Unlocking the full potential of your veterinary practice might be more straightforward than you think. One of the most valuable tools at your disposal is your practice management system (PMS). When utilised effectively, a PMS can transform your practice, enhancing everything from client experience to financial performance.
Understanding the value
In today’s fast-paced veterinary world, technology is crucial for managing your practice effectively. A well-implemented PMS plays a pivotal role in streamlining operations and improving overall efficiency, which ultimately impacts your practice’s profitability.
A PMS lets you customise care for clients and patients across various disciplines. By tailoring the system to fit your specific needs, you can improve daily tasks, enhance workflow, and provide quicker, more accurate results. This not only helps your team address the varied needs of patients but also builds trust with your clients, reinforcing confidence in your practice’s capabilities.
Veterinary software has come a long way in recent years. Today’s practice management software solutions are much more advanced, providing features that boost efficiency, improve workflows and provide insightful data analytics. Research has shown that companies leveraging customer data analytics, such as those derived from PMS reports, gain a distinct advantage over their competitors when it comes to profitability (McKinsey and Company, 2014).
Enhancing client satisfaction
Delivering an exceptional client experience is essential in today’s competitive veterinary market. Clients expect more than just good service; they want an experience that will lead them to recommend your practice to others. A reliable PMS can track important metrics, such as active client numbers, allowing you to understand trends in your base. Whether these numbers are staying steady, growing or declining, this insight helps you spot and act on trends before they become bigger issues.
In an age of digital communication, clients expect regular updates on their pets’ conditions, especially for those requiring special care or hospitalisation. A high-quality PMS ensures patient files are easily accessible, enabling staff to share clinical updates efficiently and without delays. Whether sharing test results or sending account updates, streamlined communication fosters trust and satisfaction.
Effective communication doesn’t just benefit client satisfaction, it also improves compliance and reduces no-shows. Automated appointment reminders via email, SMS or letter ensure that clients are kept informed about upcoming appointments and their pets’ care needs. Why risk losing a client simply due to missed reminders?
For practices that provide ambulatory care, a PMS with mobile capabilities can enhance operational efficiency. For instance, the VetIT On-the-Road (OTR) app helps practitioners navigate efficiently to their destination using both addresses and postcodes. It also allows staff to update their status, indicating whether they’ve arrived or are en route to the next visit. This reduces fragmented communication, ensuring smoother operations during fieldwork.
Unlocking time savings
Time is a precious commodity in every veterinary practice, and a reliable PMS can help reclaim it. With a cloud-based PMS, essential information such as clinical notes and patient histories is always accessible, allowing your team to focus on what matters most: providing outstanding care for clients and their pets.
In financial transactions, a well-integrated practice management software transforms written consultation notes into invoices in just a few clicks. Transferring manual records to automated billing saves time and eliminates the risk of overlooking chargeable items.
Moreover, PMS systems have streamlined inventory management. Automated tracking of medicines, consumables and other stock supplies means your team can stay on top of stock levels without dedicating extra days to stocktakes. For example, VetIT’s Auto Order feature automatically generates a “shopping basket” when quantities of items fall below pre-set thresholds, speeding up the ordering process and reducing the risk of stockouts.
Streamlining processes and transactions
Modern clients demand flexibility when it comes to payment options. A comprehensive PMS offers a variety of payment mechanisms, including healthcare plans and insurance claims, all of which can be managed efficiently. As the front-desk team handles client transactions, a centralised PMS allows a complete view of invoices, insurance details, and healthcare plan data. This integration not only saves time but also reduces the stress typically associated with complex billing processes.
Additionally, practices that deal with syndicate or shared ownership arrangements benefit from a PMS that automates the billing process, splitting the bill according to each owner’s percentage share. Clinical notes and procedures are stored centrally, allowing the system to calculate totals seamlessly while generating individual bills tailored to each owner’s portion. This reduces manual workload and ensures accuracy.
Unpaid accounts can often drag down a practice’s revenue flow. Fortunately, a PMS allows you to run aged debt reports as part of your daily operations. This ensures that outstanding debts are promptly addressed and allows for constructive communication with clients, helping maintain profitability without creating tension.
Harnessing the power of data analytics
One of the most valuable aspects of a modern PMS is the ability to generate actionable data analytics. Veterinary practices accumulate vast amounts of data, from appointment logs to financial reports. When properly analysed, these data offer valuable insights that can inform key business decisions.
Operational reports from your PMS can reveal your best-selling services, areas of underperformance, and high-revenue procedures. These performance indicators (KPIs) influence profitability. Comparative data allow you to track shifts in performance and client behaviour, enabling evidence-based decision-making for better business outcomes.
Moreover, a well-implemented PMS empowers your team by offering meaningful management recognition to effectively track the contributions of team members to the practice’s success. A critical feature for retention and leadership development.
Using client surveys and PMS analytics to drive improvement
Client feedback is invaluable for improving your practice’s services. By combining data from client surveys with powerful analytics from your PMS, you can identify areas for improvement, refine your approach, and enhance client satisfaction.
Surveys can reveal insights on client expectations, highlight areas where communication could be improved, and shed light on the overall client experience. When integrated with PMS analytics, these insights are even more powerful, allowing you to track client behaviours, preferences and satisfaction metrics over time.
For example, a survey might indicate the demand for new services, but PMS analytics can confirm trends such as increasing or declining appointment numbers, service usage, or repeat visits, providing a complete picture of what’s working and what isn’t.
Case study one
A seven-act practice reviewed their PMS reports to see how many of their clients were still active two years after signing up. They found the numbers were lower than anticipated, prompting them to investigate their client loyalty approach further. They also made adjustments to their euthanasia protocol after noticing that not many new clients were signing up after the passing of a pet. By combining these insights with a follow-up client satisfaction survey, they were able to identify key areas for improvement. A year later, the survey results showed that 84% of clients were “very likely” to return.
Case study two
This year, a new practice used their PMS data to assess client metrics and found that, although client numbers initially surged, growth had plateaued. To boost foot traffic, they sponsored one of their vets to become an Official Veterinarian (OV) to address the growing demand for animal health certificates. This strategy attracted new clients, and the practice leveraged client feedback surveys alongside PMS analytics to refine their new client offers and enhance the overall client experience, ultimately driving growth.
Long-term success
The value of your PMS extends far beyond administrative tasks; it is a core component of your practice’s long-term strategic vision. When used effectively, it can optimise every aspect of your operations, from client communication to billing, team workflow, and inventory management.
In an ever-evolving industry, driven by technological advancements and changing client expectations, your practice management software offers the flexibility to adapt to these shifts, ensuring your practice not only survives but thrives.
Tony Houghton is the managing director of VetIT, a provider of veterinary practice management software and part of the NVS Group. Tony is passionate about advancing the veterinary industry through innovative software solutions and efficient management tools.
References
- McKinsey and Company (2014). Five facts: How customer analytics boosts corporate performance. Read more.
- VetIT in collaboration with the NVS Group (2024). Modern Vet’s Guide to Data: Harnessing Data for Practice Success.
Original publication: Veterinary Edge, issue 49, March 2025, pp 36-38
