Yes, with clear limits. In an April 15, 2026 first-person commentary for the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), board member Melissa Magnuson, DVM, argues that AI can help veterinarians work more effectively when it supports information handling, client communication, and administrative tasks. The veterinarian keeps the judgment and accountability. The piece is a professional opinion based on the author’s own experience, not a clinical trial, a consensus guideline, or measured proof that AI improves patient outcomes or workload.
What the commentary actually argues
The question in the title, “Can AI help us improve us veterinarians?”, is really a practical one: can AI make veterinarians better at work they already do without replacing medical judgment? Magnuson’s answer is that it can, if the tool is used for the kinds of work that surround clinical decisions rather than making them.
Her central thesis is that AI can reduce the administrative and cognitive burden that pulls veterinarians away from patient care, client relationships, and team leadership. That is the author’s argument. The article does not measure how much time was saved or how often that burden decreased.
Where the author says AI helps
Magnuson describes four kinds of work where she has found AI useful. Each is drawn from her own practice and reasoning, not from a study.
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- Overall Length: Appx. 33"
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Thinking through complex cases
She describes using AI to organize complicated cases, review differential diagnoses, summarize new literature, and explore ideas to pressure-test her own thinking. The key point is that it is used as a sounding board. She is explicit that the tool does not make the diagnosis.
Drafting protocols and client education
She describes drafting clinical protocols and client education materials, and translating complicated medical information into language pet owners can understand. For a clinic, this is often where the time cost is highest: a well-written handout or protocol takes far longer to produce than a first draft that a clinician then edits.
Running the practice
The article also covers operational drafting: developing hospital policies and training materials, summarizing meeting notes, and structuring leadership ideas. These tasks rarely involve a patient directly, but they consume hours of staff and management time.
Rank #2
- Monitor and assess a wide range of patients and detect normal and abnormal sounds and rhythms
- Useful in non-critical care environments such as a medical office, general ward, OB/GYN, ambulatory clinic or urgent care
- More than twice as loud* as the next leading stethoscope. *Based on tests against globally-available comparable stethoscopes in an equivalent class using recorded heart sounds with diaphragm.
- Allows you to more reliably and consistently hear heart sounds at lower frequencies (below 120Hz*) like Korotkoff sounds, Mitral Stenosis and S3 and S4 Gallops when compared to other leading stethoscopes. *Based on tests against globally-available comparable stethoscopes in an equivalent class using recorded heart sounds with diaphragm.
- Weighs less** than other stethoscopes. ** Based on published weights of globally-available comparable stethoscopes in an equivalent class.
Reading client patterns
Magnuson says AI tools can analyze patterns in client feedback, questions, and online behavior to help practices understand what clients need. This is the one area in the piece that reaches beyond individual cases into practice-level insight. It is offered as an example of possibility, not as a documented result.
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The table below summarizes these uses and the part that remains with the veterinarian in each.
| Type of work | Examples the author gives | What stays with the veterinarian |
|---|---|---|
| Case thinking | Organizing complex cases, reviewing differentials, summarizing literature, pressure-testing ideas | The diagnosis, the medical decision, and interpreting whatever the tool produces |
| Client communication | Drafting client education, translating medical information into plain language | Checking accuracy and tailoring the message to the individual patient and owner |
| Clinical and hospital documents | Clinical protocols, hospital policies, training materials | Clinical content, approval, and ensuring the policy fits how the team actually works |
| Meetings and leadership | Summarizing meeting notes, structuring leadership ideas | Decisions about what the notes mean and what the practice does next |
| Client patterns | Analyzing feedback, questions, and online behavior | Deciding which patterns are real and what, if anything, to change |
What the author keeps in human hands
The clearest part of the commentary is its limit. Magnuson keeps critical thinking, medical decisions, diagnosis, and ethical care with the veterinarian. Any AI output has to be interpreted using professional judgment. The article does not argue that software can independently provide safe veterinary care.
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She puts the point this way: “AI outputs are only as good as the questions we ask and the judgment we apply when interpreting the results.” That sentence is the most useful guide to the rest of the piece. The quality of the tool’s output depends on the clinician’s prompt and on the clinician’s review.
What the evidence does and does not show
Readers should be precise about what the commentary establishes. It is a professional opinion from a board member, grounded in her attributed experience and reasoning. It contains no named statistic, no quantified study result, and no measured effect on diagnostic accuracy, patient outcomes, workload, or quality of care. It does not describe a controlled comparison of clinics with and without AI tools.
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How to evaluate an AI tool before using it
The commentary does not provide a buying guide, but its examples point to the questions a practice should ask. The following criteria are an editorial framework drawn from the workflows Magnuson describes and from the distinctions vendors make between their products. Verify each detail for any specific product.
- Task supported: Is it a scribe that drafts records, a case-exploration tool, a client-communication aid, or an operations tool? Each carries different risks.
- Integration: Does it work with your existing practice management system, or does it require staff to copy information between systems?
- Human review and editability: Can a veterinarian easily check, correct, and approve the output before it enters the medical record or reaches a client?
- Data handling and consent: What client and patient information does the tool collect, where is it stored, and what consent is required?
- Availability and terms: Is the product generally available, in limited beta, or on request? What are the subscription terms, and do they differ by product?
Current product examples
A current vendor product page for DVM describes three tools, each with a different purpose. These are the provider’s own descriptions, not independent evaluations, and they do not establish how well any tool performs.
- DVM Specialists is described as bringing AI specialty perspectives into case exploration.
- DVM Scribe is described as drafting an editable medical record.
- DVM Touchless is listed as in limited beta.
The same page states that each product has its own availability, subscription, and terms. Check those directly with the provider before assuming any of them is available to your practice.
Best Value
- Monitor and assess a wide range of patients and detect normal and abnormal sounds and rhythms
- Useful in non-critical care environments such as a medical office, general ward, OB/GYN, ambulatory clinic or urgent care
- More than twice as loud* as the next leading stethoscope. *Based on tests against globally-available comparable stethoscopes in an equivalent class using recorded heart sounds with diaphragm.
- Allows you to more reliably and consistently hear heart sounds at lower frequencies (below 120Hz*) like Korotkoff sounds, Mitral Stenosis and S3 and S4 Gallops when compared to other leading stethoscopes. *Based on tests against globally-available comparable stethoscopes in an equivalent class using recorded heart sounds with diaphragm.
- Weighs less** than other stethoscopes. ** Based on published weights of globally-available comparable stethoscopes in an equivalent class.
A practical approach for the clinic
- Start with a low-risk task such as drafting a client handout or summarizing meeting notes, where the output is easy to check.
- Write down the clinical question you are asking before using a case-exploration tool, and treat its answer as a list of possibilities to evaluate, not a conclusion.
- Require a named veterinarian to review and approve any AI-drafted medical record, protocol, or client message before it is used.
- Track whether the time saved is real and whether the output needed substantial correction. The commentary offers no measurements, so your own records are the only evidence you will have.
- Review client data handling and consent terms before entering any patient or owner information into a tool.
The author’s framing suggests the most valuable use is not replacing a veterinarian’s work but returning time to patient care, client relationships, and team leadership. Whether a given tool achieves that depends on the practice, which is why the local test matters more than the general claim.
Source: Melissa Magnuson, DVM, “View from the Board,” AAHA, April 15, 2026. Product descriptions are from a DVM vendor product page and reflect the provider’s own wording.
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