KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON – September 23, 2024: The veterinary profession is facing a crisis of burnout, with 86% of veterinarians reporting severe stress levels. One of the compounding issues includes a frequently overlooked culprit: spending hours writing medical records. Scribenote, an AI-powered medical scribe for veterinarians, has raised $8.2M in seed funding to tackle this problem head-on. The company’s funding was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with additional participation from Inovia Capital, the Velocity Fund, and a line-up of angel investors.
Veterinarians have a legal responsibility to document every aspect of their interactions with clients, necessitating accurate and complete medical records. Unfortunately, with various types of appointments every 20 to 30 minutes of the day, documentation can be challenging and pile up quickly. Some veterinarians may see up to 30 patients in one day and there is rarely time to document between visits. This results in veterinarians working overtime during lunch and at the end of the day to type records.
Scribenote was started in December 2019 when CEO Ryan Gallagher noticed his sister Katie, a small animal veterinarian, consistently working late to catch up on medical records. After shadowing her at the clinic, he realized that detailed discussions that occurred during veterinary appointments could potentially be captured in real time to eliminate additional workload. When he noticed other veterinarians at the clinic shared the same problem, Gallagher, a University of Waterloo engineering student at the time, saw an opportunity for automation and promised his sister he would build a solution that would allow her to get home from the clinic on time.
Three years later, Ryan’s promise came true. Co-founded by Dr. Katie Gallagher, Alina Pavel, and Emily Merry, Scribenote records conversations between veterinarians and clients, and uses AI to automatically generate accurate medical records in just minutes. In addition to medical records and dental charts, various forms of client communication are also automated, allowing veterinary professionals to fully focus on patient care and building relationships with clients. By providing complete and detailed records of what was discussed, documentation struggles are reduced for an already overburdened Profession.
“Scribenote is not just about saving time; it’s about improving the quality of veterinary care and the lives of those who provide it,” says Ryan Gallagher, Co-founder and CEO of Scribenote. “By automating the documentation process, we’re enabling veterinarians to focus more on their patients and less on paperwork.
The platform’s user-friendly design allows veterinarians to start a note on their phone and add to it later from any device logged into their account. Even with poor internet connectivity, users can create offline recordings and sync them later. Scribenote runs in the background to capture audio while veterinarians focus on their patients. At the end of the day, Scribenote’s desktop widget, playfully dubbed “Draggy-Droppy,” allows users to copy their completed Scribenote records into any Practice Information Management System (PIMS) in just seconds.
Scribenote is serving hundreds of clinics – both independently owned and through enterprise wide deals – across North America. In less than a year, its AI Scribe product has already automated over 1.5 million medical records, saving veterinarians up to two hours per day. This has been achieved with just $250K pre-seed funding. The company’s AI scribe is designed for general practitioners and specialist veterinarians alike, with users ranging from recent graduates to those with 35 years of experience in the field. The impact on veterinarians’ lives has been significant. Customers report finally being able to take lunch breaks, spending more time with family, and focusing more on their patients. Some users have even shared that Scribenote has been invaluable when they were injured or losing mobility in their hands, allowing them to continue their work without physically writing notes.
The veterinary industry has seen significant changes in recent years, driven by an influx of private equity capital and the effects of the pandemic. These shifts have intensified pressure on veterinary professionals to see more patients and generate more revenue.
“As the market-leading AI scribe for veterinarians, Scribenote automates burdensome documentation requirements, so vets can focus on the parts of the job they love,” said Olivia Moore, partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “The Scribenote team has deep empathy for the daily challenges veterinarians face and a hands-on understanding of their workflow.”
With this new funding, Scribenote plans to further develop its AI technology and expand its platform. The company aims to create personalized AI scribes for each veterinarian and build an efficient, intelligent platform for editing and finalizing records. Long-term, all four co-founders and their growing team of Scribenauts envision using AI scribing as a foundation to eliminate every unnecessary click and keystroke from a veterinarian’s day.
“We see a world where pet care is so affordable and accessible that anyone can experience the precious bond between animals and humans, and we want to build technology that increasingly enables that world,” adds Ryan Gallagher.
As Scribenote continues to grow, Gallagher frequently reflects on his last few months caring for his childhood Golden Retriever, Cali, who lived to the ripe old age of 16. She received the best possible care from Katie who was there for her every time she accidentally swallowed a sock or needed a nail trim. Scribenote wants to help a million other pets like Cali get the care they deserve, and give thousands of veterinarians like Katie the ability to deliver that care more efficiently.
