Veterinary Telemedicine: Offering Animal Healthcare Online

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1. Veterinary teleservices have huge potential of redefining access to care. 2. The audiences with the greatest need are: low-income pet owners; pet owners who live in the rural areas;  owners of large pets like horses; cat owners; owners of anxious pets; really any pet owner who has no time to wait for weeks for a veterinary appointment; younger and tech-savvy pet owners. 3. The VCPR laws, initially instituted as defense measures, now act as an obstacle to teleservices, leading to increasing veterinary team workload, and lower access to care. That’s why they must be reformed. 4. Even when the VCPR is established, there are strict limitations on the services that can be risky without a physical examination.  5. Several years of observation of the Ontario experience shows that the reformation of VCPR from physical to virtual hasn’t caused any issues. The same results were seen in human telemedicine. 6. The role of telemedicine in the veterinary industry is to complement traditional in-person services, not to replace them. 7. Implementation of virtual care must include a clear understanding of goals, thorough planning, and education of both veterinary teams and pet owners.