@Home Diagnostics

Introduction:  

In a world where everyone is expecting to manage their personal/professional life through their smartphone, managing your pet in the same manner is expected.  This is a massive advantage to any company that can navigate the personal waters as well as ensure the tight bond between the Veterinarian and the pet-owner.  This is critical.  Animal health companies to need both empower the pet-owner and tighten the DVM relationship with the pets.  The advantages are massive for the veterinarian and the widespread industry. According to a recent investor report from IDEXX, only 22% of North American market is served regarding addressable Companion Animal Diagnostics revenue.  In a ~$17BN market, the opportunity is north of $13BN in opportunity.  Applying the same logic to individual DVM who has (on average) ~5k patients; DVMs, can significantly increase their active ~1500 clients. 3 DVMs a clinic x 1,500 pets x 1,000 clinics X percentage increased revenue driving in inspired and additive traffic.  

For pet owners, the question is not in perceived value of veterinarian services, the question is how to inspire intrinsic drive from the pet owner to want to come into the clinic.  Driven by millennials and the following generation, Gen Z; technology is an empowerment tool managing self, family and work.  Without it, importance and control are reduced this driving complacency.  This is the goal of @Home Dx:  to empower and motivate the pet-owner to receive good medicine which increasing revenue for the clinic.  

Current Market

There is a growing number of third-party providers that want to integrate with PIMS (practice information management software) to empower the pet-owner and DVM.  Applications like “Petly” and “Vello” from IDEXX, “Petszel”, etc… are set to be a pet-owner-first applications.  Additionally, Chewy is establishing a significant direct-to-consumer model established by it’s significant investment in everyday products and it’s online pharmacy.  The biggest hurdle companies have is a weak or negotiated integration with some PIMS but not all.  The result is the hesitancy and/or confusion on whether to engage the PIMS since the business model is primary on the pet-owner.  Even if that is not the case, most of the work is in the integration of 3-5 Diagnostic providers and the 35+ (and growing) PIMS in North America alone (who are more focused on support than advancement).  (more on integration efforts and strategies later)

Opportunities:  Here are my top two predictions for @home diagnostics.  To be honest, this is foregoing the obvious scheduling/picking your DVM functionality which is a softball. 

1. Virtual Consultation:  My wife found a black spot on my dog and debated whether it was tick or a scab.  I called, my DVM and asked if I could send a picture in for just a brief consult.  Obviously, this would save me getting the pet into the car and spending the time to get an easy consult.  Now…if it was a scab, I would be frustrated on the use of time in our zoom/virtual world.  In the off chance, it was a tick; then it would be appreciated.  But, in this Schrodinger’s scenario; I would appreciate (and even pay for) the ability to give some guidance. What a great service to empower the pet-owner with white-glove service and tighten the relationship.  Some examples of this would be…
   1. Image sharing (like the example above)Text massaging (for basic questions like, “my dog ate a jellybean, should I be worried?”
   2. Pain identification (this is honestly my favorite):  Grimace Scale
   3. Tooth/gum decay identification: Greenies

2. Fecal testing:  You may have seen the commercials for Cologuard.  The same can be applied for puppies.  Fecal tests for puppies are crucial for early parasite detection and overall health management. At a minimum, fecal tests should be performed at least four times during a puppy’s first year. These tests help identify intestinal parasites like hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms, and whipworms, which are common in puppies. Regular fecal exams also allow for early treatment, preventing potential health issues and the spread of zoonotic disease (parasites to humans).  

Not only are pet owners not compliant taking their pets in when they are supposed to, the @Home market is untapped while innovators are just getting started.  This will be fun to see the connection with pet-owners and the DVMs match the tightness of that in the human market.