This is the second in a series of telehealth articles to be published on the VetPartners blog site (www.vetpartners.org). Each article in the series will feature a different veterinary telemedicine option, providing valuable insight for veterinary professionals, consultants, and pet owners.
I am not associated with any other telemedicine company and receive no compensation—monetary or otherwise—from VetPartners or telemedicine for authoring this article.
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It’s The New Normal and Very “Techie”
By Dr. Carolyn C. Shadle
Last month I wrote that “telemedicine is coming to the vets.” I had no idea that this new phenomenon in healthcare delivery would arrive just in time for the pandemic!
Fortunately, for many practices and their clients, telemedicine was familiar. And for those who had not ventured into this new form of service delivery, the technology had been developed and was ready for them.
To learn more about option in telemedicine, I turned to Bruce Truman, a colleague in VetPartners. He is part of the team that created BabelBark, which launched four years ago and was ready for the stampede to get connected once the COVID-19 required social distancing.
An eco-system of care
The unique feature of BabelBark is its free app, which is used by pet owners to connect to pet care providers, such as groomers, pet sitters, trainers, boarders, veterinarians, etc. The web-based platforms, BizBark for pet businesses, and BabelBark for veterinary practices, are used to connect everyone together.
Through this app, pet parents appreciate knowing that nothing is overlooked – be it an accident while at the boarder, a lump discovered by a groomer, or issues around mobility being observed by a trainer. The information is made available to the pet care business, the owners, and their veterinarians.
Jocelyn Rowe, the owner of Tender Paws Cobble Hill Doggie Day Care in British Columbia, Canada, with services in grooming, walking and training, subscribes to BizBark and encourages her clients to input information such as dietary needs, activity, and emergency contacts.
One of Jocelyn’s patients was a dog brought to her to deal with weight loss and fitness issues. She set up a program, added an activity tracker to the dog’s collar and monitored the dog’s activity. This enabled her to correlate the dog’s weight loss and activity with the program.
Freeing up Staff
Despite this revolutionary concept, BabelBark, through its BabelVet services was originally sought after simply as a way to make it more convenient for practices to connect with their clients. Some practices also found that by using the platform they were able to free up staff and exam room utilization. Some staff could offer services such as medical progress exams remotely through their telemedicine platform. This includes such services as post-surgical evaluations, evaluation of skin disorders, wound healing, ear infections, or bladder infection.
24/7 Access
Even before COVID-19, BabelBark was supplementing veterinary staff by providing a 24/7 hotline for triage. Through partnership with whiskerDocs (www.whiskerdocs.com), clients can call and have their pets’ medical needs triaged remotely. The clients’ practices receive details of the call and outcomes to ensure continuity of care. When the whiskerDoc determines that a medical need exists for the pet to be seen at the practice, that information is relayed to the practice staff. Practices have found this service to assist them with after-hours cases and for overflow.
Then COVID-19 raised its ugly head. Practices that were not short staffed before, suddenly found some of their staff members unable to come in. This triage was their support.
The New Normal: From Curbside to Telemedicine
When the pandemic hit, practices sought ways to honor the Social Distancing directive. Meeting their clients at the curb and taking the pet inside the practice was a convenient and safe service. When many states stopped allowing that, those with a telemedicine platform were ready for remote service – perfect for managing chronic conditions and progress exams.
Concern for the loss of revenue due to the cancellation of wellness visits led many practices to realize that they can rebook wellness visits to remote care, charge their clients and provide the necessary prescriptions to keep their patients on track.
Some states relaxed the VCPR regulation which requires that a veterinary doctor see the pet prior to providing remote service. While wanting to maintain a high standard of care, the pandemic has acknowledged that telemedicine, without a prior relationship, may be necessary for the health of the animal. (Since this may be in flux, it’s important to check local state regulations.)
Monitoring Pet Wellbeing
Beyond convenience and efficiency, BabelVet customers have discovered an additional benefit provided by the patient monitoring app. This feature enables the vet and the client to share pet health metrics.
This includes details about weight, diet and nutrition, medication compliance and activity or exercise. While practices have traditionally had a lot of information in their Electronic Medical Records software, this app enables clients to make additions. They might enter the pet’s registration and microchip ID, record pet food or prescriptions purchased elsewhere, which can be important for the vet to know in the event of an allergy or other contraindications. It may also be important to monitor exercise and activity while managing mobility issues or weight control.
Shea Cox, DVM, owner of Pet Hospice sights an example of how she can monitor her patients’ program remotely. For example, one of her patients was suffering from arthritis and had become less engaged with shorter and shorter walks. The doctor managed the dog’s pain and then, with the use of the activity tracker, she and the dog’s owner were both able to see when the dog was gradually enjoying more walking. Together they determined that the pain management was working. Dr. Cox felt that this data motivated the client to maintain compliance with the exercise regime.
Communication
Client communication is, of course, basic to any telehealth service. BabelVet links to the BabelBark mobile app so the practice can stay connected to its clients and share updates or education. A live and asynchronous secure messaging platform enables vets and clients to share photos, video, and text messages. A component called “Promotions” enables the veterinary practice to create and push custom content to its clients using the BabelBark app.
Choosing a Telemedicine Provider
When choosing a telemedicine provider, there are many considerations: what services are available, price, and reliability. To find a trusted provider, many look to AAHA (www.AAHA.org) which has selected certain businesses as AAHA Preferred Business Providers—businesses you can depend on as reliable resources for your practice that offer preferred pricing or other special services to AAHA members. Since 2019, BabelBark has been among them.
When considering BabelBark, it may be of interest to know that a year ago Forbes recognized BabelBark as offering the world’s only globally enabled, horizontal digital platform for the pet industry. It’s interesting that Forbes noted that this sharing technology is similar to Uber or Airbnb in the sense that it is a mobile-first platform adding mutual value to an ecosystem for pet owners, businesses, and animal hospitals. Surely, the new normal is very “techie”!
