
VetPronto is being euthanized - howsilly
https://medium.com/@joewaltman/vetpronto-is-being-euthanized-1ab19c081629
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sudosteph
I wonder why they didn't try to pivot towards selling all that in-house
software they built out to clinics directly. I'm sure some of it would have
been useful. Also, presumably pet health records wouldn't have the same
constraints of HIPAA, so it would be easier to scale and use a generic
subscription SaaS model than if they had been making a human medical record
company.

I can't speak to the quality of most available vet software today, but as a
client, I would love to have my pets medical info in one place. Especially
because I have relationships with both a local, general vet, and a specialist
after my older cat got diagnosed with lymphoma. It was hard to even get those
clinics on the same page at first since they were faxing ultrasounds around,
and I'm still not sure if all records through. I have no way to verify. At
best, I'll receive a PDF after a visit with some test results. But I don't
have a comprehensive set of records online anyhwhere.

Maybe that space is already saturated or vet clinics don't have much incentive
to pay for it. Still, I switched to a doctor with a better online records
system (not based on the system alone though) and it definitely makes me
happier with the service and less likely to switch again.

~~~
tomkarlo
Vet practice management software (Saas) is a pretty competitive field already.
If you think about it, if someone has built a platform for traditional MD / GP
practices, it's fairly trivial to turn around and also offer it to vets. The
bigger challenge is probably getting them to switch off their legacy paper
systems.

~~~
snapetom
Hardly anyone is paper anymore.

There's a lot of vet management software, but really only two that matter -
Cornerstone and IDEXX.

All the vet schools use one or the other, and so do the vast majority of large
vet clinics and corporations where young vets get their first jobs. If they
ever start their own practice, they've already gotten use to
Cornerstone/IDEXX, so there's no reason for them to switch.

There's little demand from clients to see their records online or transfer
their records electronically. Sorry, HN crowd, but that's just the way it is
with non-techies. The practices that do offer it use a number of third party
integration services. However, the demand is so low, those companies hardly
make any money because they can't charge very much.

~~~
duskwuff
Cornerstone and IDEXX? I think you're mixing something up. Cornerstone is a
product, IDEXX is the vendor.

The software is almost secondary for IDEXX, though. They're primarily a
national chain of veterinary labs -- bloodwork, tissue sample analysis, that
sort of thing -- so they've got some pretty huge hooks into the industry.

~~~
projektfu
Correct, the "big three" are Cornerstone, Avimark and Impromed. There are
already several saas solutions as well, such as Neo and countless small
vendors. It's telling that the top three are all now owned by either a lab
services company (Idexx owns Cornerstone, DVMax and Neo) or a major supplier
(Henry Schein owns both Avimark and Impromed). These products are probably no
longer seen as strong businesses on their own but rather they provide a value
to the parent company from integrations.

This article is spot on: [http://avc.com/2014/07/the-dentist-office-software-
story/](http://avc.com/2014/07/the-dentist-office-software-story/)

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dhosek
Reading the article, what I got more than anything else, is that the owners
did not understand veterinary care. The biggest source of income for vets is
the springtime heartworm season when they will see every dog in their practice
for preventative care. That they seemed to plan around non-routine care was
problematic. Also, there are plenty of vets already who do in-home care
(including my brother before he bought his vet hospital and two of my ex-
girlfriends)--they generally charge LESS than the clinic does for the care,
not more, since they have less overhead.

~~~
djrogers
> The biggest source of income for vets is the springtime heartworm season

Pretty sure that's a pretty regional thing - my pets, and all of the others I
see at my vet office, are on heartworm meds year round, and there's never once
been a 'spring heart worm season' appointment....

~~~
brianwawok
Where do you live?

In the Midwest you don't need heartworm pills half the year. Vets will tell
you that you do despite scientific evidence. Awesome industry.

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microtherion
The wording of that article is in rather poor taste. If they wanted to use
that metaphor, they could at least have written "VetPronto is being sent to a
nice farm in the country"

~~~
Confiks
I understand 'euthanization' may be a sad process, and it might have very
negative connotations especially in American culture. It is however sometimes
the best available choice to make, as it probably was the best choice to end
their startup.

It also might serve as a hint to the emotional connection they formed while
building their enterprise.

You could view euthanization as desirable and good. As mournful and difficult,
but good nevertheless. And considering humans specifically, of your own
choice, under the supervision of a team of supportive physicians (and friends
and family).

~~~
derelk
Respectfully, you're missing the point. It is often the best (and only, in my
mind) choice, and it is always sad. It's not the word or even the concept
that's the problem. Using it in a post about euthanasia is fine; using it as
callous euphemism for shutting down your business is pretty terrible.

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Johnny555
_Non fungible service provider — Most pet owners believe that they need to see
a certain vet, usually the ‘best’ one in their area or the one they previously
saw._

It's a healthcare provider, of course people want to see someone they "know".

And it's not just the humans that like to stick with a certain vet, but the
dogs too. We went through several vets until we found one our dog liked (well,
at least he didn't hate).

~~~
Finnucane
The continuity matters. Our vet remembers our cats from one visit to the next.
They're not just a note on a card (though of course they have those too). So
it is like your own doctor, in that once you have a relationship that works
for you, there is a high bar to change it.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
It wasn't until I had some extended dental work and had to wait around a
dental surgery for half a day that I realised just how useful a good memory is
for health practitioners.

Of course they have notes. But it's so much easier and more reassuring to
remember key facts about patients beyond the immediate medical issues.

It's also easy to forget they see a _lot_ of patients - every day.

So being able to remember names, relationships, interests and prior sessions
with hundreds of patients - all the social glue that makes non-trivial
reassuring smalltalk possible - is a hugely useful skill.

~~~
goldenkey
When I studied psychiatry there was a huge emphasis on what's known as
"rapport"

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapport](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapport)

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sna1l
This post is very inline with what I experienced with VetPronto, and I
wondered how they remained in business.

I've used VetPronto a couple times and the only value they really provided
over regular vets is that you could get an appointment same day and they would
come to your home. Because they didn't have mobile labs, you would have to
wait days to get back results, while at the regular vet, you would have the
results in a couple of hours. The VetPronto vets were always very nice and
knowledgeable but the cost premium was way too much. Our vet in SF charges ~65
for a visit, while VetPronto was around ~200.

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pklausler
If they're willing to make fun of one of the saddest experiences a pet owner
will have in order to try to construct a cute title for an article, I'm not
going to click the link.

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codingdave
It sounds like they didn't really research their industry deeply enough -
because recurring revenue to veterinary providers comes from from agriculture.
Who is going to need more vet support -- a homeowner who owns a cat or a dog
or two, or a hobby farmer with 6 horses and a few goats, even ranches with
livestock? In particular if you add on the non-medical services that small
farms tend to need done a few times a year, but the new hobby farmers of the
world haven't yet picked up the skills/tools to do it -- Disbudding goats,
shearing sheep, etc. In particular if the business model already is based on
home visits, the small ag market just makes more sense.

~~~
dhosek
Farm veterinary care is generally on-site. You're not going to load up your
sick bull in a trailer and sit with it in the waiting room of the vet's
office, the vet comes out to the farm already.

~~~
mr337
This is spot on, only time we drove an large cow/bull to the vet was when
their onsite vet was out or busy with other clients. (Think winter when some
farmers don't properly time and have calfs hitting snow)

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cmurf
Might sound a little morbid, but one of the best things about having a vet
that made regular house calls as my dog was aging, was when it came time to
euthanize him. It happened in his home, instead of at a vet clinic.

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djrogers
Interesting look-back. I'm not sure I agree with this point though"

>Not inherently social — Most people don’t like talking about medical care. We
usually come into a person’s life when their pet is sick. The client is
experiencing a range of unpleasant emotions (stress, worry, etc.). Even if we
provide an amazing experience, there is still some negativity associated with
our service. I believe that this negativity limits the virality of a health
care service.

Warning - anecdote ahead. When we had a pet that was suffering and nearing the
end of his life, I had to take him in to be put down. We hadn't used the vet I
took him to before, but the way they handled him (and me) not only won them a
customer for life, but my wife recommends them to everyone she can - all
because of the worst possible experience one can have with a vet.

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huac
"Additionally, we had run some (statistically insignificant) experiments
suggesting clients weren’t price sensitive regarding home based vet care. "

I, uh, don't know if this is the right way to pick your market.

~~~
chris_wot
That was his point.

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tim333
Cached:
[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p5ROnG...](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p5ROnGYeQX8J:https://blog.usejournal.com/vetpronto-
is-being-euthanized-1ab19c081629+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk)

