Implementing Veterinary Technology: Why now? 

Times are ever-changing in the animal health industry. Implementing veterinary technology is part of that change whether you have already implemented it or are waiting for the right time. VetMeasure is here to tell you the time is NOW! However, Veterinary Professionals all over the country are experiencing flooded phone calls for appointments, emails that get little attention, and little to no break between appointments or surgeries. So why pause to learn about something new when you are so busy? Because that new piece of equipment could help you and your team tremendously. 

Why was Implementing Veterinary Technology Successful? 

History of it Veterinary Technology: 

While veterinary professionals haven’t always been able to log in to their computer system to see appointment times, read flow charts from their monitor in the exam room, or even plug the patient monitor into a smart screen, technology has been in the veterinary hospitals for a long time. 

Starting with 3-D printing to make orthotics and prosthetics in the 1980s to a gradual increase of technology in the hospital caused a shift in the industry. From there it has progressed to some of the very things listed above. The industry has progressed to modern 3D printing, minimally invasive surgeries, and wearable technologies. More of these can be found in detail in How is Technology Helping Veterinary practice? on the VETPORT website.  

Porch to Couch: 

As technology has become more prevalent in the veterinary industry, veterinary care has become more efficient. This led to more research being done because more people were using the technologies available. As Sajna Massey from Sylvester AI says on the Veterinary Innovation Podcast, “technology can only get better and better the more we use it and feed into it.” Advancements in research, including better parasite control, allowed dogs to go from sleeping outside on the porch to inside in the same bed as your client. Thus increasing your client’s love and affection, or Human-Animal Bond, for their dog and their dog’s health. 

Dogs coming inside led to them being more of a family member than a pet. Once this was established the pet care market boomed with clients wanting to spend more on their pets. Meaning more technology was able to be utilized in the hospital. 

Education and Research: 

When people brought their dogs inside the emotional attachment to their pet grew. People were willing to spend more money on their canine friends because now they felt more like family. When more people started to go to the veterinary hospital, cases grew, more efficiency was demanded, therefore, technology was used more. Thus, making it more cost-effective over time. 

From adding internet-based platforms for record-keeping to sending digital records from hospital to hospital for a specialist to analyze. This made researchers and entrepreneurs want to improve what they already had. Research and technology advancements aid both the veterinary professionals and their clients leading to better overall patient care. 

Why is Knowing This So Important?  

You can now begin to see that this cycle is all connected. New technologies are developed. They are introduced into the hospital and utilized more frequently over time. Once they are more utilized they become more cost-effective for both you, the hospital owner and your clients. The greater use of technology can then be analyzed, researched, and developed further allowing technology companies to make desired improvements sooner. 

What Now? 

You are probably thinking “This makes sense,  is there something new out there we should know about?” We are glad you have this thought because canine health monitoring wearables are HERE! MeasureON! smart harness is a wearable that monitors heart rate, temperature, respiratory rate, relative activity level, and ambient conditions wirelessly. This continuous monitoring during the post-operation or hospitalization time period can greatly optimize complication detection times which in turn could save a patient’s life.

This smart harness allows you to monitor your patients without shaving or attaching any wires to them. Heart rate monitoring allows for patients that are in more critical condition to be monitored 24/7. By streaming data to an app that can be projected onto your monitor in the hospital and/or onto your mobile device.

Checking the vitals of your patient just got easier. Each harness has “safe ranges” that can be set so if a patient goes outside of those, you will be alerted immediately. MeasureON! Can detect and alert your staff four to eight hours faster than manual monitoring can detect. 

Implementing Veterinary Technology: MeasureON! 

Implementation of MeasureON!, as well as any technology in the veterinary practice, can be simple and easy. Once you have made the investment into continuous patient monitoring, we help you with the steps to implement effectively. The following steps will ensure a better transition to technology in the hospital and staff acceptance. 

Steps include: 

• Prepping the Space:

  • Most technology is easy to implement, once you have the space to do it. Make sure that a few weeks before the arrival of the new technology there is space available to house it. This will make it easier to implement once it arrives. MeasureON! is compact but it still needs a place to reside when not in use. 

• Team Preparation:

  • Getting your team used to the idea of having something different in the hospital is ideal before it arrives. This is because introducing any change to a veterinary hospital can be challenging. Signs of resistance, both active and passive, are common. Preparing the team will help with acceptance of any technology and change that is coming. Another way of ensuring better acceptance is through having a hospital-wide email/announcement.  

• Technology Arrival:

  • Once your new technology is in the hospital, work with your staff member(s) who will be in charge of supervising the use of it until your entire staff is familiar with the new technology. It is also important to go through the steps of setting up the harness. MeasureON! specifically has videos to help you navigate the app, and set up your new harnesses. 

• Introduction to Team:

  • Now that the technology is in your hospital, you want to make a formal introduction to your team. This could be an all-staff meeting or an all-staff email. It all depends on the volume of traffic in your hospital at the time. Larger hospitals also may want to use the email version versus in-person to avoid having to coordinate everyone’s schedule. 

• Follow up with your staff:

  • After the technology has been in your hospital, follow up with staff members about how it is being implemented. This should happen about one to two months after implementation of the technology to ensure that staff has had enough time to acclimate to it. If your team has questions about MeasureON!, refer them to your location’s VetMeasure representative for assistance. 

Additional Information: 

Learning from those using it every day can help you adapt the technology to your hospital and how it will best be utilized. Receiving feedback is also a good way to know how your hospital is adapting to the technology. Ask your staff how it is making a difference in the work environment and if it is helping or hurting in their opinion. 

Veterinary Technology Overall: 

Introducing any change to a veterinary hospital can be challenging but the time for it is now. Newer and better technology is being introduced into the veterinary industry every day and you do not want to fall behind the curve. Technology is a part of the ever-changing world that is the animal healthcare industry. Veterinary professionals all over the country are experiencing a surplus load of patients and VetMeasure is here to help.

MeasureON! Can help you save 240 hours of manual monitoring per year per technician so they can be utilized somewhere else in the hospital; 240 hours, that’s six weeks! With the rise in patient loads, MeasureON! makes it easy and simple to monitor patients. If you would like to receive more information about the technology that is here to help you right now, check out the infographic OR click here to view our website.