What is Cornerstone Vet Software?

Cornerstone is one of the three largest, original software platforms built for the veterinary industry, originally built back in 1985 by IDEXX. It offers practices options to streamline their workflows and operating processes via modern software options. It’s a partial, integrated, and server-based solution, as compared to the many all-in-one cloud-based options now available. Cornerstone also integrates with IDEXX’s diagnostic and imaging tools.

Overview of Cornerstone Vet Software’s Key Features

Cornerstone Vet Software, an integrated software solution from IDEXX, promises streamlined workflow via several core features, including diagnostic integration, inventory management, and electronic medical records (EMR), for reliable access around the clock. Cornerstone can aid vet practices looking to automate or semi-automate their procedures and processes, such as invoicing workflows.

How Cornerstone Supports Veterinary Practice Management

Cornerstone helps veterinary practices in several ways. It combines administrative and clinical functions like scheduling, electronic medical records, and invoicing into one platform. It integrates with IDEXX diagnostic equipment and laboratories, allowing veterinarians to order lab requests on the platform while also viewing results within the system. Practices can also customize medical record templates and produce a wide range of reports to help with clinical and business decisions.

Cornerstone Vet Software Pricing Breakdown

Subscription Plans and Pricing Options

Cornerstone doesn’t advertise its pricing for plans on its website. But Capterra lists it at $420 a month.

Additional Costs of Cornerstone Vet Software

Practices who sign up for Cornerstone will pay more than a monthly fee. They can expect to pay fees for server maintenance and data backup. There may be implementation fees and the cost of training or retraining staff on the platform.
There are also added fees for additional software. For example, practices can integrate more communication features onto the platform with VitusVet but will expect to pay for that service.

Free Trial and Support Options

Cornerstone offers a brief, 15-day free trial period for potential clients, during which trial clients gain access to a full-time support team.

Common Use Cases for Cornerstone Vet Software

How Cornerstone Assists Small and Large Veterinary Practices

Some benefits of Cornerstone apply regardless of scale. Its robust medical template does not depend on practice size. Ease of adoption, however, depends on the size of a practice. A small, tight-knit team may be able to integrate quicker around a new set of practices, while a multi-location practice may need time. Weigh the size of your vet practice carefully before considering Cornerstone.

Benefits for Managing Medical Records

Cornerstone allows users to customize electronic medical records, where they can access information from diagnosis to tests to medicine.

Cornerstone for Practice Managers

For practice managers, Cornerstone represents an organizational tool. They can use it to support a paperless environment while streamlining operations. In the case of a multi-location practice, managers access patient records.

Cornerstone Vet Software Reviews: What Customers Are Saying

Cornerstone Vet Software Reviews and Feedback

Feedback on Cornerstone runs the gamut from praise for the integrations and customization to frustration with system crashes and a click-heavy interface.

Pros and Cons of Cornerstone Vet Software

Popular pros include how Cornerstone integrates different functions and connects with other IDEXX platforms like diagnostics. Others include how practices can connect with patients and customize medical records. There are several cons. Some have found Cornerstone to be difficult to learn while others have described its interface as not user-friendly. Hardware support is not free, which is an added expense for practices.
Other complaints concern limited functions overall and a lack of education around system capabilities. As a partial software solution, integrating with other software can prove time-intensive, especially for smaller vets with limited personnel.

Comparison with Other Practice Management Software

Relative to other practice management software, Cornerstone offers a fairly limited menu of functions, and limited training in what those functions are. It may be more suitable to small vet practices with limited needs, some managers have concluded.

Cornerstone Vet Software: Training and Support

Some customers have noted that training failed to make clear the full suite of features Cornerstone offers, limiting its use in the case of existing clients.

Cornerstone Vet Software Training Overview

Tutorials and Support Resources

Cornerstone offers training tutorials in addition to access to live customer support. Their help team is broken down into departments to better address your specific needs, whether it be with older models, end-of-period needs, or something else.

Help with Scheduling and Managing Vaccinations

For help scheduling vaccinations, Cornerstone offers automated reminders on the practice side, and direct notifications for clients.

When NectarVet Might Be Right For You

If Cornerstone doesn’t sound like the right fit for you, consider NectarVet, an all-in-one software solution with easy-to-access features and support. If you’re interested and want to learn more about Nectar, click here.

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What is Shepherd Vet Software?

Shepherd Veterinary Software offers many standard features of vet practice management software. This includes: an interface designed for intuitive navigation, a robust suite of automation tools, SOAP medical record workflow, and an interactive client portal, with medical histories, RX refill modules, vaccine certificates, and more.

Overview of Shepherd’s Key Features

Whether as a practice manager, pet owner, or vet practitioner, your first contact point with Shepherd will be its online interface. By matching the workflow of your practice, including how you process patients, Shepherd connects you with highly legible records from patient info to medical histories.

How Shepherd Streamlines Practice Management

Shepherd can reduce many of the routine tasks of running a veterinary practice through automation. For example, it updates SOAP medical records automatically.
Shepherd improves the vet experience for pet owners too. They can access their pet’s medical history and prescription information through a customizable client portal.

Shepherd Veterinary Software Pricing Breakdown

Subscription Plans and Pricing Tiers

Shepherd offers users different tiers of pricing based on the number of doctors in a practice. A one-doctor practice pays $299 a month. Each additional one costs $99 more. Practices with four or more doctors would have to contact Shepherd for pricing.

Is There a Free Trial or Demo Available?

Shepherd offers free software demos and free trial accounts.

Hidden Costs to Be Aware Of

There are potential hidden costs to know of before signing with Shepherd.
Users may pay higher fees to use the Shepherd payment processing platform. They may also pay more than the advertised subscription of $299 or more if they opt for a different payment processor.
Shepherd also has a data migration fee, which it is known to waive. But there are two catches:

• The amount practices can migrate is limited. For example, they don’t include older invoices, past reporting data, or attachments. This can lead to higher costs when they’re manually transferred.
• If your practice enrolls and leaves the platform, Shepherd may make you pay the data migration fee that was initially waived.

Common Use Cases for Vet Shepherd Software

How Small Clinics Benefit from Shepherd

Small-scale clinics benefit from Shepherd by expediting their record-keeping, Rx data, and SOAPs in accordance with Shepherd’s streamlined workflow model.

Features That Make Shepherd Vet Ideal for Mobile Vets

Mobile vets can benefit from a single point of entry for client information. An online presence can facilitate patient-to-vet communication, especially during periods of busy travel. Shepherd also allows users to apply multiple taxes by ZIP code, which could be helpful for a mobile vet serving several cities.

Vet Software Reviews: What Customers Are Saying

Positive Feedback from Veterinary Professionals

Customers have praised Shepherd’s cost, ease of use, and staff training. The user interface is straightforward, even for first-time vet software users, according to online feedback.

Common Complaints or Issues Reported

Dissatisfied customers have highlighted a number of issues with Shepherd’s software. One gripe with SOAP is that every letter in SOAP requires users to open a different tab. (Most veterinary practice software enables all of this information to be entered in one place.) Another common complaint is that entering prescriptions in Shepherd involves navigating between different tabs and pages in a click-heavy process.

Is Shepherd Vet Software the Right Choice for Your Practice?

Pros and Cons of Choosing Shepherd

Pros of Shepherd include its low cost and staff training. Cons involve bugs and usability issues in its interface and its finance modules for practitioners, which require users to toggle back and forth between tabs.

Key Factors to Consider Before Making a Decision

Before committing to software, always weigh the key factors, like cost, convenience, and long-term benefits. Some will meet your specific needs, others won’t, especially now that the marketplace is crowded with competitive options.

When NectarVet Might Be Right For You

As an alternative to Shepherd Vet, consider NectarVet, an all-in-one software solution customizable to your needs, with state-of-the-art diagnostic, medical, financial, and communications tools and a team available for technical support. If you’d like to learn more about Nectar, click here.

If you’re a veterinarian, you know very well how challenging it can be to run a successful clinic. You’ve got standard patient care; you’ve got administrative tasks. It can all feel a bit overwhelming. That’s why there is such a range of helpful productivity tools on the market, allowing you to save time, streamline your operations, and take even better care of the animals entrusted to you.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the best productivity apps available.

Why Veterinarians Need Productivity Apps

As a veterinarian, you’re forced to handle a wide array of responsibilities. You diagnose and treat pet patients. You manage staff. You run the business! It’s no wonder that some vets worry about inefficiencies in their operations. Productivity apps exist to help you manage those inefficiencies.

Common Inefficiencies in Veterinary Practice

While inefficiencies occur in all businesses, some common ones occur in veterinary practices. They include miscommunication between staff, inaccurate drug dosage calculations, and disorganized scheduling, which can result in double bookings and no-show appointments.

The Impact of Saving Time on Animal Health and Clinic Operations

Productivity apps help you save time. In a veterinary clinic, this can be critical. When you’re able to calculate a drug dosage more quickly, you can do a better job at getting the pet the care they need. When you can swiftly share clinical data, you’re less likely to make mistakes. Patient outcomes improve, and so do client satisfaction and overall clinic efficiency.

Top 7 Productivity Apps for Veterinarians in 2025

Now let’s take a look at the best productivity apps on the market in 2024.

Plumbs

Plumbs is an essential app for accurate drug calculations, offering quick access to updated drug dosages and formulas and helping clinic staffers administer medications more safely. Having such a reliable resource can go a long way toward ensuring pet patient safety and producing better health outcomes.

VetPDA Calcs

VetPDA Calcs is a tool for quick calculations, offering more than 20 calculators for anesthesia dosages, fluid rates, and more, allowing your team to perform calculations quickly and accurately.

Pet Poison Helpline

The Pet Poison Helpline app is ideal for small animal veterinarians, allowing for fast responses to toxic ingestions. It helps you respond more quickly and effectively to toxicity cases, affording easy access to data on harmful substances.

Vet-Anatomy

Vet-Anatomy is a rich visual reference for small animal anatomy, offering high-quality images for vet professionals. This reliable app is perfect for educational and diagnostic purposes.

ViralVet

ViralVet is a unique app that creates a community platform for veterinary professionals to share and discuss rare cases – ideal for fostering learning, teamwork, and camaraderie within this highly specialized field. The ability to share diagnostics and insights with fellow professionals can do wonders for patient outcomes.

Todoist

Todoist is a task management app that creates helpful to-do lists for veterinary teams, helping you assign and track tasks and ensure that nothing is overlooked during busy clinic days.

Merck Veterinary Manual

The Merck Veterinary Manual is a pocket guide to diseases, a trusted resource for veterinarians that provides up-to-date information on diseases, symptoms, and treatments. This app makes sure vets can easily access the latest information.

LifeLearn

LifeLearn’s ClientEd tool is a valuable resource for veterinarians to access and share easy-to-understand pet health information. It helps you share educational materials with your clients, deepening your relationship with them and empowering these devoted pet owners to make better choices about the care of their animals.

How to Choose the Right App for Your Veterinary Team

There are a lot of apps to choose from, which is why it’s important to pick one that most aligns with the specific needs of your practice.

Consider Your Practice's Specific Needs

To decide which app your practice will benefit from, take stock of your practice’s particular needs. Do you need more support with dosage calculations? Or with managing your team? Or with staying on schedule? By identifying the areas in need of improvement, you can figure out which app most directly addresses your needs.

Ensure Ease of Use for the Whole Veterinary Team

When making your decision, be sure to check with your team! Pick an app that will be easy for them to use and help them do their work.

Conclusion: Boost Your Practice’s Efficiency in 2025 with NectarVet

In 2025, there are many ways to streamline your veterinary practice. By choosing the right app, you can optimize operations and do an even better job for the pets you serve.

If you’re looking to take your practice to the next level, NectarVet might be right for you. This cloud-based veterinary software is easy and intuitive to use and has everything you need to boost profitability and provide better care to the animals you love.

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If you’re a veterinary practitioner, you’ll know apart from offering medical care to animals, you have a second job: managing the many logistical details that crop every day. These details enable informed, sensitive, and modern animal care.  

All-in-one software platforms such as NectarVet have grown in popularity in answer to the growing set of needs veterinarians face. NectarVet added another tool to streamline diagnostic work through its partnership with Zoetis. Zoetis is an animal health diagnostic company that offers veterinarians several tools, including virtual lab services. 

Zoetis Diagnostics and Lab Features

Zoetis’ goal is to equip animal healthcare providers with diagnostic tools that offer informed, specialist-level diagnosis. With its online lab, Zoetis connects providers to a platform of integrated services, such as AI analytics, expert specialists, and point-of-care analyzers. 

Key Diagnostic Tools Offered by Zoetis Diagnostics

Zoetis Diagnostics boasts a unique portfolio of tools that are integrated and provide a broadly-informed diagnosis. One example is the AI-powered Vetscan Imagyst which offers five testing functions in one tool. Veterinarians and their teams can also use Vetscan Imagyst to analyze:

• Fecal matter 
• Urine sediment
• Dermatology diagnostics
• Blood smear samples
• Cytopathology specimens

Advanced Lab Capabilities for Veterinary Clinics

Part of what makes Zoetis uniquely useful is its integrations. Its online lab combines state-of-the-art A.I. diagnostic tools with live support teams. Vetscan Hub, which is available as part of the online lab, consolidates important data and devices on a single platform for optimal workflows.

The Benefits of Zoetis’ Diagnostics for Vet Practice Owners

Streamlined Diagnostic and Reporting

Zoetis’ Diagnostics expands the capabilities of practitioners many times over numerous veterinary practice owners. By offsetting what can be a heavy logistical load, you’ll set your practitioners up to do what they do best: animal care. With Zoetis’ streamlined diagnostic capabilities, your veterinarians will spend less time waiting for test results and shrink the gap between consultation, follow-up visits, testing, and accurate diagnostics. 

Increased Efficiency and Accuracy in Treatment

Zoetis' portfolio of integrated diagnostic tools helps veterinary practitioners multiply the speed at which they can diagnose a full range of conditions. Access to support teams to answer questions and troubleshoot issues helps put any animal in your care on the fast track to full recovery. 

About Zoetis Diagnostics and Labs 

What Does Zoetis Reference Laboratories Offer?

Adding any of the technologies available in Zoetis Reference Laboratories to your diagnostic toolkit gives practitioners the data they need to provide their patients with holistic treatments. Users can order tests for most species, from canines to livestock. It also connects with other diagnostic tools, products, and services with ZoetixDx, an online, integrated platform. 

Zoetis Acquisition of Abaxis: Expanding Diagnostic Capabilities

Overview of Abaxis and Its Diagnostic Portfolio

As an expansion to its diagnostic portfolio in 2018, Zoetis added Abaxis, a medical device maker of point-of-care blood testing devices. Abaxis offers team training specific to blood work compliance, customer service customer retention counsel, and more. As with Zoetis, Abaxis is founded on the principle that by educating vets and vet owners, their practices will thrive.

New Capabilities Added to Zoetis

Abaxis expanded Zoetis’ stake in the veterinary diagnostic market, which was expected to grow by more than 50% from 2017 to 2022. The acquisition of Abaxis a portfolio of point-of-care diagnostic instruments to Zoetis product line. 

How Does NectarVet Integrate with Zoetis Labs

The goal for any all-in-one veterinary care software platform is to provide for all needs. Through its partnership with Zoetis, NectarVet connects veterinarians to integrated diagnostic tools online that streamline workflows on the diagnostic side. Learn more about how you and your team can save time and resources with NectarVet’s all-in-one platform.

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For a veterinary practice to thrive, it needs to be able to maintain a robust and up-to-date schedule. That way, you can keep track of appointments, cut down on no-shows, and generally provide a greater level of care to your clients. But with the range of scheduling software available to you, it’s important to know which features to look out for. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about scheduling software for vet practices. 

Why Use Vet Appointment Scheduling Software?

Appointment scheduling software is essential for any thriving veterinary practice. It helps keep you organized and on task, and it makes scheduling more convenient for you and your clients. 40% of them will likely book an appointment outside your business hours. Embedding online booking on your website also lowers the barrier for new or current clients to schedule appointments. 

With your operations running smoothly, you can focus on what you really care about: helping your clients and their beloved pets. Let’s take a look at some of the most important benefits of using scheduling software. 

Reducing double bookings and no-shows

Ask any vet: Double bookings are a real problem. There’s nothing worse than having two clients show up for an appointment at the same time. Both leave unsatisfied. But when you invest in top-notch scheduling software, you can cut down on double bookings and no-shows. Good scheduling software typically includes an option to send automated reminders to clients, which cuts down on missed appointments. Moreover, such software helps your internal organization, making sure you never accidentally sign clients up for the same time slot.  

How automated reminders and text messages improve patient care

Automated reminders are a way to send texts and emails to clients ahead of their appointments. These regular reminders reduce no-shows and optimize your time caring for patients and their pets. These reminders can also encourage follow-up visits, which are good for business and, more importantly, good for pet health.  

Saving time with online booking and appointment management

Scheduling software helps you and your clients save time through online booking and appointment management. Furthermore, online booking cuts down on administrative tasks at the office. Booking, rescheduling, canceling, and more can all get done with a few simple clicks, leaving you more time to focus on the work that matters most. 

Top Vet Appointment Scheduling Software for 2025

When it comes to vet appointment scheduling software, options abound. Pay attention to the features that will work best for the needs of your own practice. 

Overview of the best software solutions

There are a lot of great options available to you in 2025. Some include PetDesk, AllyDVM, VetStoria, and Weave. You can check out this article about the best cloud-based software now on the market.  

Comparison of pricing and subscription models

Pricing models depend on a variety of factors, including: how many vets are employed by your practice; the number of people using the service; and whether you decide to get billed on a monthly or annual basis. Be sure to compare pricing tiers based on the needs of your own clinic.  

Vet appointment scheduling software features to look for

You want to be sure your vet scheduling software includes online booking, integration with your management system, and automated text reminders. These are the keys to success, leading to reduced errors and fewer no-shows. 

Key Features of Vet Appointment Scheduling Software

To get the most bang for your buck, it’s important to understand which features your clinic will most benefit from. Here are some to keep in mind: 

Automatic text reminders and notifications

Automated text reminders and notifications make sure your clients are aware of their upcoming appointments, thereby reducing no-shows and keeping everything operating at a high level. 

Scheduling vet appointments online

Online scheduling is a must-have for modern vet clinics. It’s good for clients, who can schedule their appointments with ease, and it’s good for the clinics, where employees can spend more time improving client satisfaction. An average of 40% of appointments are booked outside of business hours.

How to schedule a vet appointment online

Few things are easier than scheduling an appointment online. Clients simply log into the booking portal, pick a slot, and confirm it. Quality software allows you to go back in and modify or cancel your appointments, too.  

Schedule vet appointments online near me

Scheduling systems often use location-based services to help pet owners find nearby clinics with online booking. This feature is particularly useful for new clients searching for convenient veterinary care.

Reducing no-shows with automated reminders

Automated reminders cut back on no-shows by letting your clients know about their upcoming appointments. Such reminders are sent via text or email, allowing clients plenty of time to make plans–or adjust existing plans, as needed. 

Managing upcoming appointments in your practice management system

It’s important to choose a software that is easily integrated with your current practice management system. This allows you to have up-to-date info for every appointment.  

24/7 online booking through client portal

A 24/7 online portal lets clients book appointments at literally any time of day. This improves client satisfaction and cuts the workload for 9-5 office workers in your clinic. 

Deposit collection (to reduce no-shows)

Some platforms ask for payment info at the time of booking, thereby reducing no-shows. Clients who have already made a financial commitment to their appointment are much more likely to show up. 

Customizable scheduling 

Customizable scheduling options allow you to make adjustments based on appointment type, length of appointment, and more. That way, you can see if a client is coming in for a checkup, a surgery, or something more serious. Understanding the types of appointments on your schedule will help your clinic operate at the highest level. 

Digital client forms

Have your clients fill out their information before they arrive. This will speed up intake and reduce no-shows.

Reviews of Popular Vet Appointment Scheduling Software

What users say about ease of online booking

Clients and vet clinics alike love the ease of online booking with products like PetDesk, AllyDVM, VetStoria, and Weave. They love the simplicity of the process and the way it cuts down on needless errors associated with manual booking. But there’s also interest in all-in-one Practice Information Management System (PIMS) like NectarVet, which have all the client communications you need provided in the same platform as your medical records, inventory, and billing so that no integration or extra subscription fees are needed.

Pros and cons of veterinary appointment scheduling software

Any technology you invest in has some pros and cons. Some platforms are better than others; some have features that better align with your needs. It’s important to understand these trade-offs before choosing your preferred platform.  

How to Choose the Right Appointment Scheduling Software for Your Vet Clinic

Factors to consider: online scheduling, automatic texts, and reducing no-shows

When you’re deciding which scheduling software to use, make sure you’re choosing software that includes online scheduling and automated messaging. These features help keep you on schedule while reducing pesky no-shows. 

Vet clinic success stories: saving time and improving patient care

Ask around. Many vet clinics that have adopted scheduling software rave about the ways in which this investment has revolutionized their work. 

“(NectarVet) has increased our efficiency quite a bit, including lower numbers of clicks to get to information, streamlining the scheduling process, streamlining communication process with the text two way SMS messaging, and they just rolled out an actual option to request an appointment that we can approve and then put on our calendar as well,” said Dr. Brittany of Magnolia, TX.

Selecting the right software is a personal matter, depending on the particular needs of your clinic. But make no mistake: such software can make a big difference, helping you help pet parents and their beloved pets. 

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