Improving the Flow of Your Clinic With Patient Pre-Registration

Does your clinic ever run a little behind? Do your clients or their pets ever look stressed during the vet visit? Patient pre-registration could help you address these concerns.

Veterinary hospitals all over the world are doing everything they can to manage patient information effectively. Pre-registration is a new strategy being implemented to improve the overall flow of the clinic, as well as its organisation. With benefits to clients, patients, and veterinary staff alike, this new method of data collection can completely change the game. 

So… What’s the Point?

You’re most likely asking “what is pre-registration?” and “how does it benefit my clinic?” Pre-registration is the act of collecting information regarding the pet, prior to their appointment or hospital visit. This includes information such as:

• Name
• Date of birth 
• Sex and desexing status 
• General patient history 
• Microchip number 
• Owner personal details (such as phone number, address and email)
• Reason for visit

This information is vital when creating patient files, and will save staff a great deal of time if organised in advance. Not only this, but it reduces the margin of error when inputting patient information. How many times have you tried to call a listed phone number and found that the number is incorrect? This problem is easily rectified, as the owner must fill out these details digitally, making it much less likely that an error will be made by a third party.

Veterinary practices have improved efficiency by 30-50% by switching to a paperless document management system.

How Does Pre-Registration Benefit Everyone?

Reduced Wait Times 

The wait times in veterinary clinics have been a source of complaints for a number of years. Clinics often run behind due to the time it takes for veterinarians to gather information about the case, examine the pet, and finally determine a treatment option or further investigation. This can be a time-consuming process, which can be frustrating for staff and clients alike. By gathering patient history prior to the appointment time, precious minutes can be saved! This means that patients are being seen quickly, and veterinarians have a better idea of what to expect during the consultation. 

A Better Understanding For Our Veterinarians 

Gathering history prior to consultation allows veterinarians to better study a case prior to examination, and thus determine the most effective plan moving forward. The diagnosis comes from 90% of the history so your vets can walk in confidently suspecting what is going on without seeing the pet. Digital forms also limits the amount of paperwork they must complete, which more often than not involves veterinarians staying back hours after their finishing time.

Organisation and no more scanning of paperwork

Not only does pre-registration help the clinic document process flow better, but it also improves organisation immensely. All information regarding patients is safely stored automatically into the practice management system that is easily accessible to staff. New client forms can also populate a file in the practice management system. This makes it much easier for veterinary support staff to contact owners, and gain extra information about a pet if required. It also means veterinarians and support staff will know what to expect and when to expect it, reducing confusion. Pre-registration also reassures clients that their pet’s information is safe and organised, which improves overall customer satisfaction 

Better Overall Treatment for Pets

Information regarding specific cases is gathered prior to consultation or hospital stay. This allows veterinarians to design a more specific treatment method that is tailored to the exact needs of the animal. This means that pets are being given more specific treatment plans, which will improve their overall outcome. It also takes the stress off of veterinarians to make decisions under time constraints

Species-Specific Care

Gathering information about specific species prior to an appointment is extremely useful, especially when it comes to exotics. Having extra information about a specific animal may help to improve their treatment (i.e. gathering information about the tank conditions of a reptile). This will help veterinarians provide the best care possible for species that are more uncommon. It also allows veterinary staff to pre-prepare the correct conditions for extended hospital visits, so that the pet is comfortable during this time.

Emergency Situations

In the event of an emergency, it is important that the necessary information is gathered as quickly as possible. By having pre-registration information saved, the clinic is able to access this and begin stabilisation methods quickly and efficiently. This prevents confusion between staff members and allows the pet to receive treatment promptly. The last thing we want is staff members waiting for files to be created, whilst an animal requires urgent medical attention. 

How Can This Process be Integrated Into My Veterinary Clinic?

Firstly, it is a good idea to appoint a capable member of staff to manage and monitor the pre-registration process. This includes setting the system up, and ensuring that it is user-friendly. New client forms should be available on the clinic website and emailed or SMS’d to the client upon appointment request. A QR code should also be made available around the clinic reception area for owners to fill out when visiting. Start implementing the system with new clients, and reach out to existing clients if further patient history is required. 

Implementing digital forms is extremely convenient, as it reduces the cost of paper production within the clinic. VetCheck Technologies determined that $1 is spent per sheet of paper used in a veterinary clinic. It is estimated that ONE patient requires a minimum of 10 pieces of information handouts. With hundreds of patients seen over the course of a week, it is easy to imagine what this is costing veterinary clinics. Switching to a paperless system will not only save veterinary clinics large amounts of money, but it will also reduce the impact of excessive paper use on the environment! 

Forms provided by VetCheck Technologies are digital and contain mandatory fields of information. This makes the process easy to understand. It also automatically creates new patient and client files within the practice system.

Next, it is important that the pre-registration system becomes mandatory. Clients must fill out the necessary forms prior to their appointment. Depending on the nature of the clinic, it may be necessary to implement consequence systems. A new client form should be received by the client upon requesting an appointment. If this form is not completed 24-48 hours prior to the appointment, a cancellation will be required. It is much easier to make digital forms mandatory, as they can simply be returned to the clinic via email, or SMS. 

Client feedback is especially important at this time. Surveys should be created to ask clients how they are finding the pre-registration process. A recent survey done in conjunction with Monash University showed that 80% of pet owners would prefer digital forms over paper ones. This will improve customer satisfaction, and allow clinics to ensure their systems are user-friendly and simple to understand. Constructive feedback in the early stages of change will help the system improve exponentially, in accordance with client needs. 

Why Should I Make The Change?

Overall, the use of pre-registration has greatly improved the workflow of veterinary clinics, particularly from a documentation and record-keeping point of view. The use of pre-registration forms helps to streamline the admission process and improve the organisation of the clinic. It has proven to be useful for veterinary staff and clients alike! Additionally, the use of pre-registration is useful for improving the overall care for specific cases and helps veterinary staff to better support their patients and their specialised needs.