9 Nov 2016
You may think your practice management system is already running to its full potential. But, as Nick Lloyd explains, when it comes to administration, data transfer and disease control, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Nick Lloyd
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Information and the ability to share it quickly and easily has become the cornerstone of modern life; fed, in part, by increasing digitisation, the rise of social media platforms and the rapid advance of smartphone technology.
When the practice management system (PMS) was first introduced two decades ago, it quickly became an essential component of veterinary practice, aiding time management and offering automated accounts, easy updating of patient records and increased client communication. Today, the technology continues to evolve and offer new possibilities – and yet, for many practices, transferring information from the PMS to external companies, such as insurance providers, remains a problem.
A “language barrier” between the PMS and other IT systems leaves practices with no choice but to manually fill in forms and send them by post or fax, resulting in unnecessary delays and administrative burdens – an increasingly uncommon set-up in a world where paper forms of communication are becoming all but obsolete.
The VetXML project was developed to provide the solution to these communication problems and is paving the way for a more technologically advanced profession. It does so through a “universal language” that enables practices to send information electronically from their PMS to industry suppliers and other external organisations.
Aside from the obvious benefits for the individual practice – time saving, lower costs and reduced risk of error – the technology has the potential to revolutionise the way we, as a profession, share data, with significant implications for disease control, animal welfare and the service we provide to our clients.
Without the ability to share information with other practices, suppliers or organisations, the PMS could be described as a desert island only able to transfer information on paper – or a “message in a bottle”.
The VetXML Consortium aimed to bridge the gap between the PMS and other IT systems, allowing them to “talk” to each other through a universal data format that facilitates the secure, seamless transfer of information.
Set up in 2006, the consortium comprises industry, veterinary surgeons, PMS suppliers, technological and financial services, insurance providers, lab companies and microchip databases.
While we may wish to resist the onset of an evermore paperless world, electronic data-sharing can boost our profits, allow us to provide better customer service and improve staff satisfaction.
By removing the risk of human error, it has the power to help safeguard animal welfare and the bond of trust between the practice and its clients. Facilitating simple, secure sharing of data may also one day have a role to play in evidence-based veterinary medicine and mapping cases of infectious disease.
As the advance of technology marches on, integration will have a key role to play in the future of our profession.
There is increasing emphasis on, and demand for, high levels of customer service across all industries and – by facilitating the electronic transfer of insurance claims, lab reports and microchip forms – we can offer a faster, more efficient, and accurate service.
As the process of filling in and sending off paper insurance claims can be sluggish and difficult to track, clients may be apt to unfairly blame their practice for delays. Manually completing forms can take up countless hours and often falls to veterinary nurses, taking them away from the clinical work they want to be doing and detracting from patient care and valuable nursing tasks. Practice systems using VetXML allow forms to be generated and sent via the PMS, negating the risk of human error and giving clients a faster turnaround time for reimbursement. This is particularly beneficial for clients whose animals suffer from chronic conditions requiring costly treatments.
Similarly, electronic lab request forms can be created in a few clicks and automatically filled in with the patient’s details. Lab reports are then transferred directly into the relevant animal record in the PMS – which again removes the risk of human error, with potentially important consequences for both the practice and animal welfare.
The cost of stationery, printing and postage may seem fairly inconsequential per patient, but the overall savings can be significant. Switching to a paperless, electronic method of sending insurance forms is estimated to save around £5 per claim.
The universal language of VetXML also allows for easier benchmarking – an important way for practices to compare their performance with that of others in the area and across the UK – simply by sending data from the PMS to the benchmarking company.
As well as the benefits to the individual practice and its clients, the technology behind VetXML could, one day, inform disease control interventions by allowing veterinary surgeons to map cases of infectious disease, such as parvovirus, via the PMS with just a few clicks, providing key information about disease occurrence in different locations.
There may also be important applications for evidence-based veterinary medicine, as clinical signs reported within patient records could be compared to lab results, creating a pattern of recognition and generating data on which tests provide the greatest accuracy.
There is no single complete source of key information about dispensing and prescribing veterinary medicines. As a result, veterinary surgeons are often forced to go searching in numerous places. VetXML is working towards a Safe Medicines Schema, which will facilitate a single method for requesting and receiving product information, such as pulling up the relevant datasheets and guidance on medicines in an instant. Prescribing vets will be able to type one code into their PMS and retrieve all the essential information for dispensing and prescribing a medicine.
The compliant PMS would be able to link up online with NOAH’s Data Sheet Compendium, vetformulary.com and the VMD, providing access to accurate, up-to-date information on veterinary medicines, including withhold times, dosages, safe use, storage contraindictions and specific warnings and precautions. As a consequence, guidance for veterinary medicines would be easily and instantly accessible during consultations, lowering the risk of issuing incorrect information to the client.
In the here and now, the ability to send information electronically in a paperless format has much to offer the veterinary profession and its clients – notably a faster, more efficient and accurate service, less paperwork, reduced administration costs and a greater level of staff satisfaction.
Going forwards, integration between IT systems has the potential to revolutionise communication in the veterinary sector, generating key data and unlocking information currently “trapped” in practice systems.
However, it is incumbent on PMS suppliers to take up the “universal language” that allows IT systems to share data.
As we advance into an evermore digitised world, the ability to share information quickly and easily will only become more important if the profession is to keep up with technological advances and client expectations.
So, isn’t it time we all spoke the same language?
XML (extensible markup language) is defined by the World Wide Web Consortium as “a software – and hardware – independent tool for carrying information”.
Its primary purpose is to structure, store and transfer information to allow the sharing of information between disparate computer systems and databases over the internet.
As a markup language, XML defines a set of rules (schema) for encoding arbitrary information into a plain text format that can be read by any system. Data is, therefore, not restricted to, or by, software and hardware, but is transferable among various differing applications.
Once a schema has been agreed, all interested parties that implement that schema can share data knowing they can understand the information when received. This is where VetXML comes in.
VetXML is an agreed set of XML data standards used in veterinary software to facilitate the sending and receiving of information within the sector.
External companies – such as laboratories, insurance providers or wholesalers – can send and receive information to any PMS that implements a VetXML schema. This, in turn, keeps costs for PMS providers and external companies down, as only one method of encoding data is required.
Further, where both PMS developers and external companies are involved in agreeing the schemas, it is more beneficial for all parties for the control of the schema to be the responsibility of a neutral third-party, such as VetXML.
In today’s technology-driven world, there is a constant need to communicate across a range of services. With VetXML, electronic dialogues between practice and supplier have been standardised for easier communications in the future.
Aided by the SPVS and chaired by Nick Lloyd, the VetXML Consortium was established in 2006 dedicated to the development and specification of a universal veterinary data format. The consortium is leading the way in the veterinary world in its standardisation of digital information transfer within the profession.
Members of the consortium span the sector; from veterinary practitioners, practice management vendors and technology and financial services, to insurance, laboratory, microchipping and pet nutrition businesses. The consortium has also attracted interest from veterinary associations, government bodies, US organisations and pharmaceutical companies.
The primary objective of the consortium is to improve the sharing of veterinary data through the development of a standard data format, to maximise the service provided by the veterinary profession.
VetXML enables the straightforward exchange of information between disparate IT systems within the profession; that is, between practice management systems and commercial suppliers. It is this commitment to developing a universal language for the profession that enables the VetXML Consortium to inspire interest and unite the veterinary sector.
For more information on VetXML, visit www.vetxml.co.uk
