Hi everyone and welcome to another special edition of Vet Chat, and today I'm delighted to be joined by Sharon Quinn and Jason Warnock, who are from Smart Vet, which is an Ontario based telehealth platform. So guys, thank you both very much for joining me. I wonder if you'd both just like to take a second to introduce yourselves to the UK audience and whoever else is listening further afield.

To who you are, what you do and why you do it. Of course. My name is Sharon Quinn and I'm a veterinarian from Ontario, Canada.

I graduated in 2004 and in 2006, I purchased my own practise. I've been working as a veterinarian, ever since, and three years ago, I was approached by Jason Warnock, who's a good friend of mine about getting into telehealth. And so it's something that we've been researching and working on for some time and we're really excited about, about the possibilities for the future of telehealth and veterinary medicine and have a time to share with you.

I'll let Jason introduce himself and his background. Hi, I'm Jason Warnock, and I lead product for SmartBet. I've been doing product management design for About 15 years now.

And yeah, but but 3.5, 4 years ago, I actually got a rescue dog, was abandoned. And and that's when I really first started just truly understanding just how the veterinary world works.

And it was from that experience that I just started talking with Sharon about just being able to connect pet owners and veterinarians together through tech. Technology and if, you know, if that could, that could be, you know, helpful for both the vegetarian and the pet owner and that led us on a really magical journey that turned into what to what is smart vet. Cool.

And obviously so you know, you've mentioned that that that's become what is smart vet. So I'll flip that one around slightly and just sort of say, OK guys, what is Smart vet? When Jason first approached me, I was, admittedly reluctant to consider telemedicine for my for my pet patients.

I'm, I'm a companion animal veterinarian, and I felt strongly that pets are not little people. They can't speak to us. It's not the same as with human telemedicine, where there's, you know, a very accurate description of how you're feeling, etc.

And so I was, I was sort of, Just not quite sure how we could fit it into practise and in my mind, there was, there was sort of so many reasons or or conditions that we maybe couldn't use telehealth for and I wasn't looking at it quite the right way. I'm sure we'll get into that but so we sort of started working on it we, we brought veterinarians in to discuss, and we initially started thinking about more of like a triage service thinking that that would really be the main function. Of telemedicine.

So we did initiate the production of a triage service here in Ontario, and that's been available for about 2 years or so, so that we can provide after hours and weekend, advice and care to pet parents. Yeah, and, and that's a great point. So we started, we started the smart.

That platform as Sharon said, just as a triage service service. What was, what was interesting, Ben, is that we would every so often, at least 3 or 4 times a year, we would hold a focus group session where you invite a variety of veterinarians, in and just discuss how the triage service is working and learn more about their specific needs, . In practise, and then understanding how we could actually apply telemedicine to those needs.

And it was after a good year of focus group sessions that we made the decision that every veterinarian should be equipped in their clinic with the telehealth capabilities and that's when we started the the development of the brandable telehealth platform that would enable any veterinary clinic with core telehealth capabilities through a platform and that, and that platform would allow. The veterinarians to have conversations with their staff or using their staff with their brand and their clients, they wouldn't have to veterinarians wouldn't have to drive their pet owners to a third party service, locate the veterinarians in the third party service and do the consultation. It would all be driven from that, that specific clinic's website, brand, veterinarians.

And I think some of the reason why we realised that any veterinarian could utilise this in practise was the type of Type of questions and cases that pet owners would reach out to us about so we realised it wasn't just triage people are interested in utilising these methods of communication for so many different cases of so many different reasons. So I think that was more what, you know, led us to feel that, you know what this could be really valuable tool in practise for pet owners, for example, who aren't quite ready to commit to the in-person visit and sort of need to build a little bit of rapport. Or have a better understanding of what they can expect moving forward, so it, yeah, it just, it just became very evident to us that maybe half the cases we were dealing with were actually truly triage and about half of them were people who just needed a little bit of direction, and those could be your own clients, new clients, you know, but certainly people who needed to bring their pets in at some point, but these weren't always urgent they were just people who needed a better understanding of, of what would follow if they did go in.

Yeah, and, and Darren, it's interesting listening to the fact that initially you were quite reticent to the idea of telehealth, and, and obviously, you know, your mindset is, is significantly changed since that original outset moment where where you and Jason first touched bases. But I just wonder if you come against, come up against any, any vets who've been particularly reluctant whose mentalities. Haven't changed.

I would say that, you know, there, there's been a few along the way, but generally it's been more of a conversation where I say, you know, are you interested in, in, in participating in this this is more for the triage service, and they would say no, I, I'm not really interested in telehealth, and we would move on so it hasn't really been something I've had a great amount of discussion about and then obviously I, I guess one thing that's important to say is that we've we've just recently launched the ability to have this in clinic. Built into your own website so we haven't had, you know, time. There's been, there haven't been normal times, these are very strange times and I think what we're seeing right now is so many veterinarians coming to us for the service.

Some of these veterinarians are people who actually were not interested previously and now are sort of in a panic to be able to have a tool, you know, in their toolbox that they can use to commun. With their clients. So we'll have to see, I, I think that for a lot of those veterinarians who were reluctant as I was sometimes utilising it what you start to realise is, wait a minute, this is not actually a a full replacement to the in-person visit.

I mean right now with COVID, we are trying to reduce the the numbers of patients coming into our hospitals, . And obviously the clients aren't coming in at all, but I think what we'll find during normal times, and I think hopefully veterinarians as they utilise it, we'll, we'll start to discover this is just an extension of our regular service. This is an extension of what we can provide to clients.

It's not a replacement. It doesn't keep patients out of clinics. You know, it really can actually drive patients into the hospitals more for utilising it in a full way, which obviously, at the moment, we're really having to flow.

But I think that's what veterinarians will come to find. It's certainly what I came to find. I think it's a great support for the family veterinarian, and it arms clients with knowledge that they really, really need to feel comfortable moving forward with their pet's care.

Yeah, and obviously, you know, you, you've very much sort of pointed out the the elephants in the room and that you know we are in . Seismically different times to day to day running of veterinary practises and and many of the practises in the UK are very much on a skeletal staff, and, and, you know, almost nothing in terms of footfall through the practise, but of course we're we're looking to maintain those climates. Relationships.

So you know, obviously the, the telehealth is something that everyone has been going, well, you know, we need to do that, but I just wonder what, what are the benefits of using a specific platform over using the likes of, say, FaceTime or Skype or something like that. Sure, I can, I can take that one. So when you look at, you know, traditional FaceTime or Skype, I mean, those are just one component of the telehealth process.

I mean, you have to look at in order to do a FaceTime or Skype conversation, there needs to be a scheduling component, right? And that scheduling component has to be driven by Some type of landing page that explains your specific telehealth offering. And then once that consultation is done, then there has to be the payment form in there too.

So when you, when we hear that, you know, why, why can't you use Skype, I'm like, well, it's missing basically 3 or 4 other key pillars to make a complete experience and a complete peer experience at that too, you can't. You know, you can't just be, I hope your pet owner actually would, you know, just do a bunch of disjointed steps, meaning that you would have to call them, figure out a time to jump on, you know, FaceTime or Skype call and then Once that's done, send them the calendar invite and then from there, send them to a PayPal link or something like that and then do the cost, you can see you get lost so quickly in it. So telehealth is more than just, you know, than just a, a single, you know, FaceTime or Skype communication.

It's actually a pet owner journey, that's to be well thought out in order to have, you know, an efficient experience both the vegetarian. In the peter and that's really what SmartBet, you know, optimises is that, is that specific journey, right? So with SmartB, it's not just, it's not just a, you know, a video conversation, it's an entire platform, you know, complete with the landing page, the online scheduling, the custom intake forms, the e-commerce, and finally that consultation.

So I mean all those steps that would take to do successful Telehealth have been put into a single platform in a specific pet owner journey within the platform. And if I could add from a veterinarian's perspective, I think one of the most important components of that for myself and for the pet owner is the medical record. So the fact that I can then, you know, have a complete, you know, we have recordings of the phone and video conversations or and I, I always type up a summary.

As well, and the messages and conversations are obviously recorded in there. The really nice thing is that the pet owner can access that at any time, which they're not in most cases. I don't think pet owners are used to having access to their pet's medical records, so they really get a kick out of that.

But more importantly, they're able to really refer back to this what we've said specifically. I think a lot of times pet owners are emotional or distracted. Sometimes when we're speaking to them and don't always retain a lot of what is said so this way there's actually a written record of everything and I think that's very, very valuable for the pet owner and they're much more likely to see the value I think with that in place and to be willing to pay for that interaction than they would be if that didn't exist.

Yeah, that's a great point, Sharon, too on that, right? So. And then one thing that's really interesting about our platform is that if you're doing a phone conversation or a video conversation, our system has the option to record them.

So, I mean, in many cases, the veterinarian or the pet owner can go rewatch those consultations after the consultation is complete. I mean, I'm, I've experienced this firsthand. I was in a situation where my dog needed some help, years and years and years ago before Smart bet, and I remember Sharon giving me a list of instructions that I would need to follow.

In terms of medication and condition monitoring. And I just totally forgot them. And I think I called her about 3 to 4 times just to recap what she had advised me on.

So now in in our system, I could, could have gone and rewatched that exact consultation and viewed the notes that she had typed up for me all in the digital consultation room. Yeah, so it's interesting you say there obviously the owner's got access to the medical records and can see the medical records, which obviously has the added advantage of potentially serving compliance and and their understanding of treatment protocols for, for any particular disease, but is is that potentially a double edged sword where owners can, can maybe cos of course a lot of the clinical records that we write are. Quite extensive, quite scientific, and owners have a tendency to go away and Google things.

So is, is, is there a risk with, with owners having access to medical records that they may not necessarily take them in the full and and and right context? I think that I mean, I, I don't really think so. I think that I'd at least rather have them googling the right things and googling about a bunch of random things.

So, but I do always leave it a little open ended. I, I would say that I don't use as many, abbreviations and things like I normally would in my regular practise management software, so I do make it so at least the owner can understand, you know, when I say differential diagnosis, that I, you know, I make it, clear that I'm not making a diagnosis I'm saying could be this, this, this or this, and so leaving. It rather open ended so that the plan and so that the plant understands it's open ended because maybe that patient needs to have some diagnostic work or or whatever completed so yes I mean I suppose if I mean clients can misinterpret us when we're speaking verbally as well and walk away feeling that they've received a diagnosis before the diagnostics have even been performed.

So I mean we've all seen that happen. I think it could happen in any case, but. I, I feel more confident if I know they can see that report that that they're less likely to misinterpret and go running with it.

But I mean, you never know. OK. And in, in, in obviously times as they are, and you know, they are abnormal and unusual times.

Obviously a lot of other businesses have rushed out and and pushed out, you know, perhaps unfinished versions of a telehealth platform, very much. An attempt to support practises, but of course in that attempt to support them with an unfinished product, sometimes that can be a little bit of a hindrance, and I dare say in some cases very, very rare because I'm sure most people will understand the nature of that, but that could serve to to impact on on the the the vet and owner relationship if they're not necessarily getting the the full experience if you will. And I've I've certainly spoken to several vets who've been getting.

Quite frustrated with software that they've been trying to use to help them, but in the end they've just ended up, you know, doing a, a WhatsApp call because it worked, from, from that side of things. But why is, why is Smart vet different? Sure.

Well, the, the key difference is, we've been at it a long time. I mean, this is just, this wasn't just a, you know, a quick idea, that we've thrown together to, you know, to help vets right now. This is something, this is a 3-year journey for us.

And we've spoken with literally hundreds of vets during the creation of it, and it truly is a platform for veterinarians built by veterinarians. And I mean, in that 3 years, we've had the time and we've had patients to craft the optimal pet owner journey and veterinarian journey in the platform itself. I mean when you look at a lot of, and you look at a lot of those applications that are just rushing the market right now.

You know, they're quick. It's a very poor and confusing experience for both the veterinarian and pet owner to even get engaged. I mean, the first big hurdle with most telehealth solutions that have been rushed to market right now is that you'd have to install an app, you know, so a veterinarian says, look, we have telehealth now, but you have to go in the app store, find our app, install it, configure it, set it up, and then in there, we can actually hopefully do a telehealth conversation.

Our technology is, is cutting edge and we built it in a new framework, that is as powerful as an app and looks like an app, but it's all accessible through that veterinarian's webpage, whether the web page is accessed on a PC, tablet or phone. It's all the same experience. And I mean, Removing that need to install an app is, is basically one of the first major successes that we had using the new cutting edge technology.

So again, in some way, I mean, for us, this is for 3 years into this journey. So it's not just a quick, quick endeavour for us. And I mean, we're having a tonne of fun.

Right now, and, and we're getting a lot of satisfaction, out of the, you know, being able to help veterinary clinics in this time. So we're, we're in it for the long haul too. And I think one of the, one of the key things too is because we're in it for the long haul, we, we want to continue to add new features.

We're really listening to the feedback from the veterinarians. This is a, a fluid process and so I think that's important to recognise too. I, I think the fact that, you know, this is something that means something to us, we're passionate about it, and we've been researching it.

For a long time and we will continue to optimise it for our clients. And, and obviously, you know, we not in terms of, you know, veterinary practise is perfect, you know, even when you're there physically and examining things physically, there are limitations to what you can do there and then. So what are, what are, what are the limitations of telehealth?

Well, I think there are a few. I mean, I'm really reluctant to make an absolute diagnosis over telehealth alone. I think, as I said earlier, it really is an extension of practise so in many of these cases, we're speaking with people who do need to take their pet to a veterinarian but in a lot of in a lot of them it it's a matter of them just not having a comfort level or being afraid of what's in store or being concerned about the potential costs and that kind of thing.

So if we can just give them a little bit of knowledge I mean that's that's it's all about communication, building the rapport and then giving them some knowledge so . I'd say the limitations are in being able to formulate a complete diagnosis and treatment plan in most cases we can advise clients on, you know, whether we think something is urgent or not and we can advise on a number of different things, behavioural concerns, and, and things like that puppy and kitten chats, you know, discussing that we can discuss everything at length and really arm them with knowledge where I find this limitation is in making a, a true diagnosis in most cases occasionally you can, and coming up with. Formulating a treatment plan and implementing a treatment plan if it involves obviously surgery or medications.

So, you know, in some areas in Ontario is one of them, we can prescribe medications through a telehealth consult, but I'm still very, very cautious about when I feel that's appropriate to do and there are some areas where you cannot do that. So, so there are definitely limitations, but I think if you open your mind up to the, the real goal which is just to add to the experience for the client and to help include the client. In the in the process of keeping the pet healthy more than we can often do in in practise itself, a lot of clients leave a medical appointment feeling like, OK, the vet, the vet knows what they're doing, but I'm not really sure if I understand exactly what's going on and why.

It helps us to give them that and one thing I forgot to mention earlier with respect to medical record. We can upload attachments into the system. So if we have an article we want them to read or an estimate we want them to look at those kinds of things then, then we can do that right there too.

And so again they have something tangible to refer back to and and we're really helping them to understand and be involved. Cool, and I think, I mean obviously that gives everybody a a great oversight. As to, you know, what Smartvet is, and I think, you know, it's fantastic that it integrates with the practise website so it looks like, you know, it is from that practise and I think, you know, that's important to maintain those client relationships because it's not, you know, that tertiary service that that's providing that as you alluded to earlier, Jason.

I think. And I would look at it and say, sort of, you know, as a UK vet, I'm on the phone to you guys saying right guys, you know, look, I'm not, I'm looking for a solution telehealth that will help me during this pandemic, but is also gonna be a good tool for me and my practise and helping me and my team in the long run, so. I would say, right, OK, guys, give me your 62nd elevator pitch for why I want to use Smart vet in my practise.

Sure. Yeah, I, Sharon and I will both take a run at it. So, 62nd pitch is Smart vet actually enables clinics with a fully brandable telehealth platform that operates with phone, video, and message communication.

And the brand Telehealth platform integrates seamlessly with, with the veterinarian clinic's existing website. And it allows them to do consultations with their clients by their staff. God, that was 30 seconds, Jason, I'm impressed.

That was a good. No, no pressure at all, Sharon. It's really good.

I mean, from, from my perspective, I mean, I agree with everything Jason said. I think for for me it really enables me to extend the level of care and service I. Provide to my clients and their pets and it also helps me to reach new clients and pets, new pet owners and and provide them with the care that they need and in a really really accessible way so that's that's important providing access to care for pets that may not otherwise have have care as well.

Perfect. Well, I think, you know, that's fantastic. I think it's given people a real insight into the fact that, you know.

Telehealth is, I, I think, you know, it's fair to say that telehealth is, whilst it's been controversial, it is here and it is here to stay. But I think it's really fascinating looking at how practicers can use the tools to benefit them as a practise, to benefit their teams and to benefit their their pet owners as well. And I think, you know, ultimately if we've got that as our core aim to to improve pet health and.

Veterinary services and the wellness of our veterinary team, then you can't really go far wrong with the product, I think. So guys, thank you so much for giving up some of your time. I'm looking forward to seeing how the business grows and obviously you're now now available in the UK as well.

Yes, we are. Awesome. Well thank you both very much indeed, and I look forward to seeing how things go.

Thank you so much, Ben. Thank you, Ben. Have a great day.