Essay Sample on Veterinary Office Management Software

Introduction

A veterinary management software is a healthcare software category that caters for the veterinary medicine industry and is used to handle the daily animal clinic operations. The chosen brands of veterinary management software include IDEXX Neo which is a cloud-based veterinary management practice suite that is used by veterinary clinics and animal hospitals. The key features of this software are payment processing, invoice creation, and management of appointments. Its users can describe the tasks of a custom and assign duties to workers on a dashboard activity. The dashboard is configured for each employee and displays the task details and due dates. IDEXX Neo also enables users to customize their certificates and forms using organization or company logos and branded letterheads (Griebel, Prokosch, Kopcke, Toddenroth, Christoph, Leb, & Sedlmayr, 2015). Additionally, there is the V-Tech Platinum software that is a management platform suitable for practices of treating small to large animals, vets practicing mobile, specialty care and emergency. In this software, users can choose hybrid implementation or cloud-based models. Also, the users have access to the inventory control tools having a purchase order system that is integrated and can add unlimited veterinary workstations. The software is AAHA compliant and can integrate with QuickBooks, Microsoft Office, Heartland payment systems and Vet scene. There is also the RoboVet software that is a management practice solution suitable for all vet clinics, offering reminders, online appointment schedules, and marketing tools that are automated. The software enables users to manage complete animals' intel and search their clinical history. The payment solution that is integrated enables its users to accept debit and credit card payments automatically (Sanchez-Vizcaino, Jones, Menacere, Heayns, Wardeh, Newman, & Everitt, 2015).

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The advantages of IDEXX Neo software are that since the software is a program that is cloud-based, it constantly gets updated by a development team and is accessible for any computer system. Also, the functionality of the text message is simplified making communication with clients easy and so is using and learning it. The disadvantages are that IDEXX Neo is oversimplified that is only easy to use by one doctor. Thus, if made for busy practices, more problems are created than its worth as only one feature is busy at a time. There is also no system of payment that is integrated into the software which means that a separate program takes in payment, leaving room for errors when one is entering any payment ((Griebel, et al. 2015). Nonetheless, the advantages of V-Tech Platinum software are that Microsoft is constantly bringing in updates on fixing bugs and customer correct issues found when using the software making it very efficient. The features are also simple to use for any computer literate person. The disadvantages are that the software can easily be manipulated as almost all feature are familiar with computer literate people (Buckland, O'Neill, Summers, Mateus, Church, Redmond, & Brodbelt, 2016). The advantages of RoboVet software are that it quick and easy as everything is automatic as long as correct details are entered. Also, appointments and bookings are easily made and easy retrieval of animal files so long as correct reference numbers are entered thus, creating efficiency. The disadvantages are that it is very weak and has almost no administrative tools that can relate to practice growth with one's budget. Thus, technically, without having the full scope, it is impossible to talk of growth of a business. The printing options and crystal reports also have limited flexibility (Griebel et al. 2015).

In all the three veterinary management software, technical support issues are handled by electronic medical records which eliminates time-consuming hours and costly storage that are associated with management of paper records. No servers are also needed as they are all cloud-based. They are also accessible on any modern browser or internet enabled device thus making them effective and efficient. They also have payment processing that is integrated that helps saves time and improve on efficiency, customer cards can also be stored safely for recurring payments or future purchases.

Additionally, one of the biggest tasks that veterinarians face in all the vet software they decide to choose is the continuing education requirement. While the credits of CE are necessary to keep veterinarians abreast of improvements and changes in the industry, finding the squeezing time for the resources might be challenging. Nonetheless, the IDEXX Neo, RoboVet and V-Tech Platinum medical practices are constantly changing, evolving and improving in the veterinary medicine. The education that vets professionals are provided with enhances the pace and the level of care they give to their clients and patients. Thus, through the provision of the educational resources, bonds that lead to healthy practices and pets are strengthened, in a way that advances the profession of veterinary (Legnani, Pantchev, Forlani, Zini, Schares, Balzer, & Zanna, 2016). IDEXX Neo, V-Tech, and RoboVet software are put in place to enhance efficiency in most animal hospitals. This software has an automatic laboratory result that help clients and patients know the exact problem they encounter. That is, their systems are made such that they can import the laboratory results directly from the laboratory into every patient's medical record as long as the staff handling the results does not interfere or confuse any result.

Nevertheless, IDEXX Neo software runs on a server but its major components are powered by cloud technology such as diagnostic results and orders that are integrated, automated client marketing and web PACS. The software is configured so that the technology of cloud is seamlessly built-in. in this case, IDEXX Neo software is an entirely cloud-based system having an intuitive user interface and a training that is built-in, that address the issues of learning how to use a new software effectively ((Griebel, et al. 2015). Additionally, RoboVet is also completely cloud-based as veterinarians use it to manage the information of the patient, treatment scheduling and planning and back office functions, for example, accounting. The solution in this software include integrations for processing claim. Thus, an integration that has veterinary specific health records that are digital or electronic is often essential in gaining access to an animal's health intel.

However, the V-Tech management software is partly cloud-based as it may opt for other hybrid methods of implementation. It uses the cloud to assist in backing up information that might be useful and it helping clients access them online. But in a real sense, the cloud is always an option as it majorly deals with specialty care and emergencies that require higher integrated systems for maximum efficiency (Buckland, et al. 2016). Also, its office functions are such as appointment booking, surgery logs, bar coding, patient reminders, vendor tracking and remote backup whose storage might be higher than that of the cloud. Nonetheless, the updates of all the three veterinary management software are automatic as they use the cloud-based system that is easy to use and efficient to many clients and veterinarians. The automated updates also help to boost their businesses as each veterinary opts for the best software to attract more customers depending on their effectiveness and efficiency (Legnani, et al. 2016).

References

Buckland, E. L., O'Neill, D., Summers, J., Mateus, A., Church, D., Redmond, L., & Brodbelt, D. (2016). Characterization of antimicrobial usage in cats and dogs attending UK primary care companion animal veterinary practices. Veterinary record, 179(19), 489-489.

Griebel, L., Prokosch, H. U., Kopcke, F., Toddenroth, D., Christoph, J., Leb, I., ... & Sedlmayr, M. (2015). A scoping review of cloud computing in healthcare. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 15(1), 17.

Legnani, S., Pantchev, N., Forlani, A., Zini, E., Schares, G., Balzer, J., ... & Zanna, G. (2016). Emergence of cutaneous neosporosis in a dog receiving immunosuppressive therapy: molecular identification and management. Veterinary dermatology, 27(1), 49-e14.

Sanchez-Vizcaino, F., Jones, P. H., Menacere, T., Heayns, B., Wardeh, M., Newman, J., ... & Everitt, S. (2015). Small animal disease surveillance. Veterinary Record, 177(23), 591-594.