What can veterinary practices borrow from orthodontists?

(All photos courtesy of Solutions By Design.)Does that old, crusty bulletin board in the hallway of your clinic spark joy? We're guessing ... not. And yet, it's a primary client communication tool inside your practice walls-when they're perhaps at their most open to receiving your messages. Here to shake things up is Montage, an interactive display system by Solutions By Design, allowing veterinary practices to go the distance with client education, clinical displays and practice marketing and branding.

William Poss, president of the company, recalls how the Montage idea-originally developed for human orthodontic clinics-spread to veterinary medicine. By happenstance, Poss' own veterinarian (and close friend) was in the Solutions By Design office and remarked on how much a product like this was needed in vet med. Poss realized she was right.

“It's a way better fit for the veterinary world, because there's more education and so many more topics to cover in animal health than just teeth,” he says.

In vet practices, Montage can be used in a number of ways. In the reception area, a touch-screen monitor encourages clients to interact with the many educational and informational widgets. And in the exam room, a wall-mounted display can be used for client education and clinical case presentations.

Poss says the most popular feature among veterinarians is the clinical case presentation. “There's a whole library of anatomically correct illustrations,” he says. “These are cool because the doctor can draw with their fingers, make diagrams and notes on the board and then email or text [the image] instantly.” Product sheets, notes and any other illustration or drawing can also go straight from Montage's board to phone or email.

Another plus for busy vet practices-Montage only needs power and an Internet connection to operate. And if you're all in, the company offers custom content creation, including graphics, animation and video production.

Social media component

Montage also has a built-in camera, making it a useful marketing tool for social media. Patients can take a photo using Montage, click save and then send it to themselves. Montage will put a watermark on the photo using the practice's url or logo before sending the image. Once the client receives their picture, they'll share it.  

“The average share on Facebook is 444 impressions …. It's a really really cool way to build brand awareness in the local community and really great for social media,” says William Poss, president of Solutions By Design, manufacturers of Montage.

What about practices on a budget? For those of you still using the aforementioned crusty bulletin board: Montage offers the option to morph into an ad-based revenue driver, allowing for product and services advertising right inside the interface.