User:Marketing2018/sandbox/Vetstream Ltd

Vetstream’s original concept was founded in 1995 by Cambridge veterinary surgeon John Grieve BVM&S MRCVS. The concept was turned into a prototype with the help and financial support of a group of Uk veterinarians who could see the need for the electronic provision of information to support veterinary practices.

After winning two DTI SMART Awards, Harmsworth Publishing, part of the Daily Mail Group, invested in the company to enable it to becaosem a commercial enterprise.

In 1997 Canis, Vetstream’s first CD service was launched– this was closely followed by the launch of Felis and Equis in 1998.

In 2000 Premium Petcare acquired Vetstream in March 2000. Vetstream was acquired by Intervet International b.v.in December 2000. Intervet invested significantly in Vetstream’s IT infrastructure enabling it to launch its internet services in 2003. Before this date the services were provided on CD-ROM.

In December 2005 JCA Media Group, acquired the Vetstream business from Intervet International .

On May 2017 Vetstream was acquired by Onstream Communications Ltd through a management buyout a management buyout of certain assets from JCA Media.

Vetstream was appointed Educational Partner to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association in April 2016 and also its Communications Partner in January 2017

Vetstream Ltd (www.vetstream.com) offers TLC for veterinary practices so they can provide TLC for their clients and their companion or production animals.

Vetlexicon

T(reatment) via Canis, Felis, Lapis, Exotis and Equis Clinical Information Services

Vetstream's core services (Canis, Felis, Lapis, Exotis and Equis) are online encyclopaedias of point-of-care clinical veterinary information about the diagnosis and treatment of disease in companion animals (dogs, cats, rabbits, exotics and horses)  which vets subscribe to access. The content is provided by over 900 of the world's leading veterinary clinicians and comprise of more than 20,000 peer reviewed articles on diseases and their pathogens, diagnostic tests, medical and surgical treatments as well as breeds and owner factsheets and images, videos and heart sound on any internet enabled device(s). The content is categorised into 26 body systems and disciplines and cross linked to each other so that a veterinarian can move between all the relevant information about a particular patient that they might need to help them diagnose and treat the patient and communicate all the relevant information to the owner. Each week new and updated information is added to the services so that the subscribers continue to have the best point of care clinical information that we can provide for them.

Two new services will be launched in 2018: Bovis (for cattle), and additional modules within Exotis (for reptiles, birds and chelonians)

The Information Problem

The Pew Commission’s review of veterinary education in North America (1993) , stated that  “one of the most important and pressing needs in veterinary medicine is to focus the professional education process and the practice of veterinary medicine, on the ability to find and use information rather than on the ability to memorise. An essential element to the success of this major undertaking, is the availability of veterinary information systems so powerful, that a veterinarian (or student) cannot afford not to use it.”

This statement is quite a challenge, but it is the truth. Our profession needs a solution to the information problem facing us. We are providing professional services to an increasingly well informed client base with growing expectations of what we can provide for them and their animals. However, we are increasingly faced with information overload with the number and variety of journals, textbooks, audiotapes, videos, etc. all demanding our attention. It is hard to know what to look at and when and how to make a quality judgement about their content. Fortunately an information system now exists that delivers the requirements proposed by the Pew Commission.

• Vets are often expected to be omnicompetent by regulators and animal owners

• More educated market with owner’s expectation ever higher

• Client communication: Ability to communicate effectively to the clients is almost more important than technical competence of the veterinarian.

• Volume Knowledge is doubling every 10 years and so it is increasingly hard to keep up. Textbooks are inevitably out of date because of the publishing process.

• Change – Veterinary research journals document the changes in knowledge but research papers are not written for quick access by time poor clinicians, they are written for academics to detail their research.

• Accessibility – Often a textbook is not where it is supposed to be in the practice library or is elsewhere in the practice

• Quality & consistency – Textbooks, journals and different information sources are written in very different styles and by authors of different clinical experience.

The Vetlexicon Solution

The most important issue is that information delivery should be at the time of need. The reality is that the textbook is not in the library, the refresher course is in three months' time or it is hard to remember, locate and then find time to read the whole scientific paper to ascertain whether the required facts are contained within it. . Furthermore, recall is maximised if the information is presented at the time of need.

The information source needs to be comprehensive by covering all body systems and disciplines and in sufficient depth. Text information should be enhanced where appropriate with pictures, illustrations, graphics, sounds and video because veterinary medicine is very audio-visual.

The information should be of the highest quality. Not only should the material be written by leading edge clinicians in a concise and easily digestible style, but the information should also have gone through a peer review process to ensure the validity of the information presented. Ideally, the information should be open to challenge and review, not just by well-respected experts, but by clinicians using such an information system within their practice.

Veterinary knowledge is said to be doubling every ten years. Such an information system must cope with the changes in veterinary knowledge, be constantly updated and show the user where and how the science has changed.

All information should be accessible within a couple of seconds using industry standard computer hardware and not depend on variables outside the control of the clinic (e.g. telephone lines accessing on-line information services). The vet should be able to search and navigate for information in the same way that a they think and work. All information should be cross linked to all associated and relevant other pieces of information, such as diseases, laboratory tests, surgical techniques, indicated treatments, breed predispositions, etc. together with illustrations, sounds, and video.

Vetstream’s Vetlexicon has numerous unique features which are not available via other sources (such as books, journals etc). It is:

• Quality assured -peer reviewed by more than 900 of the world’s leading clinicians

• Comprehensive - the content covers more than 30 categories (body system and disciplines) with more than 20,000 components (text, video, images).

• Structured – with different templates for different content types, i.e. the headings and subheadings of a disease will be the same as all the other diseases, but have different headings to laboratory tests. This enables vets to find the prognosis of a disease, or the adverse reactions of a drug, very quickly and intuitively

• Updated regularly- to enable clinicians to be informed of changes in the symptoms or treatment options

• Interactive - with content linked to other related content so a vet can move from the disease to the laboratory test, or radiographs of the condition, to a diagnostic or surgical technique and then information to print out and give to owners all within the same system.

• Delivered at point of need – all the content is provided to be accessible from any internet enabled device whatever its operating system or browser.

Vetacademy

L(earning) via Vetacademy - Continuing Professional Development

It is increasingly mandatory that veterinarians keep themselves up to date with their knowledge and understanding. Vetstream developed Vetacademy to enable vets to access the best CPD available from their computers, smartphones or tablets wherever they are. Vetacademy provides different types of CPD to suit the different learning styles so they can watch videos of lectures/webinars or procedures being carried out on the web based video player, or study eLearning modules/workbooks on the Vetacademy learning platform. Vetacademy provides eLearning for all members of the practice team (veterinarians, veterinary nurses/technicians, practice managers and receptionists) on both clinical and practice management topics from many of the leading veterinary and other training organisations: The North American Veterinary Community; The Royal Veterinary College, Improve International, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Medicine, The Veterinary Poisons Information Service, The Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists, and Microlearn, to name but a few.

Currently there is an extensive range of more than 600 hours of elearning modules (www.vetacademy.org) covering small animals, horses, exotic animals and business management topics on an eLearning platform.  

Webpartner

C(communication) via Webpartner - Practice websites

Veterinary practices increasingly need to communicate with their existing and prospective clients about the health and welfare of their patients. Clients increasingly rely on the internet to find out what they want to know about their animals and they increasingly expect their practice to have a professional website providing information about the practice and the services it can provide as well as being an information source about the animals that they provide the veterinary care for. Vetstream provides high performing practice websites as well as many add on services to make their website more interactive and useful to market their practice to their client base and to attract new clients.

New article name goes here new article content ...

External links

• www.vetstream.com
• www.vetacademy.org