An innovative Online Practice Management System For Vets
Transcript of An innovative Online Practice Management System For Vets
WHO WE ARE
PETER OSBORNEDIRECTOR OF USABILITY
DATANAUTS LTD
JENNY
PHILPCLINICAL DIRECTOR
VET’S KLINIC
WHAT WE’LL COVER
• Background & context
• Online booking
• & More…
– In-appointment checkout
– The Pet Log (a very different clinical record)
• What we’ve discovered
• Future directions
KEY OBJECTIVES
• Provide industry–leading
customer service
• Use modern methods and
technologies
• Be accessible and
affordable
• Be honest and transparent
TECHNOLOGY
• Technology underpins our key
objectives
• Reduce overheads by streamlining
practice administration
• Increase cost-efficiency through
smarter allocation of resources and
implementing smoother processes
A FULLY ONLINE PMS
• No need for on–site servers (reduces costs)
• Staff can work remotely
• Less of learning-curve
• Give clients direct
access to their data
• Incorporate ‘new’ ideas
CLOUD
PLUS BESPOKE
NEW IDEAS = BORROWED IDEAS
status updates
flexible pricing
online registration / customer self-service
ONLINE REGISTRATION
• Client can register at a time that suits them
WHAT IT MEANS FOR CLIENTS
WHAT IT MEANS FOR STAFF
• Reduced workload No data entry required
• Receive correct contact details Most of the time
KEY CLIENT BENEFITS
• Able to book 24/7
• Able to see all available
appointments across a week /
month
• Can choose between rapid
access and / or continuity of care
THE NEED TO BE ‘SMART’
• Clients are not clinicians. Don’t
understand:– Which procedures require a vet rather than a nurse
– Which procedures are incompatible with one another
• Booking system needs to do the ‘thinking’
for them
SMART BOOKING IN PRACTICE
Let’s add our first
procedure – dog booster
& kennel cough
Incompatible
procedures
are no longer
selectable
FLEXIBLE PRICING
• Easyjet-style yield management
• Clients can get cheaper appointments by:
– Being flexible about who they see
– Booking further in advance
HOW IT WORKS
• Most procedures have a minimum and
maximum price
• Prices go up as consult session
occupancy increases
• Minimum until 20% filled
• Maximum after 70% filled
• Dynamic pricing between 20-70%
WHAT IT MEANS FOR STAFF
• In theory:– A more even spread of appointments
• In practice:– Doesn’t account for:
• Emergencies
• Client preferences
– Less certainty about workload
– Potential damage to the vet’s ego
VARIABLE PRICING IN PRACTICE
… and a
convenient time to
visit
Choose
your vet…
Prices and
availability update
MAXIMIZING TRANSACTIONS
• As part of the online booking
process, clients are offered
additional procedures (e.g nail
clip)
• A helpful reminder and low
pressure sales
• 100% reliable
• Additional items sold at full price
COMPLETING THE BOOKING
• Online prepayment
– Reduced Debt (<2%)
– Fewer missed appointments
– More secure cashflow
• Instant confirmation client choice of email and / or SMS
• Additional reminder sent automatically 24 hours before appointment
WHAT IF I FIND ONLINE BOOKING DIFFICULT?
• Staff will talk clients
through the booking
process
• Staff can send a ‘smart’
booking link
• Can book by phonenon-discounted
HOW IT WORKS
• Procedures are paid before appointment
by credit card
• Credit card details are stored
• Additional charges are reviewed with client
at the end of the appointment
• Payment is taken from card on file
• Client and pet can go straight home
ADVANTAGES
• Provides a smoother checkout
• Reduced front-desk workload and
less stress
• Vet has responsibility to discuss
payment with client
• Lower bill–shock
THE PET LOG /1
• ‘Facebook-style’ timeline for pets
• Main clinical record
• Updated in realtime using iPads running
our Klinic app
PET LOG /3
• Detailed, user-based audit
trail
• Something most practices
would want, but…
• 99% of the pet log is
available to clients – in real
time
OPEN HAS ADVANTAGES (ONCE YOU GET PAST THE
FEAR)
• Most practitioners are worried about clients reading
notes, but…
• Data Protection Act already gives them access
THE FEARS
THE ADVANTAGES
• Encourages high standard of note writing
• Instantly changes the relationship between owner and vet
– Openess = trust (empowering the owner)
• Reduces misunderstandings between staff & owner
YOU WON’T GET EVERYTHING RIGHT FIRST TIME
• When you do something radically
different you will make mistakes,
but…
• Web development is quick
– Bug fixes in hours
– Minor new features in a few days
– Major new features within weeks
BUT FLEXIBILITY ‘MEANS’ FINANCIAL UNCERTAINTY
• Some things will be a lot
more complicated than you
think they will
• There’s a need to flexible
with the budget
• Sometimes have to reduce
feature scope (or delay
implementation)
OTHER ISSUES
• Printing labels
• Legacy components (e.g
SAGE)
• WiFi issues (within
surgery)
• Clients will try and game
the system (or make an
honest mistake)
THE WEB IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING
• Internet access patterns have changed since 2012
– Mobile use is much more common(and 4G coverage has improved)
– Social networking has become a useful communication channel for businesses
– User advocacy has an increasingly important role in marketing
MAKE USE OF COLLECTED DATA
• We have detailed data on:
– 6,000+ owners
– 12,000+ pets
– 27,000+ appointments
– 70,000+ individual procedural steps
– 375,000+ pet log entries
• We now want to use this information to
gain even more business insight
HOW CAN WE USE THIS INFORMATION?
• Standard KPIs
– Average time between
booking and arrival
• Assessing individual
staff performance
• But, danger of finding
correlations rather
than causation
EVOLVING THE PLATFORM
• Mobile app
• Leverage social
advocacy
• Extend the web platform
through to other group
activities
v.2.0
PS: IT’S NOT A PRODUCT
• We involved in an ongoing
project not a product
• Paradigm shift from
bundled DVD-ROM
• Optimized for a single
practice
• Commercial PMSes
require many more
compromises