Overview
Michelle Murphy, Practice Manager at Cùmath Pet Surgeons in Aberdeen started her journey to Ascend towards the end of last year when Michelle and her colleague Scott Rigg, an Advanced Practitioner, planned to open a brand-new referral clinic.
Michelle started her journey as a student vet nurse within a small Aberdeen practice over 20 years ago. After completing her Nurse qualification she progressed to Head Nurse, then bravely took the step up to Practice Manager. In 2023, Michelle and Scott used their skills, knowledge and experience to open a new practice and Cùmath Pet Surgeons was formed. The overall vision is to have a high level of communication with pet owners and referring Veterinary surgeons and provide an excellent standard of patient care.
I love nursing and always will, but what inspired me to take the step to a Practice Manager was seeing what I could achieve with the people around me.
Having used Practice Management Software (PMS) previously, Michelle and the team were familiar and comfortable with on-premise solutions. Instead of sticking with this familiar solution, she wanted more options for communicating with pet owners and referring vets within the system to coincide with her practices’ overall vision. She was also after a more streamlined workflow and the ability to access the PMS from any device at any time. This is why a cloud-based solution was best suited.
One of the other deciding factors that encouraged a switch to the cloud was working towards a paperless practice. Cùmath values environmental sustainability, collaboration and team objectives.
Having a centralised structure was also important; one trusted and reliable company providing both technology and distribution services results in an easier business relationship.
Choosing Ascend
Michelle met with the Covetrus team to discuss her PMS requirements in depth. She also happened to be searching for a new wholesaler and from here she was introduced to the Covetrus wholesale team where Michelle was able to obtain some of the industry’s most robust wholesale packages. She formed a warm relationship with the Covetrus Technology and Covetrus distribution teams. Solidifying these relationships meant an easier journey moving forward.
Whilst on an Ascend demo, Michelle was excited by the easy-to-use interface and front-end design.
I love the sleek, modern design. Ascend has clearly been designed by people who have worked in the industry.
Other key deciding factors for Michelle and the team were the number of integrations available from Covetrus’ broad range of partners, and the level of support available from customer support.
The Journey
Once Michelle had decided to pursue Ascend, she was passed over to the Implementation team, with a dedicated team member to help her every step of the way. There was a smooth handover process from Sales to Implementation, alleviating the need for Michelle to repeat any history.
Cùmath required a bespoke notes area specific to their referral centre needs, so after discussions with the dedicated Implementation team contact, this was created by leveraging the existing functionality of Ascend. The team can now clearly see where clients have been referred from and incorporate this within their reports.
Changing or onboarding a new PMS is a huge step and although there was a lot to learn, Michelle never felt alone.
Opening the practice as well as dealing with onboarding a new PMS was time consuming and overwhelming at times. But I was supported every step of the way and any concerns were talked through to help put my mind at ease.
Opening a new clinic meant delays in building the Ascend system due to balancing other priorities, however, with the Covetrus team’s full commitment to the project, priorities were easily shifted putting the practice timing plans front of mind.
The Results
The team have been able to onboard well over 100 new patients within the first few weeks seamlessly. They have also grown from a team of two to a team of 13. After the initial Ascend training session as part of their onboarding, team members have been utilising the Covetrus Learning portal when learning the ins and outs of Ascend. This is our online portal with videos, walk-throughs and tests to maximise Ascend learning.
Ascend integrates with VetCheck and allows patient consent and information sheets to be housed online. This has proven to be a massive time saver when onboarding new clients.
In the last few weeks we have seen an increase in efficiency, particularly with our clients completing their consent forms in advance, even if it is 11pm the night before the appointment!
Team members have described Ascend as being very intuitive. The team enjoy emailing and texting clients through Ascend. Also sharing photos of recovering pets to their parents is already helping them achieve their vision of providing great communication to customers.
My advice to anyone looking to change or adopt a new PMS; be brave and push through. Sticking with your usual system is easy but Ascend is so intuitive. There are loads of resources on hand to help, and the team are there to support you whenever you need it. Ascend is also very progressive with constant updates taking place. We’ve ended up with a fantastic PMS.
Find out more about how Ascend can help your practice.