The digital veterinarian

• 16.01.2020
• Sven Jan Arndt
• no comments

A new trend has recently emerged – the digital veterinarian. They call themselves Dr. Sam, Pfotendoctor.de, etc.

What are we to make of this?

First, here are some excerpts of the promises made by these platforms:

But what about point 5? Instant certainty!

Certainty about what?

• Is my pet sick or not?
• Perhaps I should take my pet to a local veterinarian?
• That I now have to pay a fee for vague information?

Pfotendoctor.de – Your digital veterinarian goes even further:

• „"Our veterinarians can immediately assess how your pet can be best helped."“
• „"The Fees are based on the official fee schedule for veterinarians.. The amount is therefore equivalent to any ordinary visit to a veterinary practice.“

To put these statements into perspective, here is our experience from the daily operation of four small animal practices with well over 40,000 cases per year:

• A sick animal can only be examined to a very limited extent, if at all, via telephone or video chat – primarily, it requires a physical inspection of the animal, palpation, temperature measurement, checking of vital functions, possibly smelling, etc.
• Then further diagnostic measures often follow, such as X-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, MRI scans and blood tests.
• Only these measures typically allow for a competent diagnosis and, consequently, appropriate therapy.

Against this background, the following questions arise for us regarding digital veterinarian:

• How can he measure fever or examine vital functions (e.g., listening to a cat's lungs in case of pulmonary embolism, etc.)?
• How can he determine whether a leg is only sprained or actually broken?
• Even if he were to recklessly attempt a remote diagnosis, something his professional ethics actually forbid, what happens next?
• How can he administer a painkiller or medication?
• How does he issue prescriptions?
• How does he bandage a wound?
• How does he stitch up a bite?

These examples could be extended indefinitely. The actual benefit of such a digital veterinarian therefore appears to be very limited.

If the digital veterinarian takes his training and professional ethics seriously, in case of doubt he can only ever advise consulting a local veterinarian or finding a suitable animal clinic.

Then the question really arises – what is the advantage of the digital veterinarian?

• In fact, we currently receive many calls during our emergency service from people who don't actually want to bring their pet in, but rather want some kind of reassurance over the phone that everything isn't so bad and they only need to go to the vet the next day – a digital vet can indeed help these pet owners – a placebo that benefits the owner, but ultimately doesn't spare the animal suffering.
• If the digital veterinarian takes his profession seriously, then, to be fair, he will probably have to send at least every second pet owner to a local veterinarian, as was the case with our phone calls, because that is the only way to alleviate an animal's suffering.
• The latter, however, costs money at your trusted veterinarian, and if they are unavailable, at the local veterinary clinic or the local emergency veterinary service via telephone information. nothing! This is the daily bread and service of every good veterinarian..
• There are also veterinary clinics and emergency services nationwide that are available 24 hours a day. So this supposed advantage of... digital veterinarian away.

Even more interesting is the fact that neither of the two platforms mentioned is run by veterinarians – here is the legal notice for Dr. Sam:

Things get even more interesting with the provider "Your Digital Veterinarian" – Pfotendoctor.de:

„"The development, creation, marketing and distribution of telematics software."“ So, where this relates to veterinary medicine remains a mystery to us.

Against this backdrop, it's even more interesting why such a platform bills according to the German Veterinary Fee Schedule (GOT) (as stated above). Our veterinary associations seem to be a bit asleep at the wheel here – the very same associations that in some places would still happily dictate the size of a practice's sign. Actually, only licensed veterinarians are allowed to bill according to the GOT, or have we misunderstood something?

We also cannot find any of the veterinarians listed on Pfotendoctor.de as either self-employed or employed practitioners online! Furthermore, the term "veterinarian, specializing in ophthalmology" does not officially exist. Could this possibly represent a non-existent additional qualification or specialist veterinary training?

Our conclusion on the digital veterinarian:

• The benefits of digital veterinarians seem very limited to us – what they can offer is also available free of charge via the emergency hotline or as information in any veterinary clinic.
• The official operators of these platforms presented here do not come from the field of veterinary medicine, nor do they state this in their company purpose.
• So the question remains – is the term „digital veterinarian“ / „online veterinarian“ an unprotected professional title?
• Is anyone allowed to bill according to the GOT (German Fee Schedule for Physicians) using such a platform?
• When will the Federal Chamber of Veterinary Surgeons or the state chambers of veterinary surgeons finally investigate this apparently unregulated activity?

Addendum:

Meanwhile, the first foreign suppliers (outside Europe – from Switzerland) are also setting out to cultivate the German market – we saw the following advertisement from pet-care.ch today:

The question here is particularly relevant as to whether and to what extent a non-European company may offer veterinary services/online veterinary care within the EU, as these are subject to completely different licensing criteria than their German counterparts. Behind this specific case is a large Swiss corporation – the Migros Group, which is known for everything, but little to nothing for veterinary medicine.