Why AI is a HELPER in veterinary care

This video is sponsored by Otto

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly common topic in veterinary medicine, creating excitement and uncertainty among professionals. To help demystify what AI can mean for daily practice, Jennifer K. Quammen, DVM, MPH, shares how AI can actually serve as new teammate, or today's veterinary clinic H-E-L-P-E-R.

H is for hands-free notes

AI listens and drafts records while we stay focused on the patient and the pet owner in front of us, not on the keyboard.

E for energy

By automating the grind—the reminders, the scheduling, the callbacks—AI gives us back the energy for care and creativity.

L is for learning

AI can help us review new research or even evaluate a patient's prior medical history, helping us walk into that exam room more confident and more prepared.

P is for purpose

AI helps us get back to the heart of why we chose veterinary medicine to begin with: caring for animals and strengthening the human–animal bond.

E for education

AI translates complicated medical language into everyday language to help our pet owners feel heard, supported, and informed.

R is for relationships

By reducing the busywork, AI allows us to invest in the relationships that keep us grounded—those with our clients, those with our team, and, of course, with our own well-being.

AI certainly isn't perfect. It still needs our human touch to guide it, and that's why I think now is a really cool time for us to experiment.

So if you've not tried any of the tools out there, pick one—even if it's a free option—and give it a try.

This is a really great opportunity for us as a veterinary profession to get in on the ground floor and ultimately shape what this tool will become.

We're just beginning to see what AI can do, and it's evolving really quickly. Used well, it multiplies and doesn't detract from our time.

The practices that are already using these tools are saving dozens of hours per month—and that is probably just the beginning. They're using it on things like schedule reminders, medical notes, and some of those redundant tasks that we all have to get done every day in practice.