How this rapidly growing animal hospital increased front desk efficiency and saved time
72.3
Monthly Saved Hours
216
Monthly PetDesk Appointment Requests
803
Monthly PetDesk Appointment Confirmations
Clinic Overview
In 2014, East Padden Animal Hospital in Vancouver, WA, was a smaller practice that saw 7,607 appointments per year. In 2018, they saw 19,352 appointments, an increase of 154% over 4 years. Normally, a practice experiencing that growth will experience significant growing pains as they add capacity to their facility, hire brand new staff members at every level, and engage with their clients on a larger scale.
The Problem: Huge volume of phone calls threaten client experience at a fast-growing practice
Dr. Tracy Thompson, East Padden’s owner, was committed to pet health and her clients’ experience. Her plan focused on delivering care by upgrading her facilities and hiring 6 veterinarians and 40 support staff over the four years. But thinking about both her clients’ experience and her employee’s efficiency, Dr. Tracy knew that her practice would need more than just the phone and automated emails to support her future hospital.
“At the beginning, we chose PetDesk for the benefit of our clients... but we’ve since realized that it helps us too.”
- Cathy Lead Receptionist
The Solution: A simple technology to streamline client communication
The clinic team came to understand, over the course of their four years with PetDesk, that if they trained their clients to use the app and respond to digital confirmations, they could make their front desk’s time more productive and keep their clients satisfied.
For the clinic, PetDesk acts as a critical tool for client communication in the practice. Not only does it automate confirmations and health service reminders, it provides clients a channel for appointment requests that doesn’t require a phone call, is not dependent on open hours, and – most importantly – is simple to use for the front desk team and clients.
The Result: Relief for the front desk, dozens of hours of phone time eliminated
As the hospital grew, the PetDesk’s benefits increased at the same speed — all while the price stayed the same.
On average, East Padden receives 216 appointment requests and 803 appointment confirmations per month through PetDesk. Using East Padden’s own estimation, that translates into a total time savings of 72.3 hours per month, or approximately 8 hours of time savings per CSR. Total staff savings totals $867.60 in payroll every month.
From the point of view of the front desk manager, PetDesk is like a “part-time receptionist” and “grows with us.”
