A veterinary clinic checklist for adopting any AI tool

Category-specific questions matter, but some questions apply to every AI product a clinic considers. Work through these before a trial touches real client data.

Data handling

• What data leaves the clinic, and in what form?
• Is the data used to train models, and can that be turned off in writing?
• Where is the data stored, and for how long?
• What happens to the data if you cancel?

VetAtlas does not verify compliance claims. When a vendor states something about data handling, the evidence card links to the vendor's own wording so you can read it in context and take it to your own adviser.

Clinical responsibility

An AI tool can draft, summarise, or flag. It cannot take clinical responsibility. Decide in advance who signs off on any AI-generated content that reaches a medical record or a client.

Operational fit

• Which existing system does it need to talk to, and how?
• Who owns the tool day to day — a veterinarian, a practice manager, or both?
• What is the fallback when the tool is unavailable during a busy clinic?
• How is the subscription cancelled, and what is the notice period?

Cost beyond the subscription

Compare the published price against the real cost: training time, hardware, per-seat add-ons, and the minutes per day each clinician spends reviewing output. A cheap tool that adds review time is not cheap.

Keep a dated record

Write down what you checked, when, and what the vendor said. If a claim changes later, a dated note is the difference between a disagreement and a documented one.