How RxWorks cut stocktake times in half and provided real-time reporting for Duncan McGinness Veterinary Surgery

Covetrus provides a seamless, combined hardware and software implementation to improve business performance and lift customer experience.

Overview

Duncan McGinness Veterinary Surgery is a small animal practice based in Dubbo, New South Wales. It is a busy clinic with five vets, specialising in the care of dogs, cats, pocket pets, poultry, birds, and reptiles. It is a long-established business, caring for Dubbo’s animals for over 20 years. It used a long-standing veterinary practice management solution for many years after converting to a computer-based workflow. However, after 18 years of use, practice owner and lead vet Duncan McGinness says he and his team were encountering some challenges with the incumbent software.

New practice solution needed to improve stock control and reporting

“We were struggling in two main areas,” he explains. “The first was stock control and the second was reporting.”

After doing some extensive research and discussing product options with veterinary colleagues, Duncan settled on RxWorks to support him and his practice into the future. “We had worked with Provet (now Covetrus) for some time as a veterinary wholesaler,” he says, “and we had insight into how they operated as a supplier. We were confident in their abilities.” In choosing a practice management solution, Duncan was adamant he wanted a partner who could take care of both the hardware and software needs of his clinic. This was to avoid his previous poor customer experience, where independent hardware and software providers blamed each other if any faults occurred.

“Years ago, when I first took on computers to run my practice, there were often glitches. I regularly had a situation where hardware and software suppliers pointed their fingers at each other. I didn’t want to go through that again,” he says. Another key consideration was that he needed a server-based solution, rather than software that operated in the cloud. While cloud-based practice management software has some advantages with mobility, it needs strong internet connectivity. “Dubbo didn’t have the strongest NBN connectivity,” he says, “so we opted for the server-based option with RxWorks. Duncan and his team were also extremely happy with the training provided by the RxWorks team.

“They just continued with the pre-launch education when they arrived. We had an amazing trainer, who helped us get up to speed really quickly.” He was also impressed with the data migration process. “We were concerned because we had records dating back a long way. However, there were no issues and the import into RxWorks went very smoothly and all our information was intact. “They also worked hard to double-check everything that we’d entered into RxWorks, to make sure that our stock control, mark ups, prescription fees and other billables were perfect,” he adds.

“Covetrus ticked the box as they could provide both hardware and software, I was happy to do everything through one supplier, so there is no cop-out. They took care of everything, even installation.”

Improved inventory management cuts stocktake time in half

As a result of the switch to RxWorks, Duncan and his team now have far better control over their inventory and stock control. “We used to have a situation where we’d credit an item and it would go missing. Also, we’d do a stocktake and it would be accurate for a while. But, as time passed, this would become inaccurate, meaning our stock control was loose. Now, when we do a stocktake, for example, there aren’t massive gaps in tablet numbers, injections, and other stock items.”

Duncan adds that the time required for his quarterly stocktake has been reduced by half. “Stock on hand is now also more accurate, which means a decrease in overordering and less expired stock,” he says. “All stock is now invoiced and charged correctly. Our vet hospital is busier than ever and the change to RxWorks has been very helpful with accurate invoicing, stock control, and overall productivity.

“As we are linked to Provet Connect, the seamless ordering of stock and entering of stock invoices alone saves us 30 mins each day.”

Real-time reporting improves KPI tracking

Duncan is also very happy with the real-time reporting that he and his team get from RxWorks. “I do regular quick summary reports late every day before I close up. I can see, for example, what our cash and card ratios look like and if our debtors have grown.” He also enjoys having better tracking of veterinary professional fees versus overall sales and comments that the reporting on new and returning client numbers are very accurate. “I have a good handle on the key measures in the practice now – it has made my job a lot easier.”

Effective communication

The business’s customer communication has also improved dramatically with the implementation of RxWorks. “We’re really impressed with our ability to use email to communicate with our clients direct from RxWorks,” he says. “Our ability to communicate and inform clients quickly and easily with email and client handouts adds to our overall best practice with minimal effort from the staff,” he adds.

“We’re building our database of email addresses and it’s become an increasingly popular method of communication, particularly for receiving accounts and reminders. We’re also sending more surgery and appointment reminders by text message too.” Duncan explains that emailing reminders and monthly accounts to clients are a significant saving in staff time, printing costs, and postage. “We’re really impressed with our ability to use email to communicate with our clients direct from RxWorks.”