Welcome to the first installment of our Plumb’s™ review series, where we’ll be talking with veterinarians who use Plumb’s Pro™ in practice. Stay tuned as we find out what brought them to Plumb’s Pro™, what they like most, how they use it in practice, and more.
Madeleine Cosentino, DVM, BScH, is one of four veterinarians at Mountain Vista Veterinary Hospital, a small animal practice in Collingwood, Ontario. She spends a typical day on her feet managing a dozen or more wellness, vaccine, and urgent care appointments. Mix in the occasional true emergency along with drop-offs and walk-ins, and it’s safe to say that her days stay quite busy.
Communicating with clients and helping them truly understand what is going on with their pets motivates Dr. Cosentino in her daily work.
“I think what I really like best, and what drives me in medicine, is educating owners,” she said. “I actually really enjoy primary care. Even if it’s something as simple as a puppy visit where nothing is wrong, I get to talk to that pet owner about how to best take care of their pet, how to plan for the future, and how to manage behavioral stuff.”
She describes how many of her clients come to Mountain Vista because they are seeking that personal connection. Treatment lacks context when pet owners just hear what tests will get done and what drugs are being prescribed if they don’t understand what’s going on in the first place.
Why Plumb’s Pro™
Building relationships with her clients and their pets through consistent communication and education is what spurred Dr. Cosentino to subscribe to Plumb’s Pro™.
“That’s what really attracts me to Plumb’s Pro,” she said. “It gives a really nice breakdown for owners on ‘Why am I doing this test?’ and ‘What is this disease I’m telling you your pet has?’ It’s really hard just to tell somebody, ‘Okay, your dog has diabetes, and we’re going to start it on insulin, and there you go. Here’s your stuff to start.’”
Convenient, Informative Client Handouts
Dr. Cosentino will either print out the client handouts from Plumb’s Pro™ right after the appointment to send home or email them to her clients along with other handouts. She has gotten positive feedback from clients who are grateful for the information.
“What I like about the Plumb’s client handouts is they are short and concise, which is helpful when a pet owner is first learning about a disease,” she said.
“You could send them a 10-page handout on diabetes, for example, and it’s overwhelming. They don’t need to know what the pancreas is doing and all those medical details. I like that the Plumb’s format, even for the client drug handouts, is very straightforward: These are your side effects; this is what you’ll watch for; this is what your pet might be doing. I just like to give them that brief overview of things.”
And while clinical client handouts may have been the impetus for her Plumb’s Pro™ purchase, they weren’t the only factor. She described the extra cost of the Plumb’s Pro™ subscription as an important consideration in her decision.
“I feel like I’m using it often enough that it’s worth the investment. I’m making good use of the extra features because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just using what I’d already been using.”
Dx & Tx Monographs
Among the extra features Dr. Cosentino is making good use of are the Dx & Tx monographs. She particularly likes the consistent format they use to break down presentation, diagnosis, and treatment.
“Before, I would pull out a textbook and see if the disease I wanted was in there. And you’d have to see how current the textbook was because a lot of the time they wouldn’t have an online version to search through. You would literally have to have the book in hand and go through and search for it.
“So that would be where I’d tend to get information from, but it didn’t always necessarily have what I needed. Sometimes it just felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants and trying to figure it out and trying to ask colleagues to figure out a plan.
“I’ve really liked Plumb’s and having pretty much anything I’d want to look up there. To be able to go through and say, ‘Yes, my treatment plan makes sense for this, and this makes sense for this patient to go through this diagnosis process.’”
Everything in One Place
For Dr. Cosentino, a key value of Plumb’s Pro™ is having such a wide range of relevant information in one place.
“If I want information on diabetes, I don’t want to go to 10 discussion forums. I just want to know what I use to diagnose it. What do I treat with? What’s the dosage? What’s the follow-up? What’s the bloodwork? All in one.
“I think the only other comparable resource would be textbooks, but again, those become outdated after a couple of years. And they are physically large to carry around,” she added.
Key Takeaways
So have other veterinarians at Mountain Vista noticed her experience using Plumb’s Pro™?
“When I shared it with colleagues and showed them what the app is like, they certainly seemed interested. And I think everyone really does like it,” she said. “It’s just a matter of everyone spending their budget on different things and trying to decide what works best for them in practice.”
Ultimately, Plumb’s Pro has changed the way Dr. Cosentino accesses and shares information, from the details she needs for case workup to the client handouts she depends on to keep pet owners informed.
“It’s where I go first,” she said. “It’s really nice because I can carry it with me anywhere … I can access the information I need both at my desk in the office and also if I’m working on a case at home. I don’t have to carry a textbook around with me. It’s right there. I can just log in and have that information. And now, being able to have it on my phone, if I am in the middle of a consult with an owner, I can look things up and show them.”
Special thanks to Madeleine Cosentino, DVM, BScH, for taking the time to talk with us and share her experiences with Plumb’s Pro™.