Veterinary Medicine in the Digital Age

Angel Martin recalls fielding anxious questions from the new owners of a Shar-Pei puppy. The owners had once cared for another dog with serious medical issues. They were eager to keep the new puppy healthy.

"They had a lot of questions: 'Is this normal, is it abnormal? Should we be worried?'” said Martin, the patient care and clinical operations manager for four clinics near Atlanta that make up Georgia Veterinary Associates.

The owners got answers from the clinic with the messaging feature of PetPro Connect, a mobile app and clinic web portal powered by Boehringer Ingelheim that seeks to connect pet owners and veterinarians. The company launched PetPro Connect in parts of the U.S. this year after a successful pilot program involving vet clinics that include one in Lawrenceville, Ga. run by Georgia Veterinary Associates.

"When that Shar-Pei puppy spiked a fever and had to visit an after-hours emergency vet, the owners immediately snapped a photo of the intake report to send us via PetPro Connect," Martin said. "Which is great because not only do we get the patient's health updates faster, but we keep that bond with our client even when they can't get to us."

Strengthening the Vet- Pet Owner Relationship, Digitally

Boehringer Ingelheim debuted PetPro Connect in a pilot program involving five vet clinics and more than 800 pet owners in metro Atlanta in 2018. Now the company is expanding to offer PetPro Connect around the United States. It has introduced the app in several markets and plans to expand to other parts of the country this year.

Vet clinics sign up and invite their customers to join.

Pet owners experience PetPro Connect as a mobile app that puts their pets’ care in the palm of their hand, reducing phone calls and paperwork. They can access their pets’ up-to-date medical records and send digital copies to other service providers, such as kennels or groomers. They also can view and submit rebate requests electronically and request eligible prescription refills. A messaging feature lets owners request appointments as well as send their vet questions, concerns and photos.

Vet-clinic staffers use PetPro Connect as a web-based portal. It integrates with most veterinary information-management systems and syncs clinic data and patient medical records. The messaging center lets the clinic field questions that clients ask via the app. A single, centralized login, accessible simultaneously on multiple computers, lets staff members share tasks and triage needs.

PetPro Connect also lets veterinarians offer live-video consultations, a boon for busy pet owners. Rather than skip a consult entirely, owners can use video to get the vet's input on issues such as a healing incision or minor rash.

Only a vet can initiate a video consult with PetPro Connect, which ensures that he or she retains control of judgment calls such as when a remote consult can substitute for a clinic visit. PetPro Connect lets veterinarians set fees for various telemedicine services and bill clients automatically.

“The digital and mobile revolution is transforming animal health, including the way veterinarians and pet owners interact,” said Timothy Bettington, head of U.S. commercial operations for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Animal Health Business. “We’re committed to offering the most helpful solutions in a rapidly changing world for people who own and care for animals.”

Andrew Gillies, who leads the U.S. PetPro Connect initiative for Boehringer Ingelheim, said the company is hungry for feedback from users and will add features in response, such as a loyalty program.

The Future of Veterinary Medicine

It should come as no surprise that more pet owners are looking to mobile solutions to meet animal-health needs.

Tens of millions of people already use their phones to pay bills, find dates and post selfies. When it comes to dogs and cats, people swipe this way and that to order pet food and compare kennel ratings.

The digital and mobile revolution has transformed the rhythms of everyday life in almost every arena, including the relationship between pet owner and animal health-care provider.

At Boehringer Ingelheim, the idea for PetPro Connect sprang from a desire to help veterinarians and pet owners through innovative technology. It started with the team at BI X, an independent subsidiary the company launched in 2017 to incubate new ideas for digital innovation in healthcare.

“We took a think-tank approach to this project,” Gillies said. "Starting from scratch and leveraging decades of customer insights into vet and pet owner needs plus real users' input, the team has built the PetPro Connect platform from the ground up."

Pet owners increasingly are interested in telehealth, an umbrella term for the use of technology to remotely deliver health information and education, experts say. They also have interest in telemedicine, a term that refers to actual care delivered remotely, such as diagnoses and treatment directives.

Millennials: ‘Go where they live: online’

Nowhere is this more apparent than among Millennials, now the largest demographic of pet owners, making up about 35% of that group.

Studies show that nearly three-quarters of Millennials own a pet—and they are willing to spend significantly on their pets’ health care. It's also no secret that they're the most connected generation ever.

“The best way to connect with those digitally connected potential clients is to go where they live: online. And the best way to do that is through a digitally connected veterinary practice,” the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Animal Hospital Association write in a joint report, “The Real Life Rewards of Virtual Care.”

It's not surprising, then, that Millennials, and their younger "Gen Z" peers, are driving the trend toward veterinary telemedicine. But convenient digital access to vet care also may benefit other pet owners: over-scheduled Gen-Xers, retired Baby Boomers, the elderly or others with mobility or transit challenges.

"Everyone assumes Millennials will love this technology," said Martin, the patient care and clinical operations manager for four veterinary clinics near Atlanta. “But we've actually found that it's our older clientele, those long-timers who have a strong tie to our vets and staff that are reaching out to us digitally the most."

A changing landscape

Telehealth and virtual care represent an extension of the veterinary practice, the journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association has reported.

Industry organizations have hosted discussions, developed policies and created resources for vets. Some veterinarians have been cautious about the new technologies, concerned about control, professionalism, and the legal and regulatory landscape.

Guidelines from the AMVA allow a broad range of telemedicine practices in cases where a vet has a relationship with a client, pre-established by a physical, in-person exam.

Pet owners, as tethered to their phones as everyone else, seem open to experiences like the video consult that PetPro Connect facilitates.

Learn more at www.petproconnect.com.