The full picture behind great pet owner experiences

3 mins

The BestUKVets Awards recognise practices through feedback from pet owners, making the event a timely moment to celebrate the everyday work that shapes how pet owners experience a practice. Those experiences are rarely built from a single interaction. They are built through phone calls, updates, handovers, follow-ups, and the sense that the whole practice team knows what is happening.

That is why IDEXX Veterinary Software is proud to sponsor the BestUKVets Awards 2026. The awards shine a light on teams recognised by pet owners, while also reminding us of the systems and workflows that support those moments behind the scenes.

Good software cannot replace the care, skill, or judgement of a veterinary team. What it can do is help teams work with clearer information, reduce avoidable friction, and keep more of the practice day in view.

Pet owner feedback starts with everyday practice moments

When someone leaves a practice feeling informed and reassured, it is often because many small things have worked well together.

The team had the right information to hand. They did not have to repeat the same details several times. Updates were shared clearly. The handover between colleagues felt joined up. Follow-up was consistent. Everyone involved had a shared understanding of what needed to happen next.

These are practical details, but they can make a real difference to the pet owner’s experience.

For busy veterinary teams, maintaining that level of coordination is not always simple. Reception, clinical, and admin teams may all be involved in the same patient journey. Appointments change, emergency patients arrive, diagnostics need to be recorded, and updates need to reach the right person at the right time.

In those moments, visibility matters. Teams need to answer key questions quickly:

• • What is happening with this patient now?
  • Who needs to take the next step?
  • Has the pet owner been updated?
  • Does everyone involved have the same information?

Clearer answers help teams stay coordinated, especially when the day changes quickly.

Where IDEXX Veterinary Software fits

IDEXX Veterinary Software supports veterinary teams with tools designed to connect information, workflows, and communication throughout the day.

For UK practices looking at practice management software, ezyVet supports growing, complex, and multi-site teams that need flexibility, scale, and control over how they work. It helps practices manage more of the day from one place, from appointments and patient information to billing, reporting, and team workflows.

Depending on how a practice works, other IDEXX Veterinary Software solutions can support specific workflow needs. IDEXX SmartFlow helps teams digitise and visualise patient workflows, supporting clearer tracking from admission to discharge. For referral settings, rVetLink helps standardise communication with referring veterinary professionals, supporting clearer updates and continuity of care.

These tools do not need to be viewed as all-or-nothing. Every practice has different focuses, priorities, and ways of working. The aim is to help teams choose software that fits their workflows and provides useful information when they need it.

Connecting more of the practice day

For many practices, stress comes from fragmentation. Information can sit in different systems, notes, messages, or processes. Even when everyone is working hard, teams may still spend time piecing together the wider picture.

Many UK practices already know IDEXX through diagnostics. IDEXX Veterinary Software builds on that familiarity with tools designed to support more of the practice day. Sitting within the wider IDEXX ecosystem, our software helps bring diagnostics, workflows, and practice information together around a practical goal: clearer information and less operational friction.

That connection matters because the practice day does not happen in separate parts. Pet owner communication, patient care, diagnostics, billing, reporting, and follow-up are all linked. When teams can see and manage more of that activity clearly, they are better placed to focus on the patient, the pet owner, and what needs to happen next.

Celebrating the teams behind the feedback

The BestUKVets Awards are a chance to celebrate practices recognised through pet owner feedback, and the teams who work every day to create those positive experiences.

IDEXX Veterinary Software is proud to sponsor the 2026 awards and support an event that recognises the care, communication, and commitment shown across UK veterinary practices.

If you are attending the BestUKVets Awards, come and speak to the IDEXX Veterinary Software team, and visit the photo booth we are sponsoring.

Whether you are joining the awards in person or reviewing the systems behind your own practice day, this is a good moment to consider where clearer workflows, connected information, and practical software could support your team.

See how IDEXX Veterinary Software fits your practice.