Online Convenience--and So Much More!
Megan Stephens, Bethany Animal Hospital 
Sycamore, IL
"Having clients be able to request appointments, ask the doctor questions and see their pets' history" were the benefits office manager Megan Stephens anticipated when Bethany Animal Hospital got started with Vetstreet back in January, 2005.
As it turned out, Megan's initial expectations were met--and then some! The convenience of 24/7 online communication is just one of a host of benefits now enjoyed by the clients, doctors and staff of this mixed animal practice located in Sycamore, IL, a rapidly growing area about 70 miles west of Chicago.
Though she was enthusiastic about Vetstreet from the get-go, Megan wasn't sure how many clients would actually use the service and how long it would take to get them signed up. "It ended up working out great!" Megan recalls.
To get the word out about Vetstreet, Megan made the most of the materials available in the Vetstreet Welcome Kit. A first step was to place the email collection sheets at the front desk. "Definitely use all the email collection materials that Vetstreet gives you, as far as advertising," Megan advises. "Get the whole clinic, [including] all the receptionists, involved in promoting it."
The enterprising office manager even put the hospital's Intravet computer system to work: "We went ahead and put warnings on all the accounts that didn't have email addresses, so we'd be reminded to ask for their email addresses," Megan recalls. "It didn't take long to get a lot of people involved!"
As promised, Vetstreet 's Pet Portal service make it easy for clients to communicate online. "Some people put in their prescription refill requests at twelve at night," says Megan. "It's nice to see they're thinking about their pets' health!"
But the benefits don't stop there. The email reminders included in the Pet Portals "definitely help with compliance," says Megan. "If you're sending your [own] postcards and the clients are also getting the emails, it helps get them in for their exams and boosters."
Client response to Vetstreet has been enthusiastic. "They really like it," says Megan. "They're very surprised about all that they get. Not just their pet's history, but the educational material, too. It helps that they can go right to the Pet Portal to get information, instead of a random site on the Internet."
Because Vetstreet makes it easy for pet owners to request updates to their accounts, Megan finds that her client data is noticeably more current. "People are very particular about their information, their pet's coat color, making sure [the pet's sex is listed correctly]," says Megan. "We're always trying to stay up to date with people's phone numbers and current addresses. Vetstreet has definitely helped with that."
Thanks to the at-a-glance reports included in the Vet Portal it's simple for the entire team to stay current with what's happening at the practice. "I just print [the reports] off and take them into the doctors' meetings. It's very handy," Megan explains. "It's nice to have a visual, instead of just numbers."
Vetstreet has even brought new clients to the clinic! "We had a lot of people who weren't clients but who had heard we had these cool Pet Portals," Megan recalls. "They would try to log in and get a Pet Portal, which they couldn't do, because they weren't yet clients. We got about twenty new clients that way."
Between the increased compliance, online convenience, handy reports and client data that's more accurate-- Vetstreet benefits the hospital in so many different ways. As Megan says, "I definitely think Vetstreet keeps us one step ahead!"