The love and care of animals has become common plan in households and families. The types of animals range from dogs and cats to birds and fish. Some people have gerbils, hamsters and even ferrets. At some point in time these animals will require medical attention which is provided for by veterinarians. This research paper will examine three different types of veterinary management software to better help the customers and analyze the way veterinary technicians interact with clients. All veterinary management software is not create equal, there are both positive and negatives to each one. In order to determine the best of the best it depends on several factors such as ease of use, and the ability to download information directly into files. The next section will compare and contrast these three types of veterinary management software: Infinity, StringSoft and Vetport.
Infinity is all-purpose upgraded veterinary management software designed to change technology and then use those innovations to enhance the experience of the veterinary clinic as well as the clients (ImproMed, LLC, 2013). Infinity software was created by the company called ImproMed. The company did not provide many details on the website but this can be inferred staying up to date on the current technologies and advances associated with the veterinary medical world is very important. The updated software that was released by ImproMed includes advancements such as rich modules providing more power to hospitals. This is important because profits are increased, expenses are decreased, and there are no charges for recovering missing data (ImproMed LLC, 2013).
ImproMed is also concerned with providing the highest quality products to their consumers in the veterinary medicine world. Improved quality for the Infinity software is described by these characteristics: multiple levels of support, numerous educational tools, both anticipating and handling the needs of the clients (ImproMed LLC, 2013). This company definitely strives to make sure that their customers know they are important.
The Infinity software allows easy access to accounts receivable information, the client/patient database, and a clinical census. It provides an easytime appointment scheduler, lab imports and easy to maneuver setup screens (ImproMed LLC, 2013). In terms of support there are a few different options. The first option is accessing technical documents so the customers can determine how to solve certain issues. There are additional services such as QuickSupport and disaster planning (ImproMed LLC, 2013). These implementations make the clients feel more confident that their issues will be resolved in a prompt and informed manner. The pros for this software program include; It is very easy to use, there are friendly workers that are available at any time for concerns or any type of issue (Launins, 2016). Another pro is; the way it is setup make it easy to train a new staff member, there is also good inventory control (Stoltz, 2017). The cons for this program include; they have "glitches" in the system so that makes some modules not able to be printed (Launins, 2016). Another con for this program is; There are too many features so its hard to learn how to use all of them (Stoltz, 2017).
“StringSoft is the premier Veterinary Hospital Management System on the market today (StringSoft n.d., 2013)”. The application itself took over 8 years to complete which incorporated the knowledge of various veterinarians. One of the most important parts is its real world functions and its compatibility with Microsoft, specifically the .NET Framework (StringSoft n.d., 2013).
StringSoft allows for a completely paperless system so that veterinary offices can decrease their footprint on the environment. It allows for lab interfaces which mean that data from the labs can be directly downloaded into the files which save large amounts of time entering the information by hand (StringSoft n.d., 2013). It provides a patient census at a single glance which is important to help keep track of each client and the hospital they are currently in. Integrated credit card and ACH processing allows for ease of payment and checking account processing when making payments (StringSoft n.d., 2013). When problems arise it is important for technical support to be available.
There were no definite steps or procedures listed for handling emergencies requiring technical support, however, there were two different ways to contact the company. The contact information is both a toll free number and an e-mail address. Also, included is an information request form (StringSoft n.d., 2013). The pros for this program include; This program is a lot cheaper than most software programs used by vets or vet techs (Boulais, 2013). The cons for this program include; It cost extra to have extra stuff like staff training and custom reports made (Boulais, 2013).
VETport is a type of veterinary management software geared towards the future growth of the veterinary environment. This piece of software is quite versatile with the ability to handle several types of species (animal types), several different configurations, and all practice types (VETport LLC, 2013). It is created as a contingency plan type of software that meets each challenge in veterinary medicine with the tools to create solutions for the staff and the clients. The company behind the software VETport bears the same name as the software.
VETport had its start in 2004 under Dr. Thomas Molloy DVM, who at the time practiced veterinary medicine for 30 years. He resided in the United States and provided an incredible vision for the veterinary medical world. Technologies are ever advancing and so must the methods used by veterinarians to more efficiently treat the sick. Dr. Thomas understood that Web advances and electronic medical records (EMR) were the next level in medical evolution and those companies that did not respond to these changes were doomed to go out of business eventually (VET port LLC, 2013). "The practice management systems on hand were merely cash registers and based on client server technology which was a dying legacy technology (VETport LLC, 2013)."
Some of the features associated with this program were briefly mentioned, now there will be additional facts included. This software can handle the classification of many species such as companion animals, exotic, and mixed (VETport LLC, 2013). This software allows for several different types of office configurations: single-doctor, mobile, and teaching hospital. Lastly, the software deals with practice types such as alternative and vaccination clinics (VETport LLC, 2013). In terms of providing support VETport provides three forms of communication: a toll free number, a physical address, and a support e-mail address. "The pros for this program include; it is very reliable, flexible, and you can also customize everything on there. It also fits the needs of the veterinarian (Mas, 2015). The cons for this program are; the records randomly get changed with anyone knowing or opening the files, there are problems uploading photos. Another thing is files of one patient show up on another patients file, and the last thing is it won't let you set up multiple reminders for the year (Mas, 2015).
It is clear that advances in technology are pressing their way into all walks of life even the care of our animals. In order to better manage these new trend veterinary clinics need to use veterinary management software. This research paper described three different types: Infinity, StringSoft and VETport. All software packages provided good features, however, Infinity, and StringSoft provide better quality software. Getting the right software for the job means that now the information must be given to clients in an acceptable manner. This can involve active listening skills such as restating the discussion and taking good notes. If these types of veterinary management software packages are the beginning the future looks good.