The value of time: three ways practice management software can lighten your team’s workload

4 mins

Finding an answer, phoning to book a routine appointment, and typing the same information again each take a few minutes.

When you’re considering practice management software, these everyday tasks deserve as much attention as the bigger features. Ask which parts of your working day the software could make easier, as well as what it can do.

Here are three areas worth exploring, with examples from IDEXX Animana and ezyVet: searchable help, online booking that follows your own diary rules, and templates for the emails and notes you write most.

1. Make learning part of the working day

Knowing that a feature exists is not the same as knowing how to use it confidently. When assessing software, look beyond the initial training and ask what help your team can use afterwards.

Can a new colleague find guidance on booking appointments? Can an experienced user explore a feature without waiting for someone to show them? Are the instructions easy to search and share?

For Animana, the Animana help hub brings together the knowledge base, release documentation, and best-practice articles. The tips and tricks library covers practical topics such as keyboard shortcuts, searching across client, address, and patient details, and sending appointment reminders in batches.

For ezyVet, the ezyVet Knowledge Center can be used without signing in, so you can explore the guidance before becoming a customer. ezyVet Academy adds self-paced courses on areas such as appointments, clinical records, transactions, and everyday tips and tricks, and is free for ezyVet customers.

What to look for: Choose a routine task, such as booking a follow-up appointment, and try finding the instructions yourself. How long that takes is a useful test of how accessible the help will be when your team needs it.

2. Let pet owners book suitable appointments online

Online booking should offer convenience without handing over control of your diary. The questions that matter are which appointments pet owners can book, when they can book them, and how those bookings reach your practice management software.

Vetstoria, an online booking provider, integrates with both Animana and ezyVet. Pet owners book against the appointment slots you make available, including outside your opening hours, and bookings appear in your practice diary. Vetstoria is a separate provider, so check account setup, pricing, and terms with them directly.

With Animana, you can set preferences such as the days and times available and how far ahead appointments can be booked. With ezyVet, you can set booking rules around availability, including individual clinician preferences such as the species they wish to treat.

The aim is to give pet owners another way to arrange suitable appointments, while keeping the telephone available for advice or a more involved discussion.

What to look for: Ask to see how online booking would handle your actual appointment types and diary arrangements. Check what happens when a booking needs changing, and which situations should direct pet owners to call instead.

Explore online booking with Animana or the ezyVet Vetstoria integration.

3. Stop starting from a blank page

Not every email or clinical note needs to be written from scratch. Templates give you a starting point for recurring work and leave room for the details that make each message or record individual.

In Animana, the Content Designer lets you create reusable letter and email templates, including for appointment communications, with automatically populated fields so you do not retype every detail. You can also refine automatic appointment reminder rules by patient species, so a reminder for a cat does not have to read like one for a dog. See how to add a letter or email template.

In ezyVet, clinical templates give you a structured framework for recording information such as a history, physical exam, assessment, or plan. They can use picklists and shorthand text to reduce repetitive typing, and can be linked to billing triggers for related products and services. Learn more about making a clinical template, or read ezyVet’s clinical templates setup guide.

These are different applications of the same principle: prepare the repeatable parts, then give proper attention to what changes. A template should support accurate documentation, so check that its text fits the patient and the situation before you accept it. The RCVS supporting guidance on clinical and client records says veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses must keep clear, accurate, and adequately detailed records, whichever tools a practice uses to create them.

What to look for: Bring an example of a frequently used email or clinical note to a software demonstration. Ask how your team would create, adapt, and maintain it.

Start with the task, not the feature list

Before comparing software, ask your team which recurring tasks they would most like to simplify. Then use those examples to guide the conversation.

What matters is how well each one fits your practice. Small, specific improvements can add up, so you can begin with the one that matters most to your team.

If you know IDEXX through diagnostics, there is a software side to explore too. Animana and ezyVet both integrate with IDEXX diagnostics, and SmartFlow supports in-hospital patient workflow from admission to discharge and connects to ezyVet. See how IDEXX Veterinary Software fits your practice.

Quick answers

How can practice management software save time in a veterinary practice?
By making answers easy to find, letting pet owners book against the slots you choose, and reusing templates for the emails and notes you write most. How much time you save depends on how well each fits your routines, so test them with your own examples.

Does online booking replace the telephone?
No. Online booking adds a second route for routine appointments, and the telephone stays available for advice and more involved conversations.

Can pet owners book outside opening hours with Animana or ezyVet?
With the Vetstoria integration, yes. Pet owners can book against the slots you make available, including outside opening hours, and bookings appear in your practice diary.