13 Apr 2023
Vetstoria is a unique software solution designed from the ground up to protect one of the veterinary profession’s most valuable commodities: time.
Julien Renard
Job Title
Q. Hi Julien, could you explain what problems Vetstoria was launched to solve?
A. I have worked for 10 years as a vet in several practices – these all had different scheduling processes. However, in each clinic, time and resources were tight, so keeping control of the diary was essential.
Using a software that enables self-scheduling of appointments is one very efficient way to free up time.
Q. Can all practices benefit from online booking?
A. Most will. Pet owners don’t always have time to schedule appointments during work hours, so this gives them the option to book on any device – 24/7. We also often hear about long hold times on the phone; if people book online, this reduces.
Around 40% of bookings online are made out of hours – imagine the time saved by the receptionist the next morning. You also can’t forget the reduction of no-shows – you can just take a deposit when your pet owners book an appointment.
As well as all of the benefits to the front desk team, it can also help drive more revenue for the clinic. Around 14% of online bookings are from new customers; some of these will simply go to the next practice if they can’t book an appointment easily out of hours. We now work with several specialist referral practices, too.
Q. Can you explain exactly what real-time booking means for practices?
A. This means that when a customer is booking an appointment with you, you fully control the availability they can see – Vetstoria will check this availability with your practice information management systems (PIMs) twice per booking to ensure there are no conflicts in scheduling.
Your team won’t need to untangle a mess of double-booked appointments, as you will see what’s available now, not five minutes ago.
Q. Can Vetstoria be customised for individual practices, and what does this entail?
A. Vetstoria is hyper-customisable and we tailor each hospital’s set-up to its unique operation. Being able to only display the slots you want will ensure you keep a high level of control over your schedule.
You can determine rules for new customers, hold and release spaces for emergencies, triage potential emergencies, customise based on different skills, needs or working hours, and much more.
Q. What does Vetstoria do to keep the customer at the heart of the process, and what ongoing support is on offer?
A. Our booking platform is convenient for pet owners as they can book anytime, anywhere, and it also truly saves time for the front desk staff, giving them more time for caring.
The goal of the implementation and support team is to make sure the aforementioned happens while giving the clinic a perfect “end product”: a correctly booked appointment.
Q. How has the Vetstoria platform adapted to the needs of the market since it was first launched in 2015?
A. What really makes the system work is how customisable it is now. It’s gone from “being able to book an appointment online” to being able to book the right appointment online, at the right time, with the right vet.
We’ve also got a great deal of customers from different veterinary groups. This meant we didn’t just need to improve the booking part of the product, but also cater for the specific needs of those groups – they needed a different level of analytics and tracking. We take feedback from our customers to make continual improvements, and we’ve also scaled our team from a handful, to more than 140 people – all dedicated to making Vetstoria great for the 3,500 clinics that use us.
