Bringing all the pets to the veterinary clinic together makes a lot of sense for your clients. One car ride, one conversation, and one visit to get the whole household cared for.
For veterinary teams using an AI scribe, having multiple pets at the same appointment can pose its own challenge: the shared conversation has to be split into two (or more) separate, accurate SOAP notes. The appointment chatter may move from one pet to another as you cover histories, exam findings, vaccines, medications, and follow-up plans. Everyone in the room usually knows which pet is which, but your AI scribe needs to know, too.
Curious how ScribbleVet handles multi-pet appointments? Start your free 14-day trial and try it in your next visit.
How ScribbleVet Creates Separate Patient Notes
ScribbleVet handles multi-pet appointments by turning one recording into separate notes for each patient. When you start the appointment, enter both pet names (e.g. Max and Bella) in the patient name field and record the visit like you normally would. You don’t need to pause, start a new session, or do anything differently when you switch from one patient to another.
Your team can review Max’s note and Bella’s SOAP note separately instead of sorting through one long combined write-up and figuring out what belongs where. Your client gets one email that summarizes the entire visit, tying together the next steps and recommendations for each pet so the whole family stays on track.
Why Patient Context Matters
The software quietly taking notes in the corner doesn’t have eyes and it can’t see who you’re talking about. So the clearer the patient cues are during the visit, the easier each note is to review.
You might say, “His ears look good, but she has some mild tartar. We’ll refill the medication and update vaccines today.” That likely makes perfect sense to everyone in the room, because they can use body language, eye contact, and which pet is on the table to follow the context.
Your AI scribe only has the audio recording, so it has to untangle the pronouns, follow the patient switches, and assign each detail to the right medical record.
Whose ears looked good? Who had mild tartar? Which pet needed the medication refill? Which pet was due for vaccines?
That’s where small verbal cues help. The more clearly the conversation names each patient, the easier it is for ScribbleVet to keep the right details with the right pet.
Wondering what makes veterinary AI tools like ScribbleVet different from a transcript and ChatGPT? Read Why a Veterinary AI Scribe Beats a Voice Memo & ChatGPT.
How to Help ScribbleVet Follow Patient Switches
When you move from one patient to another, it helps to say the pet’s name out loud.
Instead of: “His ears are clean, but she has mild dental tartar. We’ll refill the carprofen and update vaccines today.”
Try: “Good job, Max, thanks for holding still! His ears look great and we’ll refill his carprofen. Miss Bella has mild dental tartar, but the rest of her exam was normal. We’ll go ahead and update her vaccines today.”
Remember that ScribbleVet can’t see you, so it benefits from cues to help follow the conversation as it moves between patients.
You can use the same approach throughout the visit:
- “Starting with Max’s history…”
- “Moving on to Bella’s treatment plan…”
- “Back to Max’s medication refill…”
- “For Bella’s follow-up…”
“Signposting” what’s happening in the exam room is a small habit that can save you real time when you’re reviewing notes later. And let’s face it, your clients may not have absorbed everything the first time you explained your physical exam findings, so they’re worth restating for everyone’s benefit, not just the AI’s.
Once the note is generated, review it patient by patient and use the jump-to drop-down to move quickly between histories, exams, assessments, and plans. Each pet’s record can be copied separately, in pieces, or together.
Clear patient cues help ScribbleVet follow the conversation. Good audio helps, too. Read Four Veterinarian-Tested Microphone Options to Use With an AI Scribe.
What If the Notes Get Mixed Up?
Say you finish with Max and Bella’s appointment and things are a little jumbled. Max got the vaccines, not Bella, and Bella doesn’t take carprofen. You were pretty sure you summarized things well, but the client had a lot of questions and spent the last 20 minutes with your technician. Don’t worry. You don’t need to start over.
If ScribbleVet mixes up details, or even whole pets, you can easily sort out the mistakes. Just hit record again and clarify: “Bella got DHPP today and Max is taking home the carprofen for his arthritis.” Hit Scribble and ScribbleVet will work through the appointment again and sort everything out.
Multi-pet appointments are a lot to manage, AI or no AI. But if you use clear patient cues during the visit and spend a few moments reviewing afterward, you can turn one conversation into two (or more) patient-specific records. And for the record, the current ScribbleVet record is 14 pets in a single appointment.
Already using ScribbleVet? Try dropping each patient’s name into your next multi-pet appointment. New to ScribbleVet? Start your 14-day free trial.
