A veterinary practice software programme designed with your practice in mind, is key to effective management

The veterinary practice software programme designed with your practice in mind and installed in your computer network, is key to the recording and retrieval of the data you need to manage the business effectively.

The management role is concerned with:

• establishing business objectives
• managing resources
• planning and implementing policies
• efficient service delivery and transaction process
• production of accurate, timely and appropriate information for the decision makers

The ideal veterinary computer software programme for your practice must not only maintain your client and patient database but should also incorporate the bells and whistles necessary to enable you to have the answer to a wide range of resource management questions at your fingertips.

Before acquiring or replacing the veterinary computer software installation in your practice, try to identify all those questions which you might reasonably ask, and for which you might expect your IT system to generate an answer.

Could your veterinary practice software provide answers to these questions?

Here are some general questions

• how are we doing?
• what was turnover/top line last month compared with the previous month and the same month last year?
• what was the transaction volume / footfall last month compared with the previous month and the same month last year?
• what was the revenue split between professional services and product sales?
• what was the revenue split by branch, vet, client and/or service category?

Here are some questions about the staff

• who was on holiday, away on cpd, sick?
• what was the staff turnover last year, compared with the previous year?
• what were the costs of all the veterinarians (including the owner as clinician) compared with budget and as a percentage of revenue?
• what were the costs of all the other staff members compared with budget and as a percentage of revenue?
• what was the variance and why?
• what was our productivity of our professional staff?(productive hours compared with employed hours)

Here are some questions about the clients and patients

• the client database -- how many active clients are on the database compared with last month?
• how many new clients did we register?
• so how many clients have lapsed or have we lost?
• what is the average client spend per transaction?
• what is the average client spend per year?
• how many clients spending the ATV do we need to see every single day?
• how many complaints were recorded last month?
• what were the top three complaints?
• how were they dealt with?
• what has been the incidence of a number of named clinical conditions, diagnoses, preventative measures and treatments?
• what has been the response to treatment?
• what have been the morbidity and mortality rates of specific named conditions?
• what has been the client compliance response to professional recommendations?

Here are some questions about the drugs and supplies

• how much did we spend on drugs and supplies last month?
• what percentage of revenue did that represent?
• what was the variance compared with budget?
• what is the value of your stock (inventory)?
• has there been any evidence of significant stock spillage, spoilage or pilferage

Here are some questions about reception, financial and operational issues

• what was the value and volume of accounts rendered at month end?
• what is the current level of debtor days? (receivables)
• what was the consulting room occupancy level last month?
• what was the variance from budget?
• what was the in-patient, op room and prep area occupancy?
• have there been any Health and Safety issues?
• do we have any potential health and safety liabilities
• professional services -- what margin did we achieve last month? -- variance with budget?
• product sales -- what margin did we achieve last month? -- variance with budget?
• what was the bank balance at the month end? -- compared with budget?

These are just examples and may or may not be appropriate for your practice

Take some time to prepare a specification for your own veterinary practice software requirements, then search the market to see which systems or suppliers can offer the closest match

A search of google.com for 'veterinary software suppliers' and 'veterinary practice software' generates more than 10 million results. This compares with more than 21 million results for a similar search for 'dental practice software'.

It is clear that the majority of healthcare professionals rely increasingly on computerising their client and patient records to enhance the standard of professional service, to generate management accounting data and to enable them to produce targeted marketing and promotional material for specific client or patient groups.

The market and the technology are changing fast so be sure to do your homework before you decide which system and which veterinary software supplier will most closely meet your specific requirements.

Here is a list of some of the veterinary software suppliers which offer their products and services on the web:The list is not claimed to be exhaustive. If I have omitted your name or organisation or if you are aware of any which should be included please click on the 'contact me' link and let me have the details.

http://www.ezofficesystems.com

http://www.dvmmgr.com

http://www.elinc.net

http://www.vet-software.com

http://www.dvmax.com/index.html

http://www.intravet.com

http://www.pawsnet.com

http://www.impromed.com

http://www.mdsvetinfo.com

http://www.vetsoftware.com

http://www.altadvm.com

http://www.informavet.com

http://www.bwci.com

http://www.completeclinic.com

http://www.visionvpm.com

http://www.winvet.com

http://www.rxworks.com

http://www.vetsystems.com

http://www.jupsys.co.uk

http://www.midshire.com

http://www.systems-support.co.uk/vets

http://www.ventanavet.com

http://www.verifac.com

http://www.vetsolutions.co.uk

http://www.vetwholesaler.co.uk

http://www.vet-one.co.uk

http://www.visualdataconcepts.org.uk

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