Vets Pets is an organization that provides operational support for its more than 30 veterinary clinics in North Carolina. 

“We obsess over how to make the client experience better and how to improve the experience for our staff, as well,” says John Eaves, Process Improvement Specialist – Technology at Vets Pets. “Anything that can improve efficiency is something that we’re going to latch on to.”

John began his time with Vets Pets as a Kennel Technician at Holly Springs Veterinary Hospital — a location that John says is particularly obsessive about improving the client experience. 

That obsession led the hospital to use the technology offered by Otto. 

“Otto definitely helped us improve our workflow,” John says. “We were never a hospital that was far behind in terms of efficiency, but Otto helped us improve a ton.”

Those improvements came from both Flow — the client communication and workflow management platform from Otto — and Payments — an add-on payment processing solution. 

“With all of the different features they bring, the automations and the payments, our overall efficiencies improved drastically,” John explains. 

Below, we’ll cover how Otto Payments helps Holly Springs and other Vets Pets clinics reduce no-shows, save time, and offer clients greater convenience. 

Reducing no-shows and cancellations

Using Otto Payments, Holly Springs and other clinics in the Vets Pets organization reduced the burden of no-shows and cancellations. 

“Having payment links sent out to collect new client deposits or no-show and cancellation fees has helped curb that behavior,” John explains. “Even if we don’t collect the fee, it lets our clients know that behavior is problematic. 

“I’ve had several clients reach out and apologize,” John adds. “Once they see a fee associated with it, they’re more likely to actually show up for the next appointment, as well.”

John notes that the point of this process is not to drive revenue. It’s designed to change client behavior. 

“It’s not getting the money that’s the big part for us,” he says. “It’s a deterrent that prevents clients from continuing that behavior.”

And because Payments is an add-on to Flow, the no-show and cancellation fee messages and payment links go out automatically via text and email. 

“That’s not something that a CSR has to take time out of their day to do manually,” John says. “We can have something fire off immediately once a new client appointment is scheduled, and they can pay without having to call in.”

Lowering call volume

Otto Payments helps clinics like Holly Springs reduce call volume even further than Flow on its own. 

“Since clients can pay using the link, it’s not taking a technician or a receptionist away from their duties to stay on the phone and wait until somebody can find the right card and tell them the numbers,” John says. “And they’re not having issues where they enter in one wrong number and have to take the card information again over the phone. 

“That’s extremely beneficial,” John says. “We can send a link and then help others on the floor. So, it’s not only providing a better experience for that one client, but it’s also helping other people in the hospital.”

Not taking information over the phone also provides clients with a more secure payment process. 

“Saying your card number over the phone isn’t a very secure process,” John explains. “A lot of people are using Bluetooth, and they don’t realize how loud that is. They could be saying their card digits, and maybe someone walking outside the car overhears. I’ve actually heard of that happening before. It’s not a made-up scenario.”

Simplifying surgery discharges

Before using Otto Payments, Holly Springs’ receptionists were often forced to field questions that extended beyond their areas of expertise. 

“You have clients who don’t realize the receptionist is not as well-versed on the medical side as the technician,” John says. “So, they’re asking them all these questions that pop in their head during checkout.”

With Payments, that’s no longer a problem.

“They have the ability to pay ahead of time at their leisure via a payment link,” John says. “Then, they come in and have that one-on-one with the technician or doctor. It allows everyone to do the job they’re supposed to do.”

And it’s not just the text- and chat-based payment options that reduce checkout times. John notes the payment terminals have been a huge help, as well. 

“The terminals have been massive in appointment duration reduction,” he says. “Instead of going into our PIMS, entering the password, selecting the invoice, selecting the payment type, entering the card number, and probably getting a card-reader error where you have to repeat the entire process, it’s handled in Flow, which has far better interfacing and workflows than any PIMS out there.”

PIMS integrations

Because Payments is an add-on to Flow, which integrates with many popular PIMS, managing payment processing data is a breeze. 

“In Cornerstone, when we push something from a patient visit list to the invoice, we’ll get a read-off of every single invoice item,” John explains. “So, it’s itemized for the owner when you send it through Payments. Then, it’ll satisfy the payment back in Cornerstone.”

That two-way flow of data helps simplify end-of-day reconciliation. 

“We just do a quick check at the end of the day to make sure everything looks right,” John says. “If there’s no red indicator in Flow, then we’re good to go. Everything matches. If there is a red indicator, it only takes about 30 seconds to reconcile.”

Improved reporting

Otto Payments also offers improved reporting capabilities. 

“I definitely love the Payments reporting,” John says. “I like to gauge how many payments we’re doing with the terminals and how many we’re doing digitally per clinic.”

The reports also allow him to see if clinics are getting the most out of Payments. 

“I can see how the Otto payments relate to the overall payments we’re seeing on a monthly basis,” he says. “Then, I can tell if we’re using Payments as much as we could be. If not, I can address that and show that using Payments less correlates to their longer appointment times.”

A positive experience for clinic staff

In addition to saving time and offering an improved experience for clients, Otto Payments also offers tangible benefits to the staff. 

“Whenever we roll out a practice and they see that first payment link go out and receive a payment, they’ll look at me like, ‘Wow. That was easy. What have we been doing?’” John explains.

“Getting payment at the time of service, being able to rectify accounts receivable reporting by sending out a payment… it’s been huge,” he adds. “All of our teams fell in love with Payments instantly.”