Veterinary specialists / referral practicesNew

What gets pre-loaded

• preferenceimportance 9/10

  Referral hygiene — every active referral carries the named referring DVM + named primary-care practice + last-touched date + post-visit clinical summary back to the referring DVM within 5 business days

  Specialty veterinary practices live and die by primary-care DVM referral relationships — 70-85% of specialty caseload comes from referrals, and the referring DVM's perception of clinical communication quality is the primary driver of repeat referrals. Specialty practices that treat the patient and forget to close the loop with the referring DVM lose referral volume within 6-12 months, with no clear feedback signal because the referring DVM simply stops referring without explaining why. The right practice rule is: every active referral case carries (a) the named referring DVM with direct contact, (b) the named primary-care practice, (c) the last-touched date, AND (d) a structured clinical summary back to the referring DVM within 5 business days of the specialty visit (covering diagnosis, treatment plan, prognosis, named follow-up cadence, and explicit acknowledgement that ongoing primary care stays with the referring DVM). Surface a watch item on any case where the post-visit summary isn't filed within 5 business days, AND any referring DVM relationship that hasn't been touched in 90+ days.

• preferenceimportance 9/10

  Controlled-substance compliance — every Schedule II-V dispensing event logs the named DVM signature + named patient + named drug + named quantity + on-hand reconciliation match within 24 hours

  Specialty veterinary practices stock larger quantities of controlled substances (Schedule II-V) than primary-care practices because of oncology + surgery + pain-management caseload, and the DEA's enforcement scrutiny is correspondingly higher. Practices that let dispensing logs go more than 24 hours without on-hand reconciliation routinely discover discrepancies they can't explain to a DEA inspector — and a single unexplained discrepancy can trigger a license action that ends the practice. The right practice rule is: every dispensing event (in-clinic administration AND take-home prescriptions) logs the named DVM signature, named patient, named drug + Schedule, named quantity, AND an on-hand reconciliation match within 24 hours. Surface a watch item on any dispensing event without a reconciliation match logged within 24 hours, AND any inventory variance > 0.5% on weekly counts.

• lessonimportance 8/10

  Named-specialist continuity — every active case stays with the same named specialist DVM through the full treatment cycle unless an explicit hand-off is documented

  Specialty caseload (chemotherapy protocols, post-surgical recovery, multi-visit dermatology workups) depends on continuity-of-care decisions that don't transfer cleanly between specialist DVMs without a structured hand-off. Practices that rotate cases between specialists 'whoever's available' lose treatment-plan integrity, miss subtle clinical pattern changes that the original specialist would catch, AND damage the referring DVM's perception of practice quality. The right practice rule is: every active case stays with the same named specialist DVM through the full treatment cycle unless an explicit hand-off is documented (covering reason for hand-off, named receiving specialist, structured case summary, AND owner notification). Surface a watch item on any case where the treating specialist changes without a hand-off note in the last 30 days.

• lessonimportance 8/10

  Post-procedure recall cadence red flag — any post-procedure case whose scheduled recheck has been missed by 7+ days without a logged owner contact is at near-certain risk of clinical decline going undetected

  Specialty caseload routinely involves multi-visit post-procedure recheck cadences (oncology re-staging, surgical recovery checks, dermatology response evaluation) where missing the recheck window means catching disease progression too late to intervene effectively. Owners miss appointments for legitimate reasons (cost, transportation, the pet 'seems fine') but the practice that lets a missed recheck go more than 7 days without a structured outreach call routinely discovers terminal decline at the next contact. The right practice rule is: any post-procedure recheck missed by 7+ days triggers a structured owner outreach call (not just a reminder text) that surfaces (a) clinical concerns the owner may not be naming, (b) financial barriers the practice can address, AND (c) explicit decision-point language ('continue treatment' / 'palliative care' / 'discontinue') if the owner is signaling abandonment. Surface a watch item the moment a scheduled recheck is missed by 7 days without a logged outreach call.