In today's rapidly evolving world, technology is transforming industries across the board, and agriculture is no exception. London-based VETSon is revolutionizing the way the veterinarian business is handled in Canada through telemedicine services that provide farmers with care for their livestock digitally. In a trade that is struggling under the shortage of veterinary services, telemedicine is a boon to remote location farms, areas of veterinary scarcity, and reducing high costs associated with in-person visits.
Inspired by his father, Dr. Glen Yates, and his practice of 47 years, founder and entrepreneur Colin Yates wanted to make a difference by stepping up to address the unique challenges faced by the agricultural community.
“Getting veterinary care for farms has become a real challenge over the years as the demand for service has gone up, but there aren’t enough vets to meet that demand,” explained Yates. “Telemedicine with VETSon helps relieve the burden of care for both veterinarians and farmers by reducing costs, saving time, and generating service records.”
This groundbreaking concept connects vets and farmers using the VETSon app, which offers farmers easy access to veterinary assistance. The app operates using an AI-powered platform that helps veterinarians facilitate many aspects of client care, from delivery of medications and supplies, to tracking animal health and ensuring traceable communication between the veterinarian and farmer.
“One of the challenges of modernizing farm animal medical care is a conservativism around integrating new tech into old practices,” said Yates. “Change is happening however; we’ve had many farmers in incorporate VETSon into their daily operations.” The clients find the app very user friendly, making it easy for animal owners to book a video consultation and then purchase veterinary prescribed medication.
With a chronic global shortage of veterinarians, innovative solutions like VETSon are ideal in reducing the strain on farmers and veterinarians. The company is dedicated to refining its offerings and working closely with the agricultural community to overcome these hurdles and unlock the platform's full potential to serve communities everywhere. VETSon currently offers coverage for all of Ontario, with intent to include all Canadian provinces in the near future.
“VETSon has had an incredible amount of interest across Canada, with many farmers eager to join us. We are also looking to expand into the globally, as they have similar issues with a lack of vet access.” said Yates. “Helping farmers and vets alike is why we started VETSon, and we are looking to reach as many people as possible so we can do that.”
