Vet On-Demand App Development Cost & Features

Pet parents are often worried about providing the best care for their pets, and in this day and age, it has become much easier with technology being at their disposal. Today there are a number of on-demand veterinary mobile apps available that offer 24×7 pet care facilities to animal owners allowing them to keep their worries at bay. 

There is a massive demand for online vet apps and this market is expected to reach $2.08 billion by 2027, whereas as estimated in 2019, this market was $1.31 billion. The reason for this massive growth is the rising prominence and profitability of telehealth solutions. 

In this article, we explore the future possibilities of Vet consulting and pet care apps and also shed light on government regulations and development practices to embrace.

What Is Vet On-Demand App?

This app solution helps pet owners take care of their pets in the best way possible, meeting all their requirements without stepping outside of their homes. The app works with the aim to offer pets health-related services and information. This software solution comes integrated with a pet tracking system, medicine prescription, Vet consultation, seamless search operation, and Artificial Intelligence/Internet of Things (IoT) aided tools to enhance pet healthcare. 

How Does Vet On-Demand App Work?

In the Vet Care mobile app, the user installs the app on their phones/tablets, is required to get in touch with CFL to signup for integration, and can upload the designated clients, animals, products, services, and their book appointments. If the management allows, the users can also load other staff appointments. Post this, intelligent notes for the client, animals, product record, and Drug Withholding Notes are synced. 

Then the service provider is all set to head out to see patients off-site. Generally, the device is managed by a particular staff member; however, the app is designed to be staff agnostic on a device. This makes data loading dynamic for the team that logs in. It allows facilitating support for numerous communal tablets/devices at the charging bay in the organization, regardless of their practice branch location. Hence, this system allows Vets to pick any device, log in to it, and sync it as they go out for visits. 

The bills and other data are synchronized to the server, and then it is displayed under the Mobile Bills section so users can review individually or edit before finalizing it. The workflow is such that each invoice is required to be opened by office staff to review, and only then it’s completed and posted.

Market-Size & Statistics of Veterinary Apps

This is just the market to invest in, and the timing is right. There is not even a single vet care app in the top 100 charts in App stores, whether in medical, health, or fitness categories. Also, players like Airvet, a Los Angeles-based telemedicine startup, are making good money. This firm raised $14million during the peak pandemic in 2020 and is working to create the best veterinary software. As per AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association), revenue growth has slowed after reaching its peak during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it is expected by C.B. Insights analysts that the pet care market will be able to reach $359 billion by 2027. 

Hence, the future looks quite promising for this sector, and therefore it is the right time to join the squad and build your vet app. 

Monetization Opportunities Offered By Veterinary Mobile App

Vet medical apps do not just add to pet healthcare, but they can even be profitable for the app owners. Here we describe the common monetization strategies used by the Vet healthcare mobile apps:

• Commission: This is a popular monetization model where a user is charged a fee for each transaction. As the customer pays the vet doctor, the app charges a certain percentage or a fixed fee on the provided services. Here the vet app platform can charge either seller or buyer.  
• Featured Listing: This is another business model useful for the vet app. The app owners can provide feature listing options to brokers and individuals. The vet service providers who wish to increase their sales can brand their on-demand vet services on the website’s homepage. This attracts the vet service providers to this model as they understand that listing their services on a website’s homepage can attract many customers and result in increased sales.
• Sale Advert: Often, businesses look for advertisers to increase their revenue dramatically. And this model is known as Sale Advert. When the ads are directly sold to sponsors, it means the highest ad money. However, often, online businesses also use third-party advertising platforms. (not sure about this one)
• eCommerce Integration: It can be a great option for the vet apps to integrate eCommerce integration as that is a great way to increase the app’s revenues. You can choose to sell pet accessories, pet food, and more pet-related stuff on the ecommerce store. This will hugely increase your app’s profits. 

Popular Vet App & Vet Telemedicine App

1. PAWP

Featured in Fortune, Insider, People, Ellen, Forbes, Pawp is an online vet care platform that offers 24×7 unlimited pet care to cats and dogs via video calls and in-app chat. On this platform, the users can ask the Vet regarding pet health, nutrition (weight loss, allergies, good choices), or queries regarding their behavior (cat purring, dog spraying, etc.) and receive real-time expert vet advice. Using its expertise and experience, the team offers the best care for the cats and dogs, and the users get 24×7 assistance with no appointments or wait times. Also, this platform offers a $3000 annual safety net for emergency vet bills, and it can be used once a year for a life-threatening pet emergency. Hence, it is an amazing alternative to pet insurance. 

How This App Works

• Just download the Pawp vet app.
• Become a Pawp member
• Chat directly with vets 24×7
• Allows to provide quality pet care to your pet
• Enables access to emergency pet insurance alternative post 14 days of being an app member

2. Televet

Before you download this app, ensure that your Vet uses Televet as well. This app allows your current veterinarian to provide veterinary telemedicine services. However, to conduct a virtual vet visit, it is necessary for the pet to previously visit the Vet in the office. The app saves your time by allowing users to directly connect with the Vet via their smartphone, receive diagnosis and treatment plans, and maintain pet health from anywhere. However, this app is available to pet owners whose veterinarians are signed up to offer telemedicine for pets via your platform. The app connects the pet owners with their current vets, so if the Vet is not available on the platform, pet owners won’t be able to use the app’s offered services unless they register as a client with the app’s existing vets. If an app user’s Vet doesn’t offer TeleVet services, they can drop an email with the app so the app can reach out to the preferred veterinarian. 

How This App Works

• The app users can request and schedule a vet online consultation with their Vet. 
• Users can share detailed text, pictures/videos for their Vet to review
• The case is assigned to a vet within the pet’s local veterinary telemedicine clinic
• Chat with the vet one-on-one via video call, phone call, or text with your Vet
• Receive a treatment plan from your Vet
• Schedule follow-up telehealth appointment with the Vet
• Video chat with the Vet to review your pet’s healing progress
• Review previous consultation records to keep track of pet’s health

3. Virtuwoof

This VCPR-compliant virtual care tool is useful for virtually diagnosing and treating the pet, anywhere, anytime. The app allows you to chat with your Vet about anything pet-related and at any time. Here the users can upload pictures and videos from their device and review previous consultations that occurred at the Virtuwoof app. 

How This App Works

• Download the app and create a pet owner profile.
• Create or add pet profiles and connect with the Vet using unique code
• Organize a visit and upload photos and videos to consult
• The consultation summary is emailed and saved in the profile for future reference. 

4. Petdesk

The goal of this app is to help pets in living longer, happier, and healthier life. The app allows connecting with the best pet care professionals near the pet location. Hence, the users can manage pets’ health in one place. The app’s amazing features include:

How This App Works

• It offers a 24×7 appointment request tool allowing the pet care providers to reach the right help as needed. 
• It allows to sync reminders and adds customized to-do’s to the calendar
• It allows adding and quickly viewing pet care professionals in one place, such as vet clinics, pet daycare, boarding, grooming facilities, and more.
• Users can earn points for every dollar they spend at their favorite pet care provider’s locations.
• Users can easily place requests for medication refills for their pets.

What Are The Benefits Of An On-Demand Vet Mobile App?

There are numerous benefits of on-demand vet app, and here we mention a few of them:

• Increase efficiency of the operations by streamlining internal processes, educating personnel, simplifying interactions with the suppliers and the third parties. 

• The app allows serving more patients per hour. Employees getting access to these apps makes routine tasks easier or entirely replaces mundane work requiring no human intervention. This way, it is possible to serve more patients. 

• Other than pet care services, offer more services, like online shopping for pet-related products or services. The app can also offer educational services for pet parents.

• With the vet telemedicine apps, the users get loyalty points and gamification elements, enabling the pet owners to accumulate bonuses for following routine procedures with their pets. The app also allows sending news and alerts, which helps the veterinary practices stay connected with their customers. 

All of this results in increased customer satisfaction and revenue growth in the long run. 

What Are The Key Features Of The Veterinary Mobile App?

Here are the useful features that can be integrated into the vet mobile app:

1. Pet Profile & Health Record

It works great when a vet mobile app allows its clients to create profiles for their pets. It should include information like name, weight, age, pet passport data, certifications, Microchip ID/tattoo number, food preferences, health data (pathologies, allergies, chronic conditions), activity goals. The app should allow pet owners/vets to customize these fields easily, and as many clients can own several animals, a single app account must support multiple profiles. 

2. Medical Documentation Management

The app must allow the pet owners to upload document scans, videos, pictures, files, etc., as well as enable them to import files from mobile devices and support popular file types & formats. It is highly appreciated when the app supports remote access to a pet’s medical data to help in finding important information multi-device compatibility. This allows to create & edit medical notes from tablets & smartphones. The app can also allow to exchange and link medical records from other vet clinics using the app, or it can enable online & offline access with auto-saving features so that the vets won’t be short of work after disconnects. 

3. Nearby Doctor & Clinic

The Veterinary mobile apps help its users to easily find nearby vets and animal hospitals. Users can choose the Vet based on their specialties, customer reviews & ratings, and location. Pet owners can use the app to search for an experienced vet in the neighborhood.  

4. Doctor Appointment Scheduling

Appointment scheduling functionality makes life a lot easier for the clients as today, a large number of people prefer booking an appointment online. The in-app appointment booking facility allows users to book an appointment at any time of the day. Also, the front desk staff will require spending lesser time on the phone, frees up their time, and lower the phone bills. The app can also offer multiple time slot options for booking so they can pick an appropriate time. It is also important to allow integrations with third-party calendar apps and scheduling software, so the users are able to see the upcoming meetings outside the app.  

5. Video Conferencing

This feature in the Vet app allows the clinics to offer veterinary telemedicine services. Vets can use the app for consulting pet owners via video calls, examining pets on a screen, and giving instructions (such as checking heart rate, exposing pet’s skin, or capturing how the pet is walking or running). This feature also allows the vets to conduct medical progress or post-surgery check-ups or diagnose conditions and provide the prescriptions. Besides, the vets will be able to record video consultations so they can study them later or share them with other professionals. 

6. Medicine Refill Request

This functionality can be used by pet owners to create a request for a medical refill for their pets.

7. Monitor Pet Health

This feature allows pet owners to monitor their pet health based on their feed. They can access the calorie table and
diet chart. 

8. Push Notifications/Alerts

The notification feature is useful to remind the doctors and clients regarding their upcoming appointments, vaccinations, and other care activities. At the same time, tracking features alert users regarding pet feeding times, changes in sleep quality, or physical activities. The app can also alert users regarding new product launches/discounts. However, it is advisable to make the alerts customizable, so the users can choose to turn off alerts they don’t require. 

9. Online Shopping for Pets

Integrating e-Commerce functionality can be quite useful for the on-demand veterinary app, where the app users are able to make purchases for their pets, like pet food, pet outfits, and much more.

Advance Features To Consider While Creating Veterinary Mobile App

1. In-app Chat

Pet owners can use this feature to chat with veterinarians to discuss their pets. 

2. Video Calling

This functionality allows the app users to schedule a video call with the Vet with just a tap on their phone screen.

3. In-app Navigation

This functionality allows the app users to easily reach a Vet clinic in a particular area without asking for directions.

4. Voice Assistance

This functionality allows the app owners to give voice instructions within the app. This functionality allows the hands-free operation of a digital device.

5. Loyalty Program

These programs consist of vouchers, discounts, and promotions encouraging pet owners to use the app services and buy products where e-commerce is integrated. The app informs users about special offers & vouchers via email, push notifications, messages, etc. However, the app must personalize recommendations on the basis of their demographic, pet type, and buying behavior. 

6. CRM Integration

This functionality consists of connecting a CRM system with the other systems. This means that a business’ customer data can be integrated seamlessly with third-party systems. These third-party systems might not be related to CRM systems; however, the data generated by them can potentially make the CRM work better. 

7. CMS Integration

CMS is basically computer software that uses a database to manage the app content. As per your app’s requirements, you can use an existing Content Management System (CMS) platform or hire CMS developers to develop a new one. CMS is open-sourced and free-to-use. 

8. In-app Doc Management

This functionality is useful to upload documents on the app. These documents can be the pet’s medical reports, prescription, or other pet-related documents that can be uploaded in the app. 

Regulations To Follow During Vet On-Demand App Development

Vet software used to diagnose and treat animals needs to follow specific laws and legal regulations. To help you understand the compliance, we enlist the agencies and regulatory acts to be followed. 

1. FFDCA

The U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) regulate the usage of medical devices and mobile apps in the U.S. market. Hence, if you want your vet app to be used for diagnosis or remote treatment, it must comply with the FFDCA act. 

2. FDA

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has a regulatory that oversees all vet devices and software and ensures their efficiency and safety. Vet apps coming with video conferencing functionalities must receive FDA certification to be used on the U.S. market. Despite that, vet devices & apps follow lesser regulations than human medical device products. For instance, FDA doesn’t need to submit 510(k) or any other pre-market approval for the vet software. But the app must follow the rules for labeling and branding. 

3. AVMA

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) establishes a Vet-Client-Patient Relationship for remote & in-person practicing vet medicine. This relationship needs the vet professionals using the vet app to have the necessary knowledge and take responsibility for making clinical judgments via telemedicine. The vets must offer follow-up evaluations and treatment oversight (both remotely and in-person) and have a state license where the patient (pet owner) is located. It requires the vets to follow healthcare protocols and standards of care for certain pet types, and they must maintain and protect client records’ privacy. AVMA also offers regulatory descriptions of implantable microchips integrated into the vet app.

4. HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is responsible for regulating confidentiality requirements for more protected health information. Clinics and private veterinarians need to create procedures and policies for secure usage, management, and sharing of personal health information. This act considers the pet owners as patients and animals they bring as protected property. Hence, vet service providers must ensure privacy and security of every client’s personally identifiable information, like name, birth date, payment data, and medical history. Besides vet clinics, HIPAA also covers other entities responsible for handling protected health information, such as:

• Plan providers: These consist of insurance firms & pet-care programs
• Business associates: These are the third-party entities managing healthcare data. They include software development vendors, consultants, and cloud hosting services. 
• Clearinghouses:These services are responsible for process & transfer data between vet service providers

When vet services are not compliant with HIPAA rules, severe penalties vary from $100 to $50,000 per violation record. The maximum infringement fines can go up to $1.5 million annually or lead to criminal charges. 

These are the legal requirements that the veterinary mobile apps must follow. 

Required Tech-Stack For Veterinary Mobile App 

• Python
• React Native
• React
• webRTC
• webSocket

Team Required For Building Veterinary Mobile App

• Business analysts 
• UX and UI designers 
• Frontend and backend developers 
• Quality assurance experts and testers 
• Project managers 

How Much Does It Cost To Create A Veterinary Mobile App?

To create a high-quality vet care mobile app, you first need a pool of professionals, including project managers, mobile app developers (iOS Developers, Android developers, back-end developers), designers (graphic designer, expert UX/UI designers), and testers (Quality Analysts). 

The vet care app development cost is easier to calculate the app creation cost by calculating the app size and its complexity. The app cost also depends on the physical location of developers and the number of hours consumed to develop this app, for instance:

• U.S. based developers charge $100-$250/hour
• Eastern Europe-based developers charge $80-$180/hour
• India based developers charge $70-$180/hour

The actual app development cost is graphed per the segments to be created. 

• Front-end & Back-end development take up to 400 hours
• UX/UI design takes up to 60 hours
• Technical documentation takes up to 40 hours
• Testing takes up to 80 hours

As we calculate the hours mentioned above, the app development cost can go up to $10000-$25000 when created for a single platform. However, an app with advanced features created for more than one platform can go up to $40000-$50000.