Blending general practice (GP) with urgent care is no small task. On any given shift, teams may be juggling higher-acuity patients with respiratory distress or trauma with drop-offs, same-day diagnostics, and routine wellness visits. That complexity puts pressure on veterinary teams to move quickly without losing track of patients, missing charges, or letting team and client communication slip.
Alex Schechter, DVM, founding veterinarian at Burrwood Veterinary in Royal Oak, Michigan, has seen this challenge firsthand across the industry:
“A lot of GPs are already urgent cares, in a way,” Dr. Schechter said in a recent Instinct webinar. “They’re seeing these sick cases; they’re just not promoting them that way.”
For Dr. Schechter, choosing the right veterinary PIMS wasn’t about checking every box—it was about finding a system that could serve as the hospital’s entire central nervous system, supporting both case-to-case decision-making and operational flow.
Your veterinary team deserves intuitive, easy-to-use software that helps you work smarter, safer, and more profitably.
In this recorded webinar, we will show you how to move beyond outdated systems and achieve new levels of practice efficiency.
Why Burrwood Veterinary Chose Instinct EMR
Before opening Burrwood, Dr. Schechter spent a year doing relief work in a wide range of clinics. That experience gave him a clear picture of how fragmented workflows can become when teams rely on outdated, disconnected systems like paper and whiteboards.
He was looking for something different—software that mirrored how modern teams actually work in real time. One feature that initially stood out was Instinct EMR’s status board, which provides a shared, real-time view of every patient in the hospital:
“Everything runs through the status board,” Dr. Schechter said. “It’s kind of like the heartbeat of the hospital.”
That visibility has become foundational to how Burrwood operates day-to-day. From check-in to discharge, the entire team can see where each patient is, who’s responsible for what, and what’s coming next—without interruptions.
This shared awareness is especially critical in a hybrid GP and urgent care setting, where priorities can shift quickly and missed handoffs can create delays.
Instinct EMR also allows Burrwood to keep the client experience simple and consistent. Clients stay in the exam room throughout the visit, including checkout, reducing friction and saving time for both staff and clients.
“The owner never has to leave the room for the journey,” Dr. Schechter said.
Read: Instinct Client Chat: A Better Way to Keep Clients in the Loop
More: Simplify Veterinary Written Prescriptions with Instinct EMR
How Instinct EMR Reduces Clicks & Cognitive Load for Clinicians
For Dr. Schechter, efficiency isn’t just about speed—reducing mental fatigue over the course of a long day is also a significant factor. When evaluating PIMS options, he paid close attention to how many steps it took to complete everyday tasks.
“Something that takes 10 clicks might not seem like a big deal… but when you’re doing it 20 times a day, that adds up,” he said.
Instinct EMR’s clinically driven workflows help eliminate unnecessary steps by connecting documentation, treatment, and billing in a single flow—reducing the risk of missed charges and keeping veterinarians focused on patients.
Built-In Clinical Decision Support at the Point of Care
One of the biggest operational advantages for Burrwood has been having Plumb’s integrated directly into Instinct EMR. Instead of switching between systems or relying on memory, Dr. Schechter can verify drug dosing, interactions, and safety thresholds in real time.
“I always double-check dosages or look for adverse reactions, interactions… and having it built into the software has saved me a ton of time,” he said.
Those guardrails matter in a fast-paced environment where errors can be life-threatening.
Faster Onboarding in a High-Turnover Environment
Like many practices, Burrwood operates in an industry where turnover is a reality. Instinct EMR’s intuitive design has made onboarding new team members faster and less disruptive. Instead of weeks of formal training, new hires can begin contributing almost immediately.
“By the time they come in for their working interview and spend a half day playing around on the system, they’re ready to get started on day one,” Dr. Schechter said.
That ease of adoption helps Burrwood maintain consistency, even as the team grows.
Related: Chart Faster & More Accurately With Instinct EMR
More: Onboarding with Instinct EMR: A Guided Path to Success
Veterinary Practice Software as Infrastructure, Not an Afterthought
For Dr. Schechter, choosing Instinct EMR was about building a practice that could scale and adapt over time.
“Your practice software is one of the most important decisions that you make because it needs to do so much more than it did 10, 15 years ago,” he said. “It runs your hospital.”
By anchoring Burrwood’s operations in an EMR designed for clinical reality, Dr. Schechter has been able to focus less on managing systems—and more on delivering the kind of care and experience he set out to build.
We thank Dr. Alex Schechter at Burrwood Veterinary for taking the time to share his experience with Instinct EMR during a recent webinar!
If you’re curious how Instinct EMR could help your hospital deliver the same kind of care and consistency as Burrwood Veterinary, request a demo.
