When people ask me “What is something that we could cultivate within veterinary medicine to improve the wellbeing of veterinary teams?”, one of the first things that comes to mind is telehealth. While still a relatively new concept in the veterinary space, telehealth is the use of digital information and communication technologies to deliver health information, education, or care remotely. 

Telehealth is an overarching term whereby depending on who is involved in the exchange of information or communication it is divided into categories. Some of these include:

• teletriage (non-client to veterinarian or veterinary technician / nurse) 
• teleconsulting (specialist or consultant to veterinarian) 
• telesupervision (veterinary team to veterinarian) 
• telemonitoring (animal to veterinarian or veterinary technician / nurse) 
• telemedicine (client to veterinarian) 
• e-prescription (pharmacy or distributor to veterinarian) 

These categories of telehealth use technology such as mobile devices, apps, video conferencing, email, audio or video recordings, text messages, and wearable monitoring devices to share information that enhances the care of the patient in some way. 

Telehealth took off during the pandemic when face-to-face appointments were limited and the demand for veterinary care increased. In many instances, veterinary practices seamlessly adopted technologies that allowed for video streaming of the veterinarian’s exam while the pet owner waited outside, whereas others began allowing consultations with the pet and owner at home. 

Since then, companies such as Smart.Vet or Vetster have emerged to offer telemedicine services for routine care or non-urgent concerns when pet owners are unable to schedule a timely appointment with their regular veterinarian. Additionally, Animal HealthLink is a company that offers teletriage services whereby they respond to client calls in or outside of business hours to screen patients for life-threatening emergencies and direct them to the nearest veterinary hospital or back to their regular practice if the circumstance is not urgent. There are also companies such as VetTalk that use technology to automate call-backs to clients. Finally, Vet-CT is a company of veterinary specialists who liaise with veterinarians to offer advice and support for challenging patients that require advanced level care.

So, what does telehealth have to do with the wellbeing of veterinary teams?

During the last several years, veterinary medicine has experienced an increase in demand for veterinary care, as well as an increase in attrition of team members and a shortage of available team members to fill those vacant spots. As such, most veterinary practices are routinely functioning with a staffing deficit while tending to a higher than usual caseload. 

These circumstances have led to burnout rates exceeding 50% among some veterinary team members. 

The benefits of utilizing telehealth services in veterinary medicine are numerous, not the least of which is providing care for pet owners who are unable to access veterinary appointments in a timely fashion. Additional benefits of telehealth in the context of veterinary team wellbeing are as follows: 

• Veterinary team members experience less stress and exhaustion. Feeling as though there are patients who need help but that there is no time to fit them in the schedule creates an immense amount of stress for teams. Very often they end up double- or triple-booking appointments, which leads to additional stress and tiredness for everyone. The option to refer pet owners to telemedicine services for non-urgent concerns, use a teletriage service to field client calls, or use technology to automate client call-backs can help to alleviate some of the burden on general practices. 
• Veterinarians can spend less time on-call and get a better night’s sleep. Rural practitioners often spend a large amount of time on-call to field questions from clients or tend to emergencies outside of normal practice hours. Time spent on-call (even when calls are not received) leads to more feelings of tension and tiredness and has a negative impact on sleep. The use of a teletriage service to field overnight calls reduces the need to interrupt the veterinarian’s home life or sleep thereby enabling them to show up more alert and ready for work the following day.       
• Veterinarians can experience less frequent moral stress. Some clients whose pets would benefit from the care of a specialist cannot afford, cannot access, or choose not to be referred to a specialty veterinary hospital. The primary care veterinarian is thus left to manage a patient whose condition might be complex or challenging. The moral dilemma that ensues when a veterinarian is managing a case they feel exceeds their capabilities or expertise can lead to moral stress. The use of a teleconsulting service allows a veterinarian to share the details of the case with a board-certified specialist and receive advice and recommendations as to how to best manage its care.  
• Veterinary team members who cannot work full-time in clinical practice can work remotely. Since the pandemic began, some veterinary team members have had to step away from clinical practice to fulfill family or personal obligations at home. This has contributed to the shortage of veterinary team members, some of whom could continue to provide veterinary care remotely. The employment of veterinarians and veterinary technicians / nurses by telehealth companies provides job opportunities for veterinary care providers who cannot work typical in-practice workdays, thereby staying in the profession and helping to alleviate the burden on veterinary practices. 
• Veterinary team members will experience less burnout and job dissatisfaction. A sense of overwhelm and insufficient support are both factors that contribute to burnout and job dissatisfaction among veterinary team members. Additionally, negative emotional states resulting from perceived low standards of patient care or negative clinical outcomes lower job satisfaction and increase turnover. Telehealth services all have the potential to lower the risk of burnout and job dissatisfaction among veterinary team members. 

Overall, telehealth holds promise for meeting the growing increase in client demand, creating more efficiency in the veterinary practice workflow, reducing stress and fatigue among veterinary team members, alleviating moral stress among general practice veterinarians, retaining veterinary team members in the profession who must work remotely, and leading to greater job satisfaction long term.