7 Time-Saving Vetstoria’s Appointment Scheduling Features Our Customers Love to Stay Efficient

6 min read

On the surface, increased pet ownership is a great problem to have. However, anyone that works in a veterinary practice knows that it has added to the workload of already overwhelmed teams. Staff shortages and Covid also make the problem worse! But if you have an appointment scheduling software, all of these problems can be eased in a jiffy.

Automated technologies like Vetstoria can help veterinary teams in their time of need, by reducing call volume and increasing efficiency through smart and innovative capabilities. Vetstoria customer, Emerson’s Green Veterinary Surgery, is a great example. They reduced their phone call volume by 60% after implementing Vetstoria and have never looked back.

With that said, we wanted to share some of the most popular Vetstoria features that help practices save time, so you can continue providing excellent service to pet owners and have more control over your schedule.

Free Webinar: Vetstoria Features to Save Time and Manage Staff Shortages

1. Set booking holidays with Vetstoria’s appointment booking platform

If your practice is overwhelmed, short-staffed, or closed for a few days, you can add holiday block-outs within Vetstoria. This essentially turns off the ability for pet owners to book appointments through your website on dates chosen by you.

Set booking holidays with Vetstoria's appointment booking platform

2. Customize your slot availability to allow smart scheduling

A key advantage of Vetstoria is its immense customization. You can sync your calendar (PMS) with Vetstoria and block the times based on your workload with slot exclusions. Here you can block the times you want to reserve for walk-ins or even for surgeries. By also adding a gap to the earliest slot, you can leave enough time for pet owners to arrive for their appointments. You can do the same by adding clinician availability or specify the types of species you can treat, which gives you further control.

One of Vetstoria’s customers, AniCura Varde in Denmark, has set up 20-minute vaccination slots and only allows pet owners to book appointments for Monday and Friday afternoons to offer flexibility for emergencies. Read the entire case study here.

Customize your slot availability to allow smart appointment scheduling

3. Manage your vaccination backlog with SmartLink reminders

Vaccinations are not something pet owners can forgo even in this difficult time. With our integration with iRecall, practices can offer appointments based on their availability and send reminders to pet owners to book vaccinations. These reminders can be set based on the due date for the vaccination with the booking link to make an appointment. Get more info about SmartLink reminders over here.

Manage your vaccination backlog with SmartLink reminders in our appointment scheduling platform

4. Disable specific appointment types

With the enable/disable toggle, you can decide which appointment types you want to make available to pet owners. Other than critical emergencies, you may want to prioritize vaccination appointments. By prioritizing similar vital appointments, you can temporarily halt others until you have caught up or have more staff on board.

Disable specific appointment types with Vetstoria's appointment scheduling software
Inside Vetstoria: Features to Save Time and Manage Staff Shortages

5. Set up payments to reduce no shows and ease admin work

One way to address pesky no-shows is to offer payments with specific types of appointments so you can ensure that pet owners arrive for their appointment without fail. Additionally, processing payments online reduces any admin work and frees front desk staff.

Vetstoria customer, Seadown Veterinary Services, has done this effectively and have noticed that pet owners are increasingly comfortable paying online with out appointment scheduling platform.

Set up payments to reduce no shows and ease admin work with Vetstoria's appointment scheduling software

6. Add disclaimers to provide guidance

Want to provide pet owners with specific information or instructions before they book their appointment? With Vetstoria, you can set up a custom disclaimer that is shown and has to be accepted by clients in order to book appointments.

Messages can include COVID-19 protocols (e.g. the max number of people that should arrive at the clinic or what social distance they should maintain).

Vetstoria customer, APC Veterinary Clinic, used Vetstoria disclaimers to great effect during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Read their story here.

Add disclaimers to provide guidance

7. Offer remote consultations or virtual care

With COVID still lurking, practices can take advantage of Vetstoria’s telemedicine feature, enabling pet owners to schedule video consultations for pets that need a quick diagnosis or a surgery follow-up.

It’s a great way to control in-clinic traffic, and pet owners also feel safe attending the consultation from the comfort of their homes.

Emerson’s Green Veterinary Surgery, have discovered that pet owners themselves lean towards Vetstoria telemedicine, with or without COVID, due to its convenience.

Offer remote consultations or virtual care; the telemedicine feature with Vetstoria's appointment scheduling software

These are just a few of the top time-saving features our customers at Vetstoria use so they can manage with limited staff, save time, and still provide excellent pet care.

Want to learn how else we can help you save time with Vetstoria’s appointment scheduling software? Book a personalized demo with a product specialist to see Vetstoria in action below.