How is Your Risk Management in the Veterinary Office?

By SK Sherman

An emerging issue for veterinary practices today relates to Risk Management.   Controlling risk can be a daunting task under the best of circumstances and busy veterinary practitioners can overlook this very important element of business management. One could say the ideal way to control risk is to eliminate it or not allow risk in your practice. We know however, that you cannot simply eliminate risk but you can be aware of it and implement processes to manage it.  Accurate real-time communication helps resolve issues before they occur.

This is where Veterinary Pharmacy Reference (VPR) can be a very valuable tool.  VPR will print out a Client Information Sheet (CIS) to give to the guardian that confirms the medical treatment being provided for the patient.  The CIS documents the name of the medicine; the dosage; the reason for the treatment; precautions; special treatment considerations; side effects; drug interactions; approved species; what to do if an overdose occurs and the washout period for the medicine.  Additionally, it has your contact information in the heading. VPR is integrated in AVImark.

Give your medical team and clients a greater sense of comfort by being proactive.  Download a fully functional demo of VPR at www.vpronline.com or call 866-639-3866.

SK Sherman
VPR

VPR clients say it best!
"It amazes us that so much pharmacology is available with just a few keystrokes. The cumulative history feature helps assure us that we are providing the very best care for our clients/patients. Standardized treatment is supported by the Interaction of the Prescription History, Washout Period checking, the Dosage Calculator and the Interaction matrix checking. VPR is an amazing time saver and quality checker."
Kate Christman, DVM

"I'm impressed with how easy it is to find information on medication, dosages and interactions.  This is definitely a valuable resource we use in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital Pharmacy."
Barry Grodsky, RPh, Veterinary Pharmacist, University of Illinois
Veterinary Clinical Medicine, Teaching Hospital Pharmacy

Analyzing Practice Profitability with AVImark Reports

By Barbara Betsch


Provider productivity (or provider production) is one of many variables that impact the profitability of your practice. But in order to improve a variable like provider production, you have to measure it first.

In AVImark, provider production is measured by analyzing services performed and/or items dispensed, and it can include payments applied. AVImark provides two ways to measure production data, or the productivity of each doctor in your practice:

• Paid Production

• Charged Production (Paid or Unpaid)

Paid Production

When doctors are paid a commission based upon paid production, you can use the Income by Provider report for determining these amounts.

On this report, the Amount column is the amount of the payment that was applied. Since AVImark pays the oldest accounting transaction first, the amounts may not be the exact amount shown in the client’s accounting window.

The Profit column is the amount of the transaction paid minus the average cost of items/inventory used.

In running this report, you may see the following NOTE on the bottom:

“NOTE: Returned treatments/items and Account adjustments having a negative amount are reported as payments received”

It simply means there were negative amounts reported in that time period.

When this message is displayed, you will need to find the returns and adjustments that have not been satisfied and deduct that from the income.

Charged Production (Paid or Unpaid)

When commission is not a factor for reviewing the production and you want the analysis to include all charges, paid or unpaid, you can use the ‘Period Totals’ report.

The section called Production by Provider will list each doctor along with his or her total charges (invoices can be closed or open), number of closed invoices, average invoice amount, and percentage of production (out of 100%).

Analyzing production can be a key factor in measuring productivity. As your trusted partner, we are committed to your success, and we strive to provide business tools that will help your business grow.

Barbara Betsch is a senior technician at AVImark. Barbara can be reached at barbarab@avimark.net .

Using AVImark's note glossary feature

By Barbara Betsch

In AVImark veterinary software, the note glossary feature allows you to create and store note templates. These templates help streamline the process of producing consistent notes throughout several of AVImark's "tools."

The glossary categories and entries can be added in the Work with Menu, under the Glossary option. The glossary entries are easily accessible in most note fields within the AVImark program by using F7, or choosing Glossary from the top of the note window then selecting "View Glossary". Select the appropriate notes then choose the "Done" button.

Another option to enter notes from the glossary is to use a "hot key" function. From the note window, type in the Code of the glossary note entry, and then use the SHIFT and SPACEBAR keys; this will pull the text from the glossary.

These templates are also handy tools for duplicating text from one area of the program- such as Work with, Hospital Setup, or Reminders- to another area, such as the Information Search or the E-Mail Message Text option found in the Advances Tab of The Hospital Setup.

The glossary templates are easily accessed in many notes areas of AVImark, including the Follow-Up List, Client and Patient Instructions, Item Notes, Q & A Notes, and Medical History Doctor's Instructions.

Barbara Betsch is a senior technician at AVImark. Barbara can be reached at barbara.betsch@avimark.net.

Creating business strategies with AVImark

By Barbara Betsch

Is your company's portrait depicted by intermittent facts, figures and sporadic data? Is it difficult to get a complete and comprehensive picture?

This can be a frustrating experience when you're trying to develop the right business strategies to grow your practice, but when all of your data fits together like a puzzle, a complete picture emerges- making the right objectives and strategies clear.

Fortunately, you can use AVImark to complete your puzzle and fine tune your business strategy.

The first step is to identify the pieces of data that are important to your business environment, such as client retention rates, customer service quality, security, most performed services, and production by providers.

After identifying the pieces to your puzzle, researching and pulling meaningful data and trends becomes the key factor. Using AVImark to assist in this step will not only save time but also will identify weak areas and save resources. Running some of AVImark's pre-set reports can help:

Reports found in the Practice Analysis:

• Client Retention
• Top Performance Services

Report found in Work with Inventory:

• Inventory Stock (found on the Inventory Report)

Report found in Work with Reports:

• Production by Provider

Report found in Work with Users and Security:

• Security User Groups and Functions

Once identification and research is complete, the final step is to solidify the individual aspects to complete the final objective, and create the complete picture of your company's strategic plan.
Suggested implementations could include:

• Using V Surv (an AVImark Partner) to measure client satisfaction for your clinic
• Optimize data using Data Wrench, an MSS solution package
• Measure profitability with production by provider report
• Modifying auditing options in AVImark
• Adjusting staff security levels for AVImark
• Adjusting staff security levels for AVImark
• Gathering other pertinent information via AVImark's information search feature

Barbara Betsch is a senior technician at AVImark. Barbara can be reached at barbara.betsch@avimark.net.

Using AVImark's Discounts to Increase Customer Loyalty

By Babara Betsch

With today's economy, consumers are looking for every opportunity to increase the value of their money. Spending decisions, both large and small, are being driven by the growing need to conserve resources.

When faced with these conditions and the already competitive nature of the business, it is vital to find ways to not only attract new clients to your business, but also to retain the loyalty of the clients you already have.

One way to accomplish this is to use discounting as an incentive.

Your AVImark software contains a number of ways to create customer loyalty through discounting options. Depending on your practice, various strategies could be successful:

Use discounts to attract new clients to your practice
Example: Percentage off (on the fly) discount for customers added during a pre-defined time frame (Use the manual option of the right click discount in medical history.)

Offer loyalty discounts or programs to longstanding customers
Example: Put customers who have spent more that a certain amount consistently during the last five years into a discount class to recieve a discount off of select items or services. (Use client discount classes and treatment/item discount classess.)

Use both incentives to increase your customer base
Example: New customers that spend a predetermined amount of money within a certain time frame and by a pre-paid health plan to get the initial discount special and are placed in a special discount class for one year. (Use a combination of manual option of right click discount in medical history and using the complimentary discount class or percentage off feature using the discount plan table.)

With effective and strategic planning, AVImark's discounting feature can help attrect new clients to your practice and also help cement the foundation of an already loyal customer base.

Babara Betsch is a senior thecnician at AVImark and can be reached at babara.betsch@avimark.net 

Boosting Client Goodwill

By Barbara Betsch

A client's trust in your veterinary practice can form the foundation for a long-lasting, loyal relationship. and when you build customer loyalty, you create a marketplace advantage called Goodwill.

So, how do you build customer loyalty and goodwill? Basic communication is a first step, but active client interaction, loyalty, and goodwill. For example, AVImark offers an information search feature that can be used to identify clients who meet specific criteria. This could include patients who are due for certain services of follow-up treatments, of to target clients for seasonal email promotions and postcard reminders.

PetWise web sites offer enhanced email reminders and birthday cards, newsletters, and access through your practice web site to pet health records and client education information. And MSS Pet I.D. cards provide your clients with a handy way to store important health details for each pet.

Our goal at McAllister Software Systems is to help you gain - and keep - a marketing edge through easy, effective client communication tools. To learn more about these tools, please visit http://www.avimark.net/ and browse the Solutions and Partners pages.

Or, to investigate the client communication tools within AVImark, contact technical support; 877-838-9273, support@avimark.net , or via chat on http://www.avimark.net/.

Barbara Betsch is a senior technician at AVImark. Barbara can be reached at barbara.betsch@avimark.net.

AVImark Tip #4: Choose Your Default Field in the "Enter Medical History" Window

By Barbara Betsch

Since everyone enters information differently in their practice management software, AVImark veterinary software can be customized to fit your individual preference.
Some people add history entries by code, while others add history entries by descriptions. To accommodate these differences, AVImark has an option that will allow each user to select the default field for the "Enter Medical History" window.

To set this option:
• Go to wrench icon on the tool bar, which will take you to the Advanced Options of Hospital Setup
• In the search window, type: Default to Description Field When Opening the Enter Medical History Window
• Left click on this phrase to highlight it
• In the default value, left click the "Change" button
• In this window set the default choice for the entire clinic, and click "OK"

If one user prefers the other default, he or she can select a different default:
• Under the ID-User-Value portion of the screen, right click "New"
• Choose the user, and his/her individual value
• The default will also be displayed. Click "OK"
• When all individual preferences have been added, click "Done"
• Log off AVImark, and then log back on

Our goal is to provide versatile features to help save your practice time and money. If you need assistance with this or any other AVImark feature, please contact our friendly technical support staff.

Phone: 1-877-838-9273 option 1
Email: mailto:support@avimark.net
Live Chat: http://www.avimark.net/

To your success!

Barbara Betsch is a senior technician at AVImark and can be reached at barbarab@avimark.net

Using Merge Words in AVImark

By Barbara Betsch

Sometimes, AVImark merge words can work for multiple situations, giving you the flexibility to merge data from a variety of fields. For example, the merge words and are not exclusively for rabies treatments. They can also work with other vaccinations. Below are situations that represent different examples of how these two merge words will work within AVImark.

Printing the document by right clicking on the entry in Medical History, and choosing document or certificate:

This method directs AVImark to the highlighted entry in Medical History, and all information displayed on the document will pertain to only the entry that is chosen. So, if you have a document attached to a vaccination or a rabies code with the merge words or , it will merge the date of when that vaccination was given and when that vaccination is due again.

Printing the document by right clicking in the patient area and choosing document:

When using this method, AVImark has more variables to consider, including what vaccination or rabies it should use to pull the information for the merge words. So, if you give a rabies treatment today in Medical History but to not post it to Accounting, and then add a remindable treatment with a due date that is later than the rabies treatment you just gave, the rabies document will pick up the due date of the last remindable treatment that the patient received, not necessarily and rabies dates for and/or .

Steps for Consistency

• Post treatments to Accounting, and print the invoice. The rabies certificate that prints automatically will have the correct rabies dates on it.


• Right click on the rabies treatment in Medical History and choose certificate or document and then select the rabies document.

Flexibility with merge words is just one more way that we strive to help you use AVImark to its fullest capacity so your practice can reach it's greatest potential.

Barbara Betech is an AVImark senior technician. She can be reached at barbarab@avimark.net .

AVImark Quick Find/Search Options, Part 1: Client Area

By Barbara Betsch

When faster is better, quick information can be avaliable at your fingertips. This blog is first in a series featuring fast, easy quick find/search options within AVImark.

AVImark has these built-in options that can be utilized in different areas of the program. These options add to the program's versatility when looking for finite data relations in certain areas.

CLIENT AREA

For various reasons, occasionally you may need to quickly find clients based on their place alaphabetically/numerically in your database. With a few quick key strokes, this information can be easily accessed.

Location the next/pervious client numerically:

Select the "Client Name" field

For the next in sequence, use this two-key combination: Ctrl + Page Up

Fot the pervious in sequence, use this two-key combination: Ctrl + Page Down

Locating the next/previous client alaphabetically:

For the next in sequence, use this two-key combination: Ctrl + Up Arrow

For the pervious in sequence, use this-key combination: Ctrl + Down Arrow

Stay tuned for more quick find/search tips coming soon!


Barbara Betch is a senior techincian at AVIamrk. Babara can be reached at babarab@avimark.net.

The Period Totals Report: Capturing a moment in time

By: Barbara Betsch

As you know, AVImark veterinary software offers numerous reports that show everything from the Deposit Slip and Account Summary to the Health Plan Report and Inventory Used.

Another helpful yet little-known report available in AVImark is the Period Totals report. This multi-functional tool represents a financial snapshot of your company. It provides you with a condensed one page summary of your business during the time period you select, and it is so versatile that it can be run daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.

Here's just a brief sample of the items available in the Period Totals report:

• All Payments
• Total Charges (paid and unpaid)
• Average and Total Invoice Amount
• Adjustments
• Tax
• Net Change in Accounts Receivables
• New Client Numbers
• Patient Visit Count

To run the Period Totals report, simply go to Work with Reports. Then:

• Move the Period Totals Report under the Print These column
• Choose Consolidated for the doctor
• Choose your period, start and end date, and printer
• Remember to select Preview of you do not wish to print the report

It's hard to change the future without understanding the past. Using the Period Totals report to review a snapshot from the past will give you the information you need to help your practice reach its greatest potential in the future.

Barbara Betsch is an AVImark senior technician. She can be reached at barbarab@avimark.net

The New AVImark Shared Information Search Forum: Providing the "code" to unlock your success

By Barbara Betsch

Here's one more way that AVImark can save you time and money.

If you'd like to develop complex searches in AVImark, such as patients with remiders due, inactive patients, or patients with missing codes, check out the new Shared Information Forum in the AVImark Form on http://www.avimark.net/ .

This popular forum allows AVImark users to ask questions, receive answers, and share tips with other AVImark users and our knowledgeable staff. the Shared Information Search Forum takes advantage of the new AVImark Imformation Search function that is available on versions 2010.4 and higher.

This new search feature allows you to easily reproduce searches that have been used by other veterinary practices by copying and pasting the "code" into the code editor. Before you spend time creating a complex search, check the user forum to see if the code for that particular search has already been posted. Then just copy, paste, and run the search. (You can also contact technical support for assistance.) It's a great time-saver.

The ability to share and replicate productive search codes with other veterinary practices is a great asset to you and the other 9,5000 AVImark users worldwide. To visit the new forum. go to http://www.avimark.net/ , AVImark Forum, Shared Information Search Forum, or follow this link:

http://www.avimark.ner/component/ccboard/view-topiclist/forum-14-shared-information-searches

Happy searching!

Barbara Betsch is an AVImark senior techinician. You can reach Barbara at babarab@avimark.net .

2011: Small Steps, Big Change

By: John Burch

Do you have a vision for transforming your practice in 2011? Or perhaps you have some personal goals that seem just out of reach? You're not alone. If reaching goals were easy we'd all have "abs of steel," million-dollar bank accounts, perfect relationships, and everything else our hearts desire.

Even with determination, focus, goal-setting and knowledge, one year from now most of us will be professionally and personally where we are now. What makes change so hard? Large, sweeping change is daunting because the goal is often so far away from completion. Doubling your practice revenue, purchasing the latest lab equipment, and running a triathlon from couch potato status are admirable. Unfortunately, nearly half of us will give up by the end of January, and most of us will never make our goals.

Here is a fantastic alternative. Take smaller steps in frequent intervals. In other words, pick one thing you would like to work on at the beginning of each month, and commit to doing that for thirty days. At the end of the month, if the habit has paid off, then continue it. By year's end, you will have potentially made twelve positive changes. The secret is that after thirty days most actions become habits, so you are likely to continue if you are getting positive results.

You can use this same philosophy to improve your practice. Can you think of one small change to implement in your practice? Or ten? Or twenty? Obviously, there are many areas to consider, including human resource matters, accounting, facilities, continuing education and more.

Fortunately, AVImark can help you achieve some of these practice-related goals. For example, are you using AVImark's reminders feature to its fullest potential? How many pet visits are you missing because of poor reminder execution? Or, how much could you improve work flow by implementing the AVImark whiteboard? Could you make timelier purchase decisions and help minimize shrink by using AVImark's inventory feature? Or, if you wish to take smaller steps, you could develop a glossary as you type in notes, double-check your canned estimates, and verify your daily back-ups.

Just like with other goals, full utilization of practice management software is a daunting task. So, many veterinarians get by with just basic customer database functionality. However, just imagine how you could improve your practice if you learned one new feature each month for the next twelve? The benefits to your practice would be enormous, just by making one small, manageable change every 30 days. And in January of 2012, everyone else will be admiring your progress.

John Burch is Director of Sales at McAllister Software Systems and plans to follow his own advice for achieving goals during 2011. He can be reached at johnb@avimark.net.

The Virtues of Virtual Training

By: Robin Brown

We all understand the value of well-trained staff members, but traditional training can be costly and time-consuming- especially if it involves travel expenses and time away from the clinic.

As a result, many veterinary practices are leaning toward e-learning programs, or virtual training. Virtual training simply means that educational content is delivered by electronic means rather than a traditional classroom setting. Thanks to the Internet, virtual training is becoming more and more popular among busy veterinary practices.

Virtual training has many virtues:

• It's cost-effective. High course fees, instructor costs, travel expenses, and time spent away from normal job duties are no longer a problem.
• It's convenient. Staff members have the flexablity to train anytime, anywhere (provided they have an Internet connection).
• It's consistant. Training materials and course content are the same for every participant.

That's why McAllister Software Systems joined forces with VetMedTeam to offer a series of online AVImark courese as part of the VetMedTeam C.E. catalog. We figured it was another great way to help our clinics use AVImark to its fullest potential, while reducing training costs and increasing overall productivity. We also thought it would be a nice addition to our other virtual training methods, including our Training CDs, webinars, and online certification courses.

More than twenty AVImark courses are currently available via the VetMedTeam course catalog, covering individual AVImark features such as appointment and boarding calendars, inventory lists, treatment lists, reminders, whiteboards, estimates, and invoicing. Once courses are open, veterinarians and their staff can access them at any time during a twele-week session.

For more information please vist our website at www.avimark.net/training/elearning, or visit http://www.vetmedteam.com/classes.aspx to sign up.

Robin Brown is Director of Training and communications at McAllister Software Systems. She developed the AVImark training program for the company's in-house tech support staff, and she uses her expertise to conduct external training sessions for AVImark customers. She can be reached at robin.brown@avimark.net.

GlobalVet is now AVImark

By Jesica Hurrienarain

At the recent South African Veterinary and Para- Veterinary Association congress in Drakensburg, GlobalVet veterinary software was officially renamed AVImark.

You probably knew that GlobalVet was essentially the same program as AVImark, with all of the features and functions. It just had a different name and specific international settings. Changing the name really didn't change much else, except provide you with greater access to service, support, and updates.

It turns out that the Congress was an excellent platform to announce this change. It gave us the opportunity to network with current and prospective customers and to understand their views, insights, and suggestions relating to veterinary software.

Even though change isn't always easy, we think the switch from GlobalVet to AVImark will bring some great advantages for you. The name change has been coordinated with the release of the next software upgrade (version 2010.4), so our support team is available to help you achieve a smooth transition.

Once the upgrade is complete, you'll be able to take advantage of a host of benefits:

• Local and global training and support. Our local sales, tech support, and training in Durban is still available, but you can also access all of the information, training, and award-winning support that's available on www.avimark.net/southafrica. Think of it this way... you're now part of a community of 9,500+ AVImark users workdwide.
• Regular AVImark updates and faster access to new versions of AVImark, since a sepatate version of the software will no longer be necessary for South Africa.
• Easier access to other practice management tools from McAllister Software Systems, such as MSS Data Vault, VPR, and Practice Builder. They are desined to inegrate smoothly with AVImark for even greater practice efficiency.

Just in case you were wondering, one thing that hasn't changed is our commitment to the South African market. This name change- and the added service and support that you will receive- is a strong step toward helping you use AVImark to its fullest capacity for years to come.

Jesica Hurrienarain is the sales and marketing manager for McAllister's Sugar Creek Software in Durban, South Africa. She can be reached at 011-27 31 266 8815 or jesica.za@avimark.net.

New-and-Improved Infromation Search Capabilities

By Barbara Betsch

While knowledge is certainly the key to success, information over load can be the quickest way to get lost in useless data. Practice Management Consultant Bob Stevens says AVImark's information search capbility is "second to none." However, we've improved this useful tool even further to help you search and find just the right amount of useable data for your practice.

AVImark's enhanced Information Search feature came out earlier this year and is available in versions 2010.4 and higher. Our specific enhancements include:

• An improved design that's segmented into three main areas: Search Criteria (filtering stage). Reporting Criteria (sorting stage), and Search Results (output stage)
• Greater searching ability that allows you to search more areas within the veterinary software program, including the treatment list, estimate list, and appointment calendar. (Previously, these areas were not included in general searches.)
• Easier output, so reported criteria can be organized by 'drag and drop."
• Expanded exporting options that allow users to export using Excel and select the location where the CSV file should be saved.
• Separate search window that can remain open at the same time as Client Information Display (CID).

If you've upgraded to one of the 2010 versions of AVImark, you've probably noticed these improvements already. If not, go ahead and try them out. You'll be able to sort and filter your information quickly into easy-to-read customized reports.

The enhaced information search is just one more reason why AVImark is the industry's leading veterinary software. We are committed to providing cutting-edge technology to help your practice thrive.

Barbara Betsch is an AVImark senior technician at MSS and loves to search for answers! You can reach Barbara at barbarab@avimark.net.

Save time... with AVImark shortcuts!

By Bardara Betsch

Are you looking to save time?

Who isn't?

The old saying that time is money had never rung truer than in today's economy. Saving time saves money, so we designed AVImark Veterinary Software to promote efficiency by use of strategic shortcuts and streamlined processes. Here are some shortcuts that will help you use AVImark to its fullest capacity while saving time and money in the process:

Shortcut #1: Inserting glossy text in a notes window. Instead of using your mouse to insert the text of a glossy entry into a notes window in AVImark, simply type in the code of that glossy entry and then hit your shift key and your space bar. This will replace the glossy code with the glossy notes for that entry in the notes window.

Shortcut #2: Adding medical history entries to more than one patient. To add medical history entries to multiple patients that belong to one client, simply left-click on one patient's name and hit the F7 key (Function 7). Use your mouse to left-click and your Ctrl key to select or highlight all the patient names for which you wish to add medical history entries. Then right-click on one of the highlighted names and select the optioin to add: treatment, inventory and diagnoses.

Shortcut #3: Toggle between an open medical condition record and the CID. Open a medical condition recordm, use the ALT+M key combination to toggle between the medical condition record and the CID.

Shortcut #4: posting medical history to accounting. To quickly post medical history to accounting from the Client area, Patient area, or Medical History, simply hit the F8 key (Function 8).

Shortcut #5: Hiding the amount column in medical history. To toggle between seeing and hiding the amount column in medical history, use the Ctrl and the P key. This function is computer-specific.

Barbara Betsch is an AVImark senior technician at MSS and loves to save time! You can reach Barbara at barbarab@avimark.net.

Why you should "like" AVImark on Facebook

from Ciera Baker

AVImark wants to be your friend- you're Facebook friend! Launched in April, the AVImark Facebook page further enhances the AVImark online created by our Yahoo User Group and AVImark Forum.

But for those that love Facebook (like me!), it's the best way to follow everything you like about AVImark. AVImark users can find up-to-date information, upcoming events, and alerts. Daily posts are made by trainig, support, and the marketing team.

The Facebook page will also show you what other customers are saying about their AVImark experience. On Facebook, you have the opportunity to comment on any subject we post, so if you have a question about an event, you can post it and receive an answer. Facebook also allows you to communicate with other veterinarians who "like" AVImark's Facebook page as well.

As an AVImark Facebook friend, you'll have first access to monthly specials, insights on training events, tradeshow reminders, and other news. And if we find something interesting in the industry, we'll post it for you to read.

Click on the link below to "like" the AVImark Facebook page and take advantage of the great information we have available. We hope you'll be our friend.


Ciera Baker is the marketing assistant at McAllister Software Systems, and she hopes you love Facebook as much as she does. You can reach Ciera at ciera@avimark.net.

Bear River Veterinary Clinic selects AVImark for advanced features, ease of use

Marks 10,000th copy of AVImark sold since 1989.

On March 30, 2010, McAllister Software Systems sold the 10,000th copy of AVImark veterinary software. Today we are welcoming Bear River Veterinary Clinic to the AVImark family.

Bear River began researching software programs when its current program became complicated and cost prohibitive. When staff members began to expand their usage of the software, they found many advanced features such as electronic medical records, inventory tracking, and follow-up reminders required the purchase of additional packages. And these features were incredibly cumbersome to use.

So, Bear River staff contacted more than 50 veterinary clinics to find out which programs were being used by other clinics. Most were using AVImark and spoke very highly of the veterinary software. When Bear River downloaded the free demonstration of AVImark, staff members were very pleased with the combination of robust features and ease-of-use.

According to Dr. Eric Dent, one of three veterinarians at Bear River, features that were very complicated in Bear River's old software were easy in AVImark. They only had to purchase one copy of the software, which was loaded on all seven of their terminals, including two laptops that travel with the doctors into the field when they treat horses and cattle. Best of all - they didn't have to purchase additional packages to get the features they wanted.

"We are most excited about using AVImark's inventory features - we'll implement that immediately," said Dr. Dent. "We're also excited about the ability to store a series of fees for each treatment, which will allow us to create estimates and invoices much more quickly and will eliminate missed charges. In the future, we'll likely start using the integration with laboratory equipment and will eventually convert to paperless medical records."

If your clinic is interested in exploring AVImark further, please feel free to download a free demonstration at www.avimark.net/gtka/download-a-free-demo . Or contact me at 1-877-838-9273 Ext. 387 or aaronr@avimark.net - I'll help you see why AVImark is the best-selling veterinary software in the industry.

Aaron Rayfield, AVImark sales manager, worked with Dr. Dent at Bear River Veterinary Clinic to secure this notable sale. He can be reached at aaronr@avimark.net .

Connect with clients faster. Keep them longer.

Make your website a powerful client communication tool.
By Rob McAllister

Part 2: Use you website to keep clients coming back.

My previous post discussed the importance of having a good website for your veterinary practice, and helping prospective clients find you online through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Once prospective clients find you online, however, your web site must make a great first impression, with a strong design, helpful information, and ease of use. Your home page is like a job interview: Prospective clients will evaluate your business based on how professional your site is.

An effective website can help your clinic communicate effectively and efficiently with new and current customers. This can save money as well as generate revenue. An effective site can help reduce the time your staff spends on basic information requests. Increasing service awareness and increasing compliance can directly increase revenues. Furthermore, you can reduce costs by eliminating other forms of marketing and advertising and using online reminders, blog postings, and online newsletters instead, via your website.

At PetWise we understand that your customer relationships make your business a success. Establishing a good rapport with customers is essential, and our websites help maintain that rapport in the digital world, through a number of advanced yet cost-effective features, including:

• Integration with AVImark software to display pet health information and reminders online
• Facilitating online appointment and boarding requests
• Email reminders and birthday notices
• Clinic blogs and other community pages
• Online newsletters and client education materials

In addition, PetWise websites don't bounce your clients from place; we keep your clients on your site to create a contiguous user experience that maintains your dialogue with your client. PetWise websites create an environment where you and your clients interact, without getting in the middle of the conversation. As you attract new customers to a website where they are welcomed and engaged, your business will grow.

For more information about how PetWise site services can help your practice, visit http://www.petwisewebsites.com/ .

Rob McAllister is senior director of special projects and McAllister Software Systems. He can be reached at robm@avimark.net .

Connect with clients faster. Keep them longer.

Make your web site a powerful client communication tool.
By Rob McAllister

Part 1: Use your web site to attract new clients.

These days it's rare to find someone who isn't online for some reason- searching for information, shopping, playing games, socializing, or doing business. Given the breath of the Internet and the diversity of its use, there is absolutely no excuse not to have a good web site for your veterinary practice.

If you are still wondering whether a good web site can do anything for your business, take a look at the results of a recent study conducted by Georgia Tech: Nearly 85% of all U.S. households have Internet access, and more than 90% of users say they find business and services through Internet search engines.

In another words, 76.5% of your community's population turns to the Internet to find veterinary services. That makes the Yellow Pages a bit outdated.

But, it's not enough to just have a web site. In order for your web site to be useful, your potential clients need to be able to find you online. You can help your web site "get found" more easily through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is today's version of techno-magic: You hire an SEO expert, they work their "magic" behind the scenes, and you're suddenly number one on Google.

At PetWise, we understand SEO, and we've built our PetWise web site services with SEO in mind. Our content management system takes some of the power from the SEO magicians and puts it in your hands, at a very cost-effective price. That frees you up to do what you do best- practice medicine.

For more information about how PetWise web site services can help your practice, visit http://www.petwisewebsites.com/ .

Rob McAllister is senior director of special projects and McAllister Software Systems. He can be reached at robm@avimark.net .