Centre Veterinary Clinic

Customer Story

Center Veterinary Clinic uses Vetstoria to fill their appointment book and help pet owners in need

“We’ll keep using this feature even after COVID-19 is over.”

“The important thing is to offer clients options, and many would take up the offer to do a video consultation.”

Gail Bigelow, Hospital Manager, Center Veterinary Clinic

Faced with the prospect of reduced in-person consultations due to COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing, Center Veterinary Clinic started offering telemedicine and has seen their appointment book completely filled-up.

Challenge

To enforce social-distancing, Center Veterinary Clinic immediately stopped the mixing of people at the clinic by introducing a curbside only service when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in California.

While the team is happy to transport the animals between their cars and the exam room, there is still a portion of clientele who can’t physically make the trip.

Many clients who are physically stranded by the COVID-19 crisis now have an additional problem, which is that their pets’ sickness or injuries can no longer be evaluated.

Solution

Vetstoria Telemedicine in the right place at the right time

As a forward-thinking and technologically savvy clinic, telemedicine had already been on the radar of Center Veterinary Clinic Hospital Manager, Gail Bigelow.

“What’s really cool about us is we are already technologically forward-thinking, so telemedicine was already something we thought about offering. When COVID-19 hit, we thought okay, now we really have to offer this. And the way Vetstoria made it available so quickly and easily just made it perfect since we have already been using Vetstoria for online booking.”

Gail Bigelow
Gail Bigelow – Hospital Manager, Center Veterinary Clinic

The shift in attitudes towards telehealth which includes human medicine changed almost overnight. At a time when social distancing is among the major measures used to fight COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth is stepping-up as a key technology for safe and efficient communications.

Easy-to-use by anyone

As Center Veterinary Clinic has already been using Vetstoria for online booking, the additional Telemedicine feature was easily accessible within the platform. All the management team had to do was to determine which clinicians should be assigned with the video consultations and how long the duration should be.

Vetstoria Telemedicine UI

“Yesterday, one of my doctors wanted to practice so he practiced with my son. I even did the payment option, I actually paid for the call just to see if it works. It was seamless, perfect and easy to use.

Some of my doctors thought it would be weird at the beginning because it’s so new. Now they really enjoy doing it.”

Gail Bigelow
Gail Bigelow – Hospital Manager, Center Veterinary Clinic

A Telemedicine solution that works in a flexible way

Center Veterinary Clinic knew precisely what would work for their clinic. The management allowed most appointment types to be delivered via telemedicine video consultation and decided to charge a reduced fee ($50) compared to their regular consultation amount ($67) – something that was done in Vetstoria with a couple of clicks.

Should the doctor deem it necessary to examine the animal in the flesh, a reduced fee is offered when the pet is taken to the clinic. This additional triage is appropriate for pet-owners who may have no other way to speak with a veterinarian, which is a far more reliable and familiar route compared to doctor Google.

The fact that a receptionist can turn a regular appointment into a telemedicine appointment also helps streamline the doctor’s day. This means that a doctor can decide whether a video appointment is sufficient and inform the pet-owner accordingly, giving the clinic more freedom to organize their appointments and facilitate more time for cleaning, medicine preparation, and urgent surgical procedures.

Results

A definitive competitive advantage

By being one of the first in San Diego to offer telemedicine, Center Veterinary Clinic can help not only their existing customers but potentially a much wider audience, given how they are very active in promoting the telemedicine feature on their website.

center booking platform screenshot
Pet owners can book a telemedicine appointment in real-time. Staff can also turn existing appt into a video one.

Welcomed by staff and pet owners

“So far everything’s been really positive. A lot of people appreciated saving the trip. It’s comforting for our clients to know that they don’t have to come in. They thought we were really forward-thinking in offering telemedicine.

What’s important to our clients is that they are given the option to choose. We’ll call and offer this new feature to save them the trip. Most people would take it up on the offer and do a video consultation instead.”

Gail Bigelow
Gail Bigelow – Hospital Manager, Center Veterinary Clinic

Final thought: There’s longevity in Telemedicine

Telemedicine existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the attitude toward it had been mixed. As one of the forward-thinking clinics in California, Center Veterinary Clinic has already thought about the ways in which they can capitalize on the new form of conducting consultations in the future.

By employing Telemedicine, they are able to provide the same professional advice and be compensated for the service as opposed to giving it out for free on the phone like before.

“So what I think is going to happen is, after this is over, we are still gonna use this feature. We are going to incorporate it more and more. COVID-19 was the caveat that got it started, we are gonna find more ways to do it and people will want to utilize it because they’ll have gotten comfortable with it.”

Gail Bigelow
Gail Bigelow – Center Veterinary Clinic

Telemedicine as an additional triage tool not only helps bring in revenue but also creates freedom for the practice to work out what’s best for them during the COVID-19 crisis. The added value of telemedicine stretches way beyond COVID-19 and early adopters like Center Veterinary Clinic will be enjoying the return on investment for the many years to come.

About

Center Veterinary Clinic based in San Diego, excels in the science of Veterinary medicine and has been established for over 30 years.

Website

Locations

1 location – full service hospital offering well care, diagnostics, surgery, dental care, grooming, boarding and more.

Practice Type

Independent

Practice Management System

Key Features Used:

✅ Telemedicine