There are 3 users of the Medechat platform, The Practice Manager, The Vet and The Pet Owner.

Each user type will see a different part of Medechat that is relevant to them when they login. Both Vets and Pet Owners can only login after they have been sent an email invitation to join Medechat by the Practice Manager.

Your Practice Manager controls everything to do with your practice, your vets, appointment availablility, your pet owners and their pets. As well as setting up the practice profile, they will need to set up details for all of these before an invitation is sent to vets and owners to join Medechat.

You will need to put aside some time to complete the set up before you get going. Getting the implementation right will ensure it runs smoothly for your vets and clients. There is a user guide attached for you to work through in detail and there are some things you will need to decide beforehand.

Overview of the Menu Items

Practice Settings

You will need to enter all your practice details and should already be connected to your Stripe account for payments. This is also where you will find your practices unique URL for the Medechat platform. This can be used for a button on your website for pet owners to book Medechat appointments.

Appointment Settings

This is where you enter the types of appointments you will offer within Medechat. You will need to decide:

1. What consultation types from the set list will you be offering?

There is a preset list of about 10 types of consultation. These are preset for reporting and benchmarking purposes. Please note that when setting consultation types, length and charges for an appointment that the pet owner is able to select the type of consultation to book. The type of consultation selected by the pet owner determines the fee charged at the completion of the video consultation. If the wrong type of consultation is chosen when a pet owner makes an appointment, the practice manager can change the appointment and contact the pet owner.

Tip Do not have too many different types of consultation options to choose from. For most practices a standard consultation, short post operative check and perhaps an after hours consultation would be ample to start.

2. What length will those appointment types be?

Setting the length of an appointment is important because if a video consultation runs over the set time, the pet owner will be billed for a second consultation charge. This is deliberate to keep vets on track with their schedule and ensure pet owners respect the vet’s time and worth. Any refund of a second consultation charge will need to be manually made by the practice manager accessing the practice Stripe account.

Tip It is advised to allow an extra 5-10 minutes compared to a regular in-person consultation for the first 1-2 months of using Medechat. Once vets and pet owners are familiar with using telemedicine, the consultation times can be reduced.

3. What will you charge for those consultation types?

When setting the price, keep in mind Medechat charges a flat rate commission of $5.95 for each video consultation (regardless of time length or charge to owner). So, don’t forget to add $6 to cover the commission to each consultation type charge. It is advised not to do any free of charge consultations even for post operative check ups. The practice is paying a monthly access fee for the platform and it is more convenient for the pet owner to have a consultation from home rather than the surgery.

Tip A suggested pricing point is 1/2 - 3/4 of an in-person consultation. If there is no option for in-person consultations, consider same price video consultations.

Vets

The Practice Manager sets up the profile for each of it’s vets and then sends an email invitation to the vet to join Medechat. They will then have their own login to see their appointments.

The Practice Manager will need to set the available times for the vet as the default is unavailable. Times are available 24 hours. This can be set as recurring i.e. available for appointment bookings between 9am - 5pm. Appointments are then available for booking by registered pet owners and dependent on the length of the consultation type they choose.

Pet Owners

The Practice Manager can start on-boarding all existing clients/pet owners. This can be via a bulk upload with a .csv file. Once their account is set up, you can then send an email invitation for them to register with Medechat.

Your current pet owners or new pet owners can also register themselves by using the Login on your website. You will find your unique URL in the Practice Settings within Medechat which can be applied to one of our supplied buttons.

All pet owners are required to enter their credit card details into their account prior to booking an appointment. These are then stored for all future bookings.

Tip As clients call to make appointments, they could be triaged and diverted to Medechat if appropriate. An email invitation can be sent to them to register for Medechat.

Your vets will need to know how to:

1. Log in to their account

2. Enter their profile details if the Practice Manager hasn’t already done so

3. View the appointment calendar which will only show their appointments

4. View the appointment details

5. Enter and end the Appointment at the right time

6. Know the difference between the Vet notes and Client notes

7. How to close off the appointment when all details have be entered

TipWe recommend that the Vet keeps an eye on the timer to know when to start bringing the consultation to an end so there are no issues with overlapping appointment times if they run long.

Your vets will also have access to the User Guide through the platform. The User Guide and Video will contain all the information they need to get up and running with support from your Practice Manager.

Your pet owners will need to know how to:

1. Accept your email invitation to join or Login to register from your website

2. Log in to their account and create a password

3. Enter their credit card details in the Payment Details

3. Look for available appointments

4. Book an appointment with their vet

5. Choose the correct consultation type

6. Join the video consultation at the appropriate time

7. Prepare for and manage their pet during the consultation

8. End the Appointment at the right time

Your pet owners will also have access to the User Guide through the platform. There is also a pop up video to assist them to make an appointment.

The communication should cover:

1. An email newsletter to your clients introducing them to the concept of Medechat, what it is for and the benefits to them of using it.

2. A link to the short Explainer Video for users

3. An explanation that slowly all clients will be added to Medechat and they will receive an email invitation to register and set-up a password.

4. Explaining the simple sign-up procedure.

5. Once they have logged in to their account and set-up a password they can start using Medechat to book on-line appointments for video consults with their vet.

6. They will need to enter valid credit card details before an appointment can be booked and accepted.

7. There are also a range of emails, facebook posts and instagram images supplied in the assets that you can run to help your clients become familiar with Medechat.

8. There are also a range of buttons so you can choose the best one to apply to your website. Please let us know if you would like a specific size button or promotional banner and we will add it to the assets.

Please see the Marketing Assets section of this website for digital assets to help you communicate with your clients. You can use these assets as a base for your own communication to your pet owners.