Automation is becoming a huge part of successful businesses in today’s day and age. Technology companies have started to target veterinary clinics to implement automation into their everyday work flow.

However, vet clinics are skeptical of the idea of automation. Most vets don’t fully understand what automation is and if it will actually be helpful or more of a nightmare for their clinic to implement.

This blog will help outline why automation is a critical factor for your company by defining these four questions:

1. What is automation?
2. How does automation work?
3. What are the benefits of automation?
4. What kind of tasks can be automated?

“Automation is the creation and application of technologies to produce and deliver goods and services with minimal human intervention. The implementation of automation technologies, techniques and processes improve the efficiency, reliability, and/or speed of many tasks that were previously performed by humans,” according to Techopedia,

Automation is a valuable tool for all companies in today’s tech-forward world. The implementation of automation is what helps companies stand out and excel in the eyes of their clients.

As stated above, automation is the creation and application of technology in your clinic. But to deep dive a little further automations uses triggers — an input — to start a predefined process.

Essentially, automation is designed to help your company limit the number of unnecessary tasks your staff does. It literally automates tasks so that they can be done through a technologically developed program instead of a physical person.

Automation can help veterinary teams save time, increase capacity, and boost revenue. The numbers prove that having automated systems inside a clinic excels in your business’s success. Below we will go over data collected from companies that implemented Otto Flow into their daily operations.

• Clinics that use Flow can reduce call volume by up to 70%.

With the automations Flow offers, your staff will spend less time on the phone as Flow handles more than 1 million automated workflows and 7 million texts annually. The texts include appointment scheudlng, billing questions, prescription needs and a handful of other patient needs.

Being able to have clients use Flow to schedule appointments through text or on the websites has accumulated to 400,000 appointments each month.

• Flow helps clinics save an average of 30 minutes per appointment. (That adds up to 2,800 hours per veterinarian per year.)

Flow provides clinics the ability to upload any forms the patients, vets or clinic may need. Flow has allowed clinics to submitt over 350,000 digital forms. Having forms available digitally makes the check-in process easier for clients and the orginzation easier for clinics.

Automation applies to most tasks inside your clinic, and by leaning on technology, you can free up your staff to give their best care to clients physically in your clinic daily.

The tasks inside your clinic that can be automated are outlined below.

• Appointment scheduling

Flow helps your team stay focused and ready for hand-off with automated veterinary appointments, calendars and scheduling tools.

• Appointment reminders/confirmations

Automated reminders are essential to any successful veterinary clinic. Flow helps your team easily setup and manage custom reminders to ensure your clinics success year-round.

• Digital forms

Easily send and receive veterinary patient intake, drop-off, exam, and custom forms via text or email and seamlessly sync the information directly with your practice management software.

• Post-appointment surveys

When you close out an appointment in Otto, your client will receive via email inviting them to provide feedback on their visit by answering one question: “How would you rate your most recent interaction with [Your Clinic Name]?” on a 5-star scale. Their score will be recorded and delivered to you immediately via Otto Flow.

• Payment collection

Give your clients in-clinic and contactless payment options, with no additional cost or effort for your team. Our payment solutions were designed for veterinarians, by veterinarians. Save time and thousands in fees, all in one easy-to-use dashboard.