Emergency Veterinary Hospital Boosts Morale and Saves More Pets’ Lives with Talkatoo

  • Over 45%

    increased revenue for 2020

  • 27 Staff Members

    significantly increased efficiency

  • 3 minutes

    from sign up, to using Talkatoo

Lindsay Ruland

Lindsay Ruland, DVM

Dr. Ruland has had a passion for animals her entire life. She is an Ann Arbor native who attended Eastern Michigan University where she majored in Biology, and was accepted to Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine in her Junior year of undergraduate studies. After graduating from MSU CVM in 2009 Dr. Ruland began immediately working in emergency medicine – her true passion in the field of veterinary medicine. On July 4, 2012, she opened Emergency Veterinary Hospital. Her interests in veterinary medicine include surgery and critical care medicine.

"We get a lot of patients transferred to us from other clinics that say no, it won't work. No, don't treat them. Just put them down. And we take them all on. [Talkatoo] improves our efficiency to the point that we can save those animals or at least work harder to save them."

- Dr. Lindsay Ruland, Owner and Chief of Medicine, Emergency Veterinary Hospital (Ann Arbor)

Work-life balance as a measure of success

The Emergency Veterinary Hospital (EVH) is a 24-hour clinic that handles most of the emergency cases in the Ann Arbor area. Dr. Lindsay Ruland is the sole founder of and Chief of Medicine at EVH. Her team of 27 staff members treats many animals that require special attention and urgent treatment.

Pet owners often come to the clinic from other veterinary practices where they’ve been told that their best option is to put down a beloved pet. EVH refuses to give up. Instead, the team strives to save as many patients as possible.

Dr. Ruland believes that with consistently superior care and a client-focused clinic, other measures of success, including increased revenue, will naturally follow.

Emergency veterinarians overwhelmed by after-hours work

The urgent nature of their cases requires the EVH team to keep highly detailed patient records. However, this makes efficiency a challenge. Dr. Ruland noticed her staff were frequently staying long after their shifts ended to complete reports and patient records. She knew she needed a solution that would prevent her team from wasting precious time typing and making manual corrections in their high-volume emergency setting.

In 2020, patient volume increased significantly when a number of nearby veterinary clinics were forced to close their doors due to COVID-19. The EVH team’s work-life balance was suffering. Dr. Ruland didn’t want her staff feeling overwhelmed as they came to work on already stressful and complex cases. A better work-life balance was crucial. She needed to improve the clinic’s workflow and focus on getting her staff home on time.

"[Since implementing Talkatoo] Our team feels more purposeful and accomplished."

- Dr. Lindsay Ruland, Owner and Chief of Medicine, Emergency Veterinary Hospital (Ann Arbor)

Authentic and customer-focused

Dictation software was the clear solution for EVH. One of Dr. Ruland’s veterinarians, Dr. Alex Brown, was the first to recommend Talkatoo. After a series of negative experiences with other software teams, Dr. Ruland was relieved to find a supportive, authentic, and customer-focused team at Talkatoo.

“We’re very selective about who we hire. They need to be committed and authentic individuals to work for us. And we expect the same from the companies that we work with,” she said.

The right solution for EVH needed to be affordable, improve the team’s efficiency and workflow, and be backed by a supportive team that cares about consistently improving their software. Talkatoo’s high quality, user-friendly dictation software met all of Dr. Ruland’s criteria.

A time-saving and life-saving solution

The clinic currently has Talkatoo installed in the doctor’s office, manager’s office, and main treatment areas. Multiple veterinarians can use the dictation software throughout their shifts with this setup. Since Talkatoo works from anywhere, some veterinarians have also installed it on their personal computers for rare work- from-home cases.

Installing Talkatoo was a breeze, and the software has become an essential part of EVH’s workflow. After performing a physical exam, veterinarians record their findings immediately. This enables them to focus solely on their patient during each appointment.

When a new patient comes into the clinic for the first time, the doctors use Talkatoo to add detailed notes to the treatment plan. The software’s punctuation feature makes the process smooth.

Dictation enables the veterinarians to develop a diagnosis and recommendations before speaking to a client. As a result, EVH is able to treat more patients with a superior level of care. Talkatoo also speeds up client communications with many veterinarians dictating emails to pet parents.

Dr. Ruland has noticed a palpable boost in morale across the clinic since implementing Talkatoo. “Our team feels more purposeful and accomplished. Those are the words they’ve described to me,” she said.

Boosting morale and shaping clinic culture

EVH has reaped priceless benefits since implementing Talkatoo, in Dr. Ruland’s eyes. The clinic currently uses the Talkatoo Border Collie plan, which is affordable while allowing multiple veterinarians to use the software during their shifts.

Dr. Ruland recommends Talkatoo for the clear benefits the software offers as well as the support and authenticity that resonates whenever she communicates with the Talkatoo team. She plans on rolling out the software clinic-wide. Her goal is to use the technology to continue improving efficiency at her practice over the next year and beyond.

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About Talkatoo

Talkatoo’s dictation software helps veterinarians and other professionals save hours on tedious record-keeping to spend more time with patients and less time at their desks.

Our customers are busy professionals who have high hourly bill rates and hectic schedules—their time is valuable. Driven by liability management and professional regulation, their documentation requirements are rigorous. We save our customers time, so they can get more done.

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