If you own a veterinary practice, you undoubtedly care about the animals you treat. Keeping your practice up to date with the latest and greatest in veterinary technology can ensure that your furry patients receive the best care possible and that their owners feel confident in your practices.
In this guide, we’ll break down how veterinary equipment has improved in recent years, then list some of the industry’s newest veterinary equipment and suppliers. We’ll also touch on the best veterinary archives to help your practice stay current in the veterinary industry. Let’s dive in.
How Has Veterinary Equipment Improved In Recent Years?
Veterinary medicine has seen numerous improvements in the past decade, primarily due to the exponential growth of medical technology. Today, many pet owners have begun adopting modernized equipment for use with their pets and expect their veterinarians to incorporate high-tech equipment into their practices as well.
One significant improvement to veterinary equipment in recent years is the introduction of MRI and ultrasound machines. While traditional physicians have been using MRI machines since 1977, these machines were previously reserved for human use.
Veterinary dental x-ray machines have also improved significantly. While vets have used dental imaging in their practices since the 1960s, newer computed radiography machines provide more efficient and detailed dental images.
Overall, technological advancements allow vets to save time, perfect their practices, and improve client satisfaction.
Veterinary Supplies and Equipment to Purchase in 2021 and the near future
If you’ve run a veterinary practice for a while now, you probably have all the essential tools you need to complete routine exams and surgical tasks, such as microscopes, stethoscopes, and scalpels.
However, continually updating your tool and equipment arsenal can help you deliver the best care for your patients. Here are a few supplies that the most modern vets are adding to their practices in 2021 and beyond:
3D Printers
3D printing offers a world of advancements to the veterinary industry. Today, many modern vets utilize 3D printers to create detailed, realistic bone models and organ replicas from tomography scans, allowing veterinarians to plan complex surgeries more strategically.
3D printing can improve patient outcomes and shorten surgery durations. You can find dozens of medical 3D printers on the market in virtually any price range, but the top 3D printers for veterinarians are from the following companies:
- 3D SYSTEMS
- EOS 3D
- EnvisionTEC
If your veterinary practice does not currently utilize a 3D printer, you could save yourself time and improve your processes by adding one to your arsenal.
Wearable Devices
Many pet owners have begun purchasing wearable monitoring devices for their pets. These devices can provide crucial information about a pet’s health and well-being and help owners locate their animals when they go missing.
Veterinarians have also begun implementing these high-tech devices in their practices. Wearable devices can serve several purposes in the veterinary field, including:
- Activity tracking
- Health monitoring
- Location tracking
- Health insights
- Food tracking
Some vets have begun renting out wearable devices to high-risk patients, while others recommend that pet owners purchase them through their practice or another retailer. A few of our favorite wearable devices include the:
- Whistle FIT
- Fi Smart Dog Collar
- Tractive 3G Pet Tracker
Keeping a few wearable devices in your veterinary tool kit can allow you to keep a closer eye on high-risk patients and determine specialized treatment plans for their specific needs.
Oral Pill Cameras
Veterinary scientists continually strive to find more efficient ways to capture internal imaging in pets. One new advancement in veterinary medicine allows vets to view their patient’s gastrointestinal tract with an oral pill camera. ALICAM is one of the more popular oral pill camera manufacturers.
The ALICAM camera resembles a small oral pill, making it easier to hide in treats, and in turn, easier to get pets to swallow. Once an animal swallows the pill, it will travel throughout the GI tract and take 360-degree images. The pet’s owner will then recover the pill after the animal digests it and return it to the vet, who can retrieve and review the footage.
Oral pill cameras offer an easy alternative to full endoscopies, saving vets time and their patient’s discomfort. These cameras also allow veterinarians to see more of the intestinal tract than they could through traditional endoscopies.
Engagement Platforms
Along with adopting advancements in their surgical and examination practices, many vets have also begun implementing streamlined solutions for customer engagement. For example, Weave is a popular engagement platform among vets that provides easy scheduling, communication, payment processing, and more.
Here are a few ways a platform like Weave can improve engagement within your veterinary practice:
Automate Scheduling
As a veterinary practice, many of your inbound calls probably relate to scheduling. While sometimes these calls require pet owners to speak with the vet, other times, they simply want to schedule a routine checkup or verify a previous appointment time.
Engagement platforms can automate much of the scheduling process. These platforms allow pet owners to schedule their own appointments on your veterinary clinic’s website, removing the middleman and streamlining the process.
If a client has more specialized scheduling needs, such as if they are unsure what type of appointment to schedule, the automation platform can notify your team to reach out to them through an outbound call. However, the platform can completely automate general scheduling matters, saving you and the pet owner time.
Simplify Payments
When an owner needs to pay for their dog or cat’s appointment in person, they occupy your employees’ time and prevent employees from addressing other client needs or answering inbound calls. Another way that an engagement platform can assist your business is by simplifying payments.
Engagement platforms can provide your customers with different payment method options, allowing them to choose the most convenient method for their situation. They can even pay their vet appointment bills while on the go, preventing them from holding up the line in your office.
Increase Communication
Reaching out to your clients regularly to check in on their pets and remind them about routine appointments is an effective way to improve customer satisfaction. Thankfully, automation platforms make it easy to communicate with all your clients on a personal level.
These platforms can allow you to send automated text messages to your customers a certain amount of time after their pet’s previous appointment. For example, you can send an automated text 24 hours after each appointment that reads:
“Hi (Name). We wanted to check in and see how (Pet) is doing today. Do you have any questions or concerns for (Dr.)?”
You can also use an engagement platform to send automatic reminders to pet owners and keep them in the loop about upcoming appointments. Instead of needing to dedicate time to call your clients individually, you can have your platform send out an auto-text verifying appointment dates and times. Customers can then confirm their pet’s appointment over text.
Engagement platforms can save your business time and add another layer of technological advancement to improve your practices.
The Top Medical Suppliers for Vet Equipment
Some medical suppliers and manufacturers are more reliable than others within the veterinary industry. If your practice is looking to stock up on essential equipment, you will want to ensure that the supplier you choose uses trustworthy manufacturing processes, has positive customer reviews overall, and has extensive experience in the vet supplies industry.
Our top two choices for veterinary medical suppliers are OraTech, LLC and IDEXX Laboratories.
1. OraTech, LLC
OraTech, LLC is a medical manufacturer based in South Jordan, UT. This company manufactures a wide range of medical equipment for hospitals, dental practices, veterinary practices, and surgical procedures with a focus on dental equipment.
Many veterinarians rely on OraTech, LLC to supply their basic medical equipment such as syringes and dental toothpaste.
2. IDEXX Laboratories
IDEXX Laboratories is a veterinary equipment and supplies manufacturer specializing in small animal diagnostics. This company produces diagnostic testing systems for animal health monitoring and pathology, offering supplies such as:
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- Hematology analyzers
- Electrolyte analyzers
- Urine sediment analyzer
- Point-of-care tests
IDEXX Laboratories has impressed veterinarians since its launch in 1984.
The Most Informative Veterinary Archives & Journals
One of the most effective ways to stay updated on the latest veterinary technology and supplies is to frequent veterinary and medical journals. Researchers publish their findings in a wide range of veterinary-based journals. However, we’ve found that the top journals and archives include the following:
- Archives of Veterinary Science and Medicine
- Veterinary Medicine International
- Journal of Animal Science
- Veterinary Clinical Pathology
- Research in Veterinary Science
These journals are accessible online and in print format, making them easy to acquire and review.
Streamline Your Veterinary Client Engagement with Weave
Using the latest veterinary supplies and equipment within your practice can show clients that you care about providing the best experiences for their pets. As your practice moves into the new year, consider how you can incorporate a few of the supplies on our list into your everyday practices.
If you’re looking to implement a client engagement platform, you can start today by requesting a free Weave demo. Contact our team at 888-579-5668 to schedule a consultation.
