Introduction

Veterinary consultation delivery and approach vary hugely according to personal style. A historic lack of focus throughout undergraduate training has resulted in clinicians adopting their own style, with varying degrees of success. Self-appraisal is difficult and unrealistic without evidence - recording consults now allows clinicians to see the consult through the eyes of the owner.

Objectives

In order to provide accurate results, collecting audio-visual data must be done sensitively (and in accordance with local data protection rules) and non-intrusively (equipment is small and fitted out of direct sight). By modelling best practice and scoring individual performance against this, clinicians are now able to set quantifiable targets and compare results with aggregated national data and historic personal data.

Methods

Consultations are recorded and watched back at a later date, or accessed remotely in real time. Observed consult skills are scored against seven key criteria, with each criteria having a series of objective measures. Thus each consult is graded at each step and receives an overall rating, allowing performance to be compared with other team members as well as changes measured over time.

Results

Onswitch historic data consists of 600+ consultation observations - remote viewing has enabled more consults to be observed and scored. Practices recording and scoring consults ongoing have experienced improved scores and therefore an improved customer experience in the consult room.

Conclusions

Recording and remote viewing consultations allow accurate and detailed insight to be gathered, informing positive behaviour change and improving customer experience.