The right veterinary practice management software is the one that fits your clinic’s species mix, staff, workflows, and budget, and that you can verify through a demonstration, references, and written contract terms. No single system is the best choice for every practice. That is the central point of a December 16, 2025 article in AAHA’s Trends magazine by Gregory Carastro, LVT, which states: “When evaluating veterinary practice management software, several factors should be considered to ensure that the software is compatible with the practice’s specific needs.”
Veterinary practice management software, often shortened to PIMS, is the system a clinic uses to run its daily operations. Depending on the product, it may bring together clinical records, appointments, billing, stock and inventory, and client communication. Not every product includes every function, and no product is guaranteed to perform each function equally well, so the first job is to decide which functions your clinic actually needs.
How widely practices already use this software
The American Veterinary Medical Association’s Economic State of the Veterinary Profession 2025 reports technology-use data for 2024 from the practices it represents. The figures below show adoption, not whether a given system improves clinical or business results.
| Technology (2024 use, represented practices) | Share of practices |
|---|---|
| Practice management software (PIMS) | 76.5% |
| Electronic medical record software | 66.8% |
| Online pharmacy | 64.1% |
| Client-communications software integrating directly with PIMS | 59.9% |
| Digital inventory management | 43.5% |
| Online appointment scheduling | 33.4% |
| Telehealth (defined in the survey as virtual consultation or communication with clients) | 29.2% |
Source: AVMA, Economic State of the Veterinary Profession 2025. Because this is a U.S. profession report covering represented practices and 2024 use, these shares should not be read as a 2026 rate or as a description of every clinic.
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Start with your clinic’s profile, not a product list
Before you request a single demonstration, write a short profile of the practice. A system that suits a small companion-animal clinic with one location may not suit a multi-doctor hospital with a referral caseload, a mobile service, or a specialty service. Record the following:
- Practice type and species: companion animal, equine, livestock, exotics, or a mix, and the share of each.
- Specialty and service needs: any services that require specific records, diagnostic links, or ordering workflows.
- Locations and staffing: number of sites, shared records between sites, and how many people will use the system at each.
- Current pain points: the specific delays, errors, or duplicate entry you want to remove, written in plain terms.
- Non-negotiables: integrations, reporting, mobile access, or deployment requirements that would rule a product out.
This profile becomes your scoring sheet. It also protects you from being guided by a vendor’s feature list rather than your own work.
Compare candidates on the same eight axes
Use identical criteria for every option so that the comparison is consistent. The axes below combine the selection factors discussed in the AAHA article with a transparency checklist from a third-party index. Treat them as a structure for your own evaluation, not as an independent quality rating.
Rank #2
| Axis | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Practice and workflow fit | Whether the system covers your species, specialties, and role-specific tasks |
| Ease of use and training | How long staff need to become competent, and whether they can use it without workarounds |
| Configuration and reporting | Which settings staff can change themselves, and which need vendor services or custom work |
| Integration | Which laboratory, imaging, payment, pharmacy, accounting, and communication connections are included and supported |
| Mobile access and deployment | Whether the system is cloud-based or local, which devices it needs, and how it behaves during an internet or service outage |
| Support and service response | Which channels are contractually included, and who handles problems that involve integrations |
| Total cost and contract terms | All one-time and recurring charges, contract length, renewal, and termination terms |
| Migration, data access, and exit | How records move in and out, in what format, and at what cost |
Test the system on your own routine work
A useful demonstration follows your clinic’s real day rather than the vendor’s showcase. Ask the vendor to run these scenarios with your own examples, and watch for any third-party module, extra fee, or manual step that appears along the way:
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- Recording an exam: enter findings, a problem list, and a treatment plan for a patient with a chronic condition.
- Orders and results: send a laboratory or imaging order and bring the result back into the record.
- Invoicing: build an estimate, change it after approval, and take a split payment.
- Inventory changes: dispense a controlled or high-use item and confirm that stock updates correctly.
- Follow-up communication: send a reminder or results message and confirm where that message is recorded.
- Management reporting: produce the reports your owner or manager reviews each week.
This is a practical method for comparing products, not a controlled test of how each system performs these tasks. Have the staff who will use the software run the steps, because a demonstration led by the vendor shows what the product can do, while staff trials show what your team can do with it.
Integrations and what happens when the connection fails
Vague statements that a system is “compatible” with other tools do not establish that a specific connection works for your clinic. For each laboratory, imaging device, payment processor, pharmacy, accounting package, and communication tool you use, ask the vendor to show the connection in operation and to state in writing who maintains it and who supports it when it breaks.
Ask two further questions about deployment. What happens during an internet or service outage, and can staff continue to record care, take payments, and find records? And which devices and local infrastructure does the clinic need to buy, maintain, or replace?
Total cost and commercial terms
The sticker price is only part of the cost. Ask for a written quote at your expected scale that lists every charge, including:
- Setup and implementation
- Training and staff time to reach competence
- Data migration
- Subscription or usage charges, and any transaction-based fees
- Add-on modules and third-party modules you would need
- Support tiers and what each includes
- Renewal pricing and any annual increase terms
- Contract length, termination charges, and exit terms
The sources used for this guide do not provide a current or comprehensive price comparison among vendors, so you will need each vendor’s own written offer to compare costs.
Migration, data export, and exit
Your records are the clinic’s asset, and moving them is often the hardest part of a change. Resolve these points before you sign:
- Get the migration process in writing. Ask what data is migrated, what is excluded, and what the timeline and staff time involve.
- Confirm validation. Ask how migrated data is checked and who resolves discrepancies.
- Confirm export rights. Ask whether you can export your records at any time, in what format, and whether export has a cost.
- Confirm exit terms. Ask what happens to your data at termination and how long you have to retrieve it.
- Plan parallel checks. For high-risk workflows such as controlled-drug records, invoicing, and results, plan a period of parallel checking before the old system is retired.
Using published comparisons and the transparency index
The AAHA article, by Gregory Carastro, LVT, compares Vetport, EzyVet, Covetrus Impromed, Shepherd, Instinct, Covetrus Pulse, Digital, IDEXX Neo, and IDEXX Cornerstone. It discusses factors such as cloud access, customization, integrated commerce, reporting, support, and integration with diagnostic products. Read those discussions as the author’s assessment, not as verified universal fact or a guarantee of current features.
The article is explicitly opinion. In its own words: “This article is strictly opinion and AAHA does not officially endorse any particular brand of VPMS.” Use it to build a shortlist, then verify every point directly with the vendor. The AAHA article does not specify the countries or regions its product discussion covers, so confirm that each product is available and supported where your clinic operates.
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A separate 2026 transparency index by Vets Compared Ltd covers many systems, including newer products and older legacy ones. Its Veterinary PIMS Transparency Index 2026 scores how much a buyer can verify from public information. It does not measure product quality. Its methodology considers deployment, pricing, contracts, AI, integrations, intended users, switching, features, and data export. A score of zero means the public evidence was insufficient to verify a feature, not that the feature is absent. Use the index to prepare buyer questions, not to name a “best” product from its scores.
What this evidence does and does not establish
The published sources describe selection considerations and anticipated benefits. They do not compare outcomes in a controlled evaluation, so no claim is made here that any system improves clinical quality, revenue, efficiency, or client satisfaction. Product details such as features, integrations, prices, support, security practices, and migration policies change over time, so the current vendor documentation and written offer should govern your decision.
The Bottom Line
Choose the system that passes your clinic’s own workflow tests, connects to the tools you already depend on, and comes with a written migration, export, and exit plan at a cost you have confirmed in writing. Published comparisons are useful for building a shortlist, but they are not a substitute for a demonstration by your own staff.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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