Insights from Wendy S. Myers, CVJ and CEO of Communication Solutions for Veterinarians

Veterinary practices today are juggling more than ever—staffing shortages, increasing client demands, and operational burnout. With nearly 60% of clinics actively trying to fill doctor and technician roles, efficiency is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity.

In the recent 5 Technology-Powered Efficiencies webinar, Wendy S. Myers broke down five core areas where technology, especially AI, can deliver measurable time savings and operational improvements. Whether you’re a solo DVM or part of a multi-doctor hospital, these tools can help your team work smarter—not harder.

Documentation remains one of the most time-consuming tasks for veterinarians. Traditional recordkeeping pulls doctors away from patients and piles on administrative fatigue. Otto AI Recap is changing that. It captures conversations during appointments and automatically generates SOAP notes that write directly back into your PIMS.

“Otto AI lets you focus on the pet and their parent,” Wendy explained. “It captures the details, so your records are complete and accurate.”

This isn’t just a fancy tool—it’s a practical timesaver that adds hours to your day. By reducing documentation time, teams can redirect their energy toward client education, chronic care management, and case follow-ups.

Manual intake forms slow everything down. Otto’s digital pre-appointment forms are tailored to the reason for the visit and sent with confirmation messages. Clients complete these before their appointment, and the answers flow into your PIMS, giving the medical team a head start.

These forms don’t just collect data—they allow for more intentional client conversations.

“This helps your team replace 10-minute histories with pre-filled forms that write back to PIMS,” Wendy shared. “This helps you jump straight to the questions that matter.”

Call volumes are a major pain point for front desk teams, particularly for scheduling. According to the webinar, CSRs spend nearly half their time managing phone calls, with an average of 8 minutes per call.

“44% of online appointments are made after hours,” Wendy said. “And 78% of pet owners want to book on their own time. This meets them where they are.”

Otto’s online booking tools alleviate this by offering both direct scheduling and appointment requests 24/7 through the app or website. Clinics retain control by setting scheduling rules and blocking certain time slots. This ensures the schedule stays balanced while giving pet owners the autonomy they want.

Client phone calls are full of valuable information—but logging and summarizing them can take up even more staff time. Otto AI Memo automates this process. It records calls through the built-in phone system, transcribes them, and summarizes key details. These summaries can be reviewed, edited if needed, and added to the patient record with one click.

“This isn’t about replacing people,” Wendy emphasized. “It’s about letting technology carry the administrative weight so your team can focus on care.”

This tool ensures that nothing gets lost in translation and reduces the back-and-forth between team members. It also improves consistency in documentation and follow-up.

With clients expecting faster replies to texts, emails, and chats, Otto’s AI Suggest & Summary tool gives your team a leg up. It drafts message responses using medically sound templates that can be reviewed and customized before sending. This accelerates communication and maintains consistency and professionalism across your brand voice.

The tool is especially helpful for addressing common questions and follow-ups, giving CSRs more bandwidth to manage in-clinic responsibilities.

“This helps your team reply faster, without sacrificing quality,” Wendy explained. “It’s like giving your CSRs superpowers.”

“Doing nothing puts your practice at risk,” Wendy warned. “You don’t have to overhaul everything—just start by working smarter.”

Veterinary practices that embrace these technology-powered efficiencies will be better positioned to handle rising patient volumes, protect team well-being, and exceed client expectations. Otto’s AI tools are built with the veterinary team in mind and come included at no extra cost, which removes a common adoption barrier.