The Benefits of Digital Logbooks

Guest Blog written by VetSnap

What core software do veterinarians rely on daily? Most of us would immediately think of PIMS (Practice Information Management Systems), diagnostics software, or online communication tools. They are fully digital, flexible, and present almost in every clinic’s workflow. 

Yet, there is one area where many clinics still lag behind. Paper logbooks, the “mammoth”, which we’ve kept around for too long. Many DVMs and medical staff use them regularly but often paper logs lead to continuous suffering during drug reconciliation and inventory counts. 

So, let’s look at a better alternative – the digital logbook software from VetSnap that transforms how controlled substances are tracked, used, and dispensed. 

Why Should Paper Logging Be Digitized?

Five years ago, VetSnap was created by veterinary professionals for veterinarians. Our team had been through similar challenges and struggles with paper logs and knew exactly what processes a digital logbook should help optimize. Since then, VetSnap has become the trusted solution for controlled substance record keeping in thousands of vet practices. 

From day one, the VetSnap team has carefully listened to the voice of a veterinary community seeking ways to ease its workloads. The stories from DVMs and technicians were all too familiar to us – treasured day-offs spent for paperwork, entries destroyed by water or coffee spills, late nights and holidays spent not with their families but around checks and balances at clinics.

All practitioners and medical staff know the real frustration of all the paperwork that comes with controlled substances tracking and compliance. The most pressing issue is finding enough time to keep paper records up-to-date. On busy days, it’s impossible to log controlled substances in real time, especially if you’re short on staff. 

Moreover, handling paper records in separate binders often leads to extra hours for fixing all possible discrepancies and errors. Otherwise, if you manually track down missing entries, cross-check invoices, or make corrections during shifts, you’ll distract and pay less time to patients. 

But above all these challenges, the most dreadful one is anticipation of DEA inspections. The thing with paper records is that you’re never sure whether you’re ready for the audit or not.

How Can VetSnap Digital LogBook Software Help?

VetSnap is designed to digitize and automate logging, reconciliation, inventory counts, and reporting processes – no matter the type and size of your practice. 

By replacing paper records with a unified digital system like VetSnap, practitioners can also reduce operational friction. While every vet keeps paper records differently, the digital logbook brings a clear and consistent logging workflow for all practice members.

During the setup and further use of a VetSnap digital logbook, vets and technicians often highlight these specific benefits: 

• Saving time on entering mandatory data. You can create a digital record in a few seconds. A digital logbook like VetSnap integrates with the most popular PIMS to help you pull all medical data. As of now, VetSnap has one of the largest number of PIMS integrations on the market.
• Reconciling logs without all the extra effort. The system can automatically perform checks and balances overnight, reconciling invoice data with recorded entries. VetSnap finds discrepancies and alerts you if any fixes are needed.  
• Managing your stock levels in VetSnap and making physical inventory counts less stressful and time-consuming. VetSnap helps you track every detail of your controlled substances inventory, including restocking, opened, unopened, or finished containers, waste, etc. 
• Creating and printing any report on controlled drugs or authorized personnel in a few clicks. You can bring the requested data to a DEA auditor, state, or corporate inspectors in no time. Speaking of which, VetSnap is a DEA-compliant digital logbook that meets record-keeping requirements in all 50 states.
• Submitting a PMP report faster with an add-on in VetSnap, conforming to both federal and state-specific requirements. When PMP submissions are a part of a logging workflow like it is in VetSnap, all the dispensed data is tracked and gathered automatically. As a result, you can generate a PMP report in less than a minute. 

Check other features and advantages of VetSnap here.

How to Migrate to a Digital Logbook: VetSnap Experience 

At VetSnap, we understand how tough it may be for a busy vet practice to move years of paper logs to a new digital system. Some clinics take months of hesitation, postponing the switch and waiting for a perfect, calmer day. But let’s be honest there are few spare days in most vet clinics. 

That’s why VetSnap developed an onboarding program for vet practices to get started without disrupting their routines. During three quick training sessions, we provide our clients with tons of training materials, guidance, and live support of experts to ensure seamless migration. We help DVMs and technicians to get to know VetSnap, adjusting it to their workflows, state regulations, corporate requirements, and business expectations.

As every practice is different, VetSnap allows customizing its digital logbook for the specific needs of practitioners. The system adapts to the scale and type of a clinic. Whether it’s a single-doctor clinic or a multi-location hospital, emergency hospitals or mobile vets, the logbook can be easily adjusted to track the needed controlled substances, as well as over-the-counter medications. 

3 Steps to Move Your Paper Logs to a Digital Logbook

To transition smoothly from paper records to digital logging, you may need a concise roadmap with essential steps for preparation, the logbook launch, and further staff onboarding. Let’s view these three easy steps that will help you take a giant leap ahead: 

1. Meet with our team to customize your logbook settings, including user access, inventory tracking, and storage. Let your staff explore the account.
2. Perform an accurate inventory count of your current stock and enter it into your logbook to start using it live.
3. Consider the benefits of add-ons to ensure comprehensive compliance (such as PMP, hardware, etc.).

Final Thoughts

Like many modern tools, digital logbooks are gaining traction in vet practices. Many vets can already see the difference in just one month, having less paperwork, human errors, and consistent operations.

While paper logs haven’t gone for good yet, our VetSnap team has noticed that there’s less resistance among veterinarians to digital logbooks. Hopefully, we’re moving to the paperless era where the “mammoth” of manual repetitive logging will no longer exist.