What You Should Know:
– The veterinary profession is facing a crisis of burnout, with 86% of veterinarians reporting severe stress levels. One of the compounding issues includes a frequently overlooked culprit: spending hours writing medical records.
– Scribenote, an AI-powered medical scribe for veterinarians, has raised $8.2M in seed funding to tackle this problem head-on. The company’s funding was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with additional participation from Inovia Capital, the Velocity Fund, and a line-up of angel investors.
Scribenote: Revolutionizing Veterinary Documentation with AI Automation
Veterinarians face a significant challenge in maintaining accurate and complete medical records, a legal responsibility that becomes difficult due to the high volume of daily appointments. With appointments typically scheduled every 20 to 30 minutes, some veterinarians see up to 30 patients in a single day, leaving little time for documentation between visits. As a result, many resort to working overtime, often during lunch or after hours, to complete records.
Scribenote was founded in December 2019 when CEO Ryan Gallagher identified this inefficiency after observing his sister, Dr. Katie Gallagher, a small animal veterinarian, routinely working late to catch up on medical records. Recognizing the potential to automate this process, Ryan, then a University of Waterloo engineering student, committed to developing a solution that would streamline documentation, allowing his sister and other veterinarians to complete their work within clinic hours.
In collaboration with Dr. Katie Gallagher, Alina Pavel, and Emily Merry, Ryan co-founded Scribenote. Three years later, their platform automates the creation of medical records using AI, significantly reducing the time veterinarians spend on documentation. The AI captures conversations during appointments and generates detailed, accurate medical records, including dental charts and client communications, within minutes. This innovation allows veterinary professionals to focus more on patient care and building client relationships.
Scribenote’s key features include:
– A user-friendly interface allowing veterinarians to start notes on their phones and continue from any device.
– Offline recording capabilities that sync when connectivity is restored.
– Background audio capture, enabling veterinarians to document without interruption.
– The “Draggy-Droppy” desktop widget, which integrates completed records into any Practice Information Management System (PIMS) in seconds.
Serving hundreds of clinics across North America, Scribenote’s AI Scribe has automated over 1.5 million medical records in less than a year, saving veterinarians up to two hours per day. This progress was achieved with just $250,000 in pre-seed funding. Designed for both general practitioners and specialist veterinarians, Scribenote is used by a diverse range of professionals, from recent graduates to those with over 35 years of experience. Many customers report improved work-life balance, including the ability to take lunch breaks, spend more time with family, and devote more attention to patients. Notably, veterinarians with injuries or mobility issues have found Scribenote invaluable, enabling them to continue working without physically writing notes.
The veterinary industry has been under increasing pressure due to private equity investment and the impacts of the pandemic, pushing veterinarians to see more patients and generate higher revenues. As demand for its services grows, Scribenote plans to use new funding to enhance its AI technology and expand its platform. The company aims to develop personalized AI scribes for individual veterinarians and further streamline the record-editing process, ultimately working toward a goal of eliminating every unnecessary click and keystroke from veterinarians’ daily tasks.
Looking forward, the Scribenote team envisions a future where AI scribing significantly improves efficiency in veterinary care. Inspired by Ryan’s childhood Golden Retriever, Cali, who was cared for by Katie throughout her life, Scribenote is committed to improving the quality of care for millions of pets while enabling veterinarians to deliver that care more effectively and efficiently.
“Scribenote is not just about saving time; it’s about improving the quality of veterinary care and the lives of those who provide it,” says Ryan Gallagher, Co-founder and CEO of Scribenote. “By automating the documentation process, we’re enabling veterinarians to focus more on their patients and less on paperwork.
