22 Mar 2021
“...this app... provides fast, exceptional and supportive specialist advice, and increases the number of pets and owners who can benefit from specialist input” – Victoria Johnson, VetCT.
Vet Times
Job Title
Victoria Johnson, co-director of VetCT.
An app designed to provide rapid, round-the-clock access to specialist support for vets in practice is being launched by VetCT at BSAVA Virtual Congress on 25 March.
The app aims to bridge the existing gap for clinical cases where specialist input is desired, but for which full referral may not be ideal or possible.
The new app allows vets to send relevant case information (history, results, videos and photos) to diploma-holding specialists across the entire range of specialities from their mobile phone.
They can then chose a range of options – from instant call-back or text chat, to a written report or arranging a virtual appointment.
Victoria Johnson, co-director of VetCT, said: ”Behind the app we have a committed team of more than 50 employed specialists, plus 100 radiologists and a full customer support team ready to respond to enquiries. All our specialists also work in clinical roles and previously have worked in first opinion practice, and we have so much respect for the challenges our general practitioner colleagues face.
“We want to make their lives that little bit easier, supporting them – with empathy – in giving the best care to complex cases where referral may not be an option. We also want to provide pet owners with access to specialist care for their pets, where cost or travel may preclude them from seeing a specialist at a referral centre.”
The standard service includes an annual practice membership fee of £200 (reduced for locum vets), and a fee of £80+VAT per specialist consultation of up to 20 minutes.
Practices can then charge this fee on to their clients and credits may be used to access the service free of charge. Each practice will be awarded credits for using the service, with VetCT also gifting additional credits to help support vets who may benefit from a helping hand, such as those returning from extended leave, moving to different species areas or new graduates.
Time on the app is automatically logged as CPD, with quarterly certificates being generated for users. Additional services include the ability to book bespoke CPD, significant event reviews and live training sessions – for example, for procedures such as bone-marrow biopsy.
The service is designed to complement existing specialist services. Dr Johnson added: ”We recognise the vital importance of physical referrals, and this service in no way replaces that. Indeed, we have started to see evidence that using the app will lead to more patients getting physically referred for the right reasons, at the right time, with the right information.
“However, we also know that many vets and specialists are under huge time pressure. We hope this app relieves the pressure for both parties; provides fast, exceptional and supportive specialist advice; and increases the number of pets and owners who can benefit from specialist input.”
The app is downloadable for both iOS and Android systems, with pre-registration available prior to the launch on 25 March.
