Leaders at Rolling Hills Veterinary Service know how important client communication is to patient outcomes and clinic success. That’s why they used PetPro Connect, a client communication solution from Boehringer Ingelheim.

It’s also why — after Boehringer Ingelheim and Otto announced a strategic partnership, as well as a plan to move users from PetPro Connect to Otto Flow — Rolling Hills was quick to upgrade.

Fortunately, the move has paid off for them.

“There’s quite a few things Flow can do that PetPro Connect did not,” says Abigail Fulton, Receptionist and Vet Assistant at Rolling Hills.

Otto’s digital form capabilities have allowed Rolling Hills to collect key client and patient information ahead of appointments — drastically reducing time spent on surgery check-ins.

“With PetPro Connect, we were doing surgery check-ins from about 8:00 to 9:00,” Abigail says. “With Flow, we usually have everybody checked in by 8:30. So, it’s cut that time in half — easily.”

They’ve seen similar results with Flow’s automated text- and email-based appointment reminders and confirmations.

“Confirmations are another big one for us,” Abigail says. “I’ve cut the number of call confirms I make each day in half.”

Below, we’ll take a closer look at how upgrading to TeleVet Flow helped Rolling Hills streamline clinic operations.

Starting off on the right foot

Otto offers a personalized implementation process designed to set up each clinic for long-term success.

According to Abigail, Rolling Hills’ data migration and onboarding process ran smoothly, and being a former PetPro Connect user made the transition even easier.

“I think the migrating system really just made it that much easier because we already had the hang of PetPro,” she says. “We didn’t have to do all the behind-the-scenes work, which made everything a lot smoother.”

A more organized medical record

Otto Flow integrates with eVetPractice by Covetrus — Rolling Hills’ practice management information system (PIMS) — empowering them to ensure key information resides in both systems without duplicate data entry.

“We love the ability to export information in Flow into the medical record,” Abigail says.

That feature, combined with Flow’s ability to automatically send and collect digital forms via text and email based on appointment type, is what allows Rolling Hills to cut their surgery check-in time in half.

“On PetPro they couldn’t have their paperwork filled out ahead of time,” Abigail explains. “So, it was making that surgery drop-off time in the morning that much more hectic, because they’re trying to hold onto their dogs while filling out all that surgery morning paperwork.

“Now, we get the forms ahead of time. You just click one button, export it to the medical record, and it’s there,” she continues. “We can log everything into the pet’s medical record rather than printing it off, copying it, and scanning it back in. It just kind of makes everything go a little bit smoother, a little bit faster.”

Confirming more appointments with fewer phone calls

Flow automatically sends appointment reminders and confirmations to clients via text and email, allowing Rolling Hills to reach more clients with less effort.

“That’s probably my favorite feature: the confirmations,” Abigail says. “Whether our clients are confirming, declining, or rescheduling appointments, Flow makes it that much easier.”

And the time-savings are significant.

“We used to have days where we would still be calling at 6,” Abigail says. “We’d be trying to finish up and get out of the clinic for the day, but we would still have calls to do. Now, we’re consistently finished with all of our calls by lunchtime.”

The text- and email-based communications even allow Rolling Hills to offer a better experience to clients who still prefer phone calls.

“We’re able to focus more of our time on the handful of people that want the calls because 65% to 75% of our clients would rather just hit confirm real quick on a text message than have to pick up the phone and maybe have a few questions or be put on hold,” Abigail says. “So, it’s definitely cutting out frustration for the owner and for us.”

More flexible payment processing

In addition to Flow, Rolling Hills is taking advantage of Otto Pay — a payment processing solution that works alongside Flow to give clients more flexible payment options.

Abigail notes, “The ability to invoice has helped us a lot. We do a lot of billing because we’re a farm animal practice. People go a couple of months without paying bills.”

Since Payments allows for text-based invoicing and payment, it’s greatly increased their collections.

“Now, their bill is coming straight to their messenger,” Abigail says. “They’re seeing it, it’s on their mind, and they can pay it immediately.”

Otto Pay’s flexibility also leads to an improved client experience.

“We have some people on payment plans. Sometimes, they call in and want to know their balance or only want to pay a certain amount of their balance,” Abigail says. “With Pay, we can just attach the invoice and send it to them, and they can pay the amount they want to put toward their balance.”

Better customer service

Because Flow saves Rolling Hills so much time by reducing call volume, streamlining payments, simplifying surgery check-ins, and automating appointment confirmations, it allows the staff to focus on providing a better client experience.

“Otto has made our clinic more efficient. We can focus more of our time on face-to-face interactions with clients coming into the clinic instead of on the phone,” she says, adding that Flow improves the experience for staff and clinicians, as well. “Otto has made everything that much easier. It’s making my day-to-day tasks easier with minimal effort. Things are a lot better this way.”