teletriage

This began his commitment to the notion of what he refers to as “continuity of care” for the veterinary industry. He was aware that his vet, and many others, were burned out at the end of the day and couldn’t always be available after the practice closed. So, he set out with his business partner, Dr. Katherine Donahue DVM, to create a teletriage system known as GuardianVets.

When a veterinary hospital is closed, the traffic routes to the GuardianVets’ team of licensed veterinary professionals to answer the calls. After listening to the pet owner’s concern, the triage process begins. If it’s a real emergency, the caller will be directed immediately to the ER or the on-call doctor will be contacted.  If it’s not an emergency, there will be an opportunity to schedule an appointment with the pet owner’s vet for the next day. 

Since its launch, GuardianVets has grown to partner with hundreds of veterinary hospitals across the country. The platform has been designated a preferred provider by the American Animal Hospital Association.

Then COVID-19 hit….

As we know, when COVID-19 hit, there was a mad dash for telemedicine. GuardianVets launched a curbside service to ensure a safe, satisfying and contactless appointment. Upon arrival at the practice, a parking lot sign instructs pet owners to check-in on the GuardianVets App. This triggers a notice to staff to fetch the pet from the car. Then the pet owners can use the app to access the exam room in real time via video.  Even payment is easy with the app.  In combination with GuardianVets’ other virtual technologies, like asynchronous chat, curbside has helped practices maintain both connection and safety with their clients and team members.

One pet owner from Schultz Veterinary Clinic in Meridian Charter Township, Michigan said, “I was so glad that my clinic offered curbside, so I could talk to my vet during my dogs’ exam.”

Practices were also dealing with their phones ringing off the hook, and John was ready to help with daytime phone support (“Overflow Support”). Overflow enables practices to pre-arrange the time they need support, whether it’s for a staff meeting, lunchtime or the entire day. 

“The mission of GuardianVets is to help veterinary practices connect better with their clients,” says John. “By supplementing the physical relationship, they are keeping the practice and the veterinary team at the center of the relationship.”

John has found that one of the biggest challenges of encouraging practices to adopt new technology, has been supporting veterinary practices through “change management and capacity building.” New technology is only part of the solution. Being there with onboarding support and providing dedicated client success managers to help veterinary practices through every step of the implementation and provide on-going support is critical to driving real value.

 More information is available at www.guardianvets.com or at www.vetpartners.org/blog.