How to Check References for Veterinary Practice Management Software (Without Wasting Anyone’s Time)

If you are evaluating a new veterinary practice management software system, you are about to be shown a lot of very polished things.

Demos will look smooth. Workflows will look fast. Integrations will look “already solved.” Support will sound responsive. Reporting will look flexible. Implementation will sound like a well-worn process with no surprises.

And then real life shows up.

That is why reference checks matter so much for practice management software, and especially for PIMs. Not because you are trying to “catch” a vendor, but because you are trying to predict your own experience after the contract is signed, the clock is ticking, and your team still has patients to care for.

Here’s the trick though. Most reference checks are basically useless.

They turn into a friendly chat with one happy customer who was hand-selected by the vendor, and you hang up thinking, “Great, sounds solid.”

Then three months later you are living through an implementation you were not prepared for, or your front desk is doing weird workarounds, or your reports do not match how you actually run the business, or support is fine but slow, or the migration required far more cleanup than anyone told you.

So let’s talk about how to do reference checks in a way that actually helps you make a better decision, without turning it into a weeks-long project that burns your time and annoys your peers.

A reference check is not a vibe check

When practices say “we checked references,” what they often mean is “we wanted reassurance.”

That is normal. Switching veterinary practice management software is a high-stakes move. It affects revenue, medical records, scheduling, inventory, communication, and basically everyone’s mood.

But the purpose of a reference check is not reassurance. It is risk reduction.

A good reference check should help you answer questions like these. What goes wrong during implementation, and how painful is it? What does the product feel like on a normal Tuesday at 2:30 pm, not in a demo? Which workflows are great, and which workflows require workarounds? How does support behave when the issue is messy and urgent? What does the total cost look like after add-ons, integrations, training, and the stuff you forgot to ask about?

If you keep that goal in mind, you will ask better questions, and you will get better answers.

The most common mistake: calling one “perfect match” practice

Vendors will almost always offer references. Many vendors also manage those references carefully, and that is not automatically a bad thing. They are protecting their customers’ time, and they want the conversation to go well.

The problem is when you only speak to the “perfect match” practice.

If you talk to a single reference and they say “we love it,” you have learned almost nothing. You have learned that at least one practice can be happy with that PIMs. That’s it.

What you want is pattern recognition across a small set of conversations.

Five to seven reference calls will teach you more than any single demo, because you start hearing the same themes show up again and again. Implementation was smooth, but only because they had a strong internal champion. Support is responsive, but it is not instant. Reporting is powerful, but you have to learn how the data is structured. The scheduling screen is fast, but inventory feels clunky. Integrations were easy, except for one system that caused recurring headaches.

That is what you are trying to find, the recurring truths that show up across different people.

Start by defining what you actually need to learn

Before you ask anyone for their time, get clear on what you need to validate. Otherwise the call turns into a wandering conversation, and you walk away with a few anecdotes but no clarity.

I like to frame reference checks around five buckets, because these are where most PIMs projects succeed or fail.

1) Implementation reality

Not “did it go well,” but what it required from the practice. How much internal time did it take, and from whom? How did training actually happen? What was the biggest surprise? What did they wish they had cleaned up before the migration?

2) Day-to-day workflow fit

This is where the demo lies by omission. Every system can do the thing. The question is how it feels to do the thing 40 times a day. Scheduling, check-in, check-out, estimates, charge entry, medical notes, templates, lab and imaging workflows, refills, client messaging, end of day reporting.

3) Integrations and “the ecosystem”

Most practices are not buying a single application. They are buying a stack. You need to know which integrations are truly stable, and which are “works most of the time.”

4) Support and service

Support quality is not just friendliness. It is behavior under pressure. Do you feel like you are dealing with people who understand clinic reality? How do urgent issues get handled? What does escalation look like?

5) Financial and contract reality

The biggest cost of switching practice management software is usually not the subscription. It is time, disruption, training, and add-ons. You want to understand what the reference practice is actually paying, and what they had to purchase to get to a stable place.

Once you have these buckets, you can guide the conversation without turning it into an interrogation.

Build a small reference mix on purpose

Here is a simple way to think about your reference list. You want a mix that helps you see the product from different angles, not just from the best-case angle.

Ask the vendor for three types of references

Instead of “can you provide references,” ask for this:

First, a practice similar to yours, similar size, similar volume, similar complexity.

Second, a practice that migrated from your current system (or something close), because migration paths matter. Switching from one legacy system to a modern cloud PIMs can feel very different than switching between two cloud systems.

Third, a practice that had challenges, and still came out the other side. You can phrase that politely, for example: “We know not every implementation is perfect. We’d like to learn from a practice that had bumps, so we can be realistic about what we’re signing up for.”

If a vendor can only give you the smoothest story, that is a signal. Not always a deal-breaker, but a signal.

Find your own references too

Vendor-provided references are useful, but you should also try to find one or two conversations that are not sourced through the PIMs company. This is often where you learn the most, because the person you are talking to is not stepping into a call that was arranged and managed for them.

The best sources are usually practice managers you already know, local networks, conference connections, and hospital groups that have recently switched PIMs. You do not need to turn this into detective work. One or two peer references outside of the vendor’s list is enough to balance the picture.

One practical place to find these “off-list” references is the professional communities you already trust, especially practice manager and technician groups on Facebook. The goal is not to start a debate about which PIMs is “best.” You are simply trying to find one or two people who are living with the same kind of tech stack you are considering, and who are willing to share what it has been like.

The key is to make your ask easy to respond to. Be specific, respectful of time, and clear that you are not looking for a public pile-on in the comments.

A Facebook group script for finding a real reference

Below is a script you can paste into a Facebook group post. Keep the placeholders, and fill them in quickly. You will get better responses when people can instantly see whether your practice is comparable to theirs.

Facebook group post (copy and paste):

Hi everyone, I’m a practice manager at a small animal hospital and we’re in the process of evaluating a change in our veterinary practice management software (PIMs).

I’m not looking for a public “this is the best PIMs” thread. I’m specifically hoping to find 1 to 2 practices that are currently using [PIMs Name] (or recently went live) and would be willing to share a quick reference call.

A few details so you can tell if we are similar:

Practice type: [GP, urgent care, mixed, other]
Team size: [# doctors], [# techs], [# CSRs]
Locations: [single location, multi-site]
Integration we care about most: [client communications, payments, lab, imaging, other]

If you’re open to it, I’d love 15 minutes to ask a few practical questions about implementation reality, day-to-day workflow, integrations, and support. Happy to do it by phone or Zoom, whatever is easiest.

If you’d rather not comment publicly, feel free to DM me. Thank you in advance.

Optional follow-up comment (post right after your main post):

Quick add: I’m happy to keep vendor names out of the public comments if that’s preferred. DM is totally fine, and I’ll be respectful of your time.

Optional DM script (use when someone responds):

Hi [Name], thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

Would you be open to a 15 minute call sometime this week or next? To keep it easy, here’s what I’m hoping to learn: what implementation actually required from your practice, what feels better day to day and what still feels clunky, how the integrations behave in real life, what support is like when something is urgent, and any surprises you wish you had known earlier.

If you share a couple times that work for you, I’ll gladly work around your schedule.

You will be surprised how often this works when you ask clearly and respectfully. And if you want to make the result even more useful, try to find one practice that looks like yours operationally (size, appointment volume, services), and one that looks like yours technically (the same client communications tool, payments setup, lab workflow, or imaging stack). That combination tends to surface the most honest, practical insights.

If the comments start turning into a debate, move the conversation to DMs and focus on one-on-one calls. You will get better signal, and you will keep the group helpful for everyone.

Make it easy for people to say yes

Practice managers and owners are busy. Nobody wants a surprise 45-minute call that turns into a consulting session.

If you want high-quality reference conversations, be respectful with your ask. Aim for 15 to 20 minutes. Tell them you will send a short set of questions in advance. Let them know you are not looking for perfection, you are looking for reality. Offer to return the favor.

A message like this works well:

“Hi [Name], we’re evaluating new veterinary practice management software and your hospital came up as someone who has lived through a recent change. Would you be open to a quick 15 to 20 minute call? I’ll send a short list of questions in advance so we stay focused. I’m specifically trying to understand implementation effort, day-to-day workflow fit, support experience, and any surprises you wish you had known earlier.”

Send a context card before the call

This is one of the simplest upgrades you can make to your reference checks, and it makes the conversation better immediately.

Before the call, send a short snapshot of your practice. Not a full story, just the basics. It helps the reference tailor their feedback to your reality.

Share your team size, whether you are single or multi-location, roughly how busy you are, any special services that shape workflow (urgent care, dentistry-heavy, exotics), the systems you care most about integrating, your current PIMs, and the high-level reason for the change.

When you do this, the reference does not have to guess what matters to you. They can jump straight to the useful parts.

How to run the call, so it stays friendly and useful

You do not need a rigid script. You do need a simple structure.

Start with permission and positioning

Open with something like:

“Thanks again for doing this. We’re trying to make a thoughtful decision and avoid surprises. I’m not looking for a sales pitch, I’m looking for the reality of what it was like for your team. I’ll keep us to 20 minutes.”

That little “I’ll keep us to 20 minutes” builds trust instantly.

Ask for the story first

Instead of jumping into questions, ask:

“Can you tell me the short version of why you switched, and how it went?”

Let them talk. People will often volunteer the best insights when they are telling the story in their own words. Then you guide into your buckets.

The questions that actually get honest answers

You can ask great questions without turning the call into a checklist. Think of these as prompts that invite specifics.

Implementation: what did it take from your practice?

Ask things like this. Who owned the project internally, and how much time did it take each week? What did you have to stop doing to make time for the switch? If you could go back, what would you do earlier? What was harder than you expected, and what was easier than you expected?

A very revealing question is: “Was there a moment where you thought, ‘Oh no, we made a mistake,’ and what happened next?”

If they laugh and say yes, you learn a lot. If they say no, you learn something too.

Workflow fit: how does it feel on a busy day?

This is where you want specifics, not general satisfaction.

Ask about speed and friction. What is the fastest part of the system? What is the slowest part? Where do CSRs complain the most? Where do technicians complain the most? What do doctors love, and what do they avoid?

Then go deeper with one or two workflows you personally care about. For example: “Walk me through a typical sick visit from check-in to invoice. Where does the system help, and where does it get in the way?”

If the reference can describe it clearly, that is a good sign. If they speak in vague generalities, it might mean the workflow is still not smooth.

Training: how did your team actually learn it?

Training is often described as a one-time event. In reality it is behavior change over weeks.

Ask how long it took before the team felt competent. Ask what they did for new hires in the first few months. Ask what they wish the vendor did differently, and what they wish they did differently.

If your practice has a mix of tech comfort levels, ask: “How did it go for your least tech-comfortable team members?”

That answer often predicts how your rollout will feel.

Integrations: which connections are stable, and which require babysitting?

Most vendors will say they integrate with everything. The reference will tell you how it behaves.

Ask what they use every day, which integration breaks most often (even if it’s minor), what happens when it breaks, and who tends to take ownership. Ask which integrations they would fight to keep, and which they could live without.

Also ask about the unglamorous details that matter in real clinics, reminders, deposits, payment terminals, lab result flow, imaging attachments, inventory ordering, two-way texting. This is the part of veterinary practice management software decisions that looks small on paper, but can create daily friction for years.

And if you want your integration reference checks to get dramatically more useful, do not limit yourself to references offered by the PIMs vendor. Use your integration partners too.

Use your integration partners to get better references

When you are checking references for a new PIMs, it is easy to default to the references the practice management software vendor hands you. Those calls can be helpful, but they are rarely the full picture.

A simple way to get a more “real world” reference, while staying vendor neutral, is to leverage the relationships you already have with the other tools in your stack.

If your practice relies on a client communications platform, payment solution, lab connection, imaging workflow, online pharmacy, inventory vendor, or any other system that will need to connect to your new veterinary practice management software, your integration providers can be an excellent source of perspective. They often support many practices across multiple PIMs. They see which connections are stable, which ones require extra care, and what tends to break when the clinic is busiest.

More importantly, they can often connect you with a practice that looks like yours from a technology standpoint. Not “a happy customer” in the abstract, but a hospital using the same kind of stack you plan to run.

Here is what that looks like.

Let’s say you are planning to keep your client communications tool when you switch PIMs. Instead of only asking the PIMs vendor for references, message your communications vendor account manager and ask for a practice reference that uses both their tool and the PIMs you are considering. Ideally, you want a practice that resembles you in size and complexity.

A simple request can sound like this:

“We’re evaluating a new PIMs and plan to continue using your platform. Do you have a practice reference who is using your tool with [PIMs we’re evaluating], ideally a similar size clinic? I’d love 15 minutes to understand how the integration behaves day to day, and what the setup was like.”

This does a few things at once.

First, it gives you a reference that was not hand-picked by the PIMs vendor. Second, it increases your odds of speaking with a clinic that has the same integration priorities you have. Third, it helps you evaluate a big part of your future reality, because most friction after a PIMs change shows up in the spaces between systems.

When you get that integration-based reference call, keep the conversation grounded in practical behavior. You are trying to learn whether data flow is reliable, whether it lags, whether it requires manual reconciliation, and what happens when it breaks.

You also want to understand ownership. In a multi-vendor stack, support can sometimes turn into a polite version of “it’s not us.” A gentle way to ask that is:

“When something goes wrong between the two systems, who usually takes the lead on solving it, and how long does it take to get back to normal?”

You can also ask about hidden dependencies:

“Was the integration truly straightforward, or did it require configuration, mapping, changes to your team’s habits, or extra training?”

If you do this for the two or three integrations that matter most to your practice, you end up with reference conversations that are surprisingly predictive. You are no longer asking, “Do you like your PIMs?” You are asking, “Does the stack work the way we need it to work, with the same tools we plan to use?”

That keeps you vendor neutral, and it keeps you grounded in the workflow reality your team will live with after go-live.

Support: what happens when you need help fast?

Instead of asking “is support good,” ask what they do when something urgent happens. Ask how long it usually takes to get a useful response. Ask if they feel like support understands clinic workflow. Ask how often they have to follow up. Ask whether they have had to escalate, and what happened.

One of my favorite prompts is: “On a scale of ‘we can figure it out ourselves’ to ‘we’re stuck until support fixes it,’ where do issues usually land?”

That helps you understand how dependent you will feel.

Reporting and data: can you run the business the way you run it?

Reporting is where many PIMs disappoint after the honeymoon period.

Ask what reports they run weekly or monthly. Ask whether they got them easily, or whether they had to build workarounds. Ask whether the numbers match their expectations. Ask what they still export to Excel.

If you care about KPIs, ask: “Do you trust the data enough to make decisions from it?”

That answer is often more important than any feature list.

Costs and contracts: what did you end up paying for real?

It can feel awkward to talk money, but you can ask in a respectful way.

Try: “I’m not asking for your exact contract, but when you think about what you pay today, did it match what you expected going in? Were there any add-ons, services, or extra fees that surprised you?”

Then ask: “What would you budget differently if you did it again?”

Many practices will tell you they under-budgeted training time, internal time, or third-party services. That is useful.

The question that cuts through everything

Ask this near the end:

“If you could go back in time, would you choose the same practice management software again?”

If they hesitate, do not rush to fill the silence. Let them think. Their answer, and how they say it, is often the most honest moment of the call.

If they say yes, follow with: “What makes it a yes?”

If they say no, follow with: “What would you choose instead, or what would have to change?”

How to spot reference bias without being cynical

Vendor references are often positive. Again, not automatically a problem.

What you are listening for is whether the praise includes specifics and tradeoffs.

A trustworthy reference usually sounds like this: “We like it a lot. Scheduling is faster and our doctors are happier. Inventory is not as strong as we wanted, and we had to adjust our process.”

A less useful reference often sounds like this: “It’s great. We love it. Everything is better.”

When everything is “great,” you have no information to work with.

Encourage nuance by asking: “What do you miss from your previous system?”

Every system has something it does well, and something it does poorly. The reference who can name both is giving you reality.

Turn your notes into a decision, not a pile of anecdotes

After a few calls, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. You have a dozen insights floating around and no clear way to compare.

You do not need a complicated spreadsheet. You just need a consistent way to capture what you heard.

Right after each call, write down the practice context (size, type, complexity), the top three things they loved, the top three things they struggled with, one surprise they wish they knew earlier, and their answer to “would you choose it again?”

Then look across calls and ask yourself what themes repeat. Which issues are “annoying but manageable” versus “deal-breaking for our workflows”? Do the same pain points show up across multiple practices, or only one? Are the negative comments about the software itself, or about implementation and change management?

This is where reference checks become powerful. You stop reacting to individual opinions and start seeing the shape of the truth.

A quick reality check before you finalize your choice

If you are down to one or two PIMs options, do one final reference step.

Ask the vendor to connect you with a practice that looks like yours and went live in the last 6 to 12 months. The experience is fresh, the product is current, and they remember what hurt.

Then also ask for a reference that is at least a year past go-live, because the long-term experience matters too. Recent and long-term references together give you a better timeline view of what you are walking into.

Closing thought: reference checks are how you protect your team

The reason to do this well is not to be “thorough.” It is to protect your people.

A PIMs change touches everyone, and if it goes poorly, the cost shows up in stress, overtime, turnover risk, and distracted patient care. If it goes well, it shows up as smoother days, clearer communication, better financial visibility, and more confidence in the systems your hospital relies on.

A thoughtful reference check process is one of the best ways to make sure you are not buying a demo, you are buying a reality you can live with.

If you want a simple way to keep your reference calls consistent, consider building a one-page reference call guide for your practice. Include your context card, your top workflows, and the questions that matter most to your team. It will make every conversation easier, and it will help you compare veterinary practice management software options with a clearer head.

And if you ever feel stuck between two “good” options, that is usually the moment to do two more reference calls, one from the vendor list and one from your own network. The extra clarity is almost always worth the time.