Scribenote, an AI-based medical scribe for veterinarians, announced it raised $8.2 million in seed funding to tackle this problem head-on. And 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.
This is important as the veterinary profession faces a burnout crisis, with many reporting severe stress levels. One of the most significant stressors is spending hours writing medical records.
Veterinarians are legally responsible for documenting every aspect of client interactions, necessitating accurate and complete medical records. However, 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 daily, and there is rarely time to document between visits. This leads to veterinarians working overtime during lunch and at the end of the day to type records.
Scribenote was launched in December 2019 when CEO Ryan Gallagher noticed his sister Katie, a small animal veterinarian, consistently working late to catch up on medical records. And after shadowing her at the clinic, he realized that detailed discussions during veterinary appointments could 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.
Several years later, Ryan’s promise came true. Founded by Dr. Katie Gallagher, Alina Pavel, and Emily Merry, Scribenote records conversations between veterinarians and clients and utilizes AI to generate accurate medical records in just minutes automatically. Along with medical records and dental charts, various forms of client communication are also automated, allowing veterinary professionals to focus on patient care and building relationships with clients fully. By offering complete and detailed records of what was discussed, documentation struggles are reduced for an already overburdened profession.
The platform’s user-friendly design enables veterinarians to start a note on their phone and add to it later from any device logged into their account. And even with poor internet connectivity, users can create and sync offline recordings later. Scribenote runs in the background to capture audio while veterinarians focus on their patients.
Scribenote’s desktop widget, known as Draggy-Droppy enables users to copy their completed Scribenote records into any Practice Information Management System (PIMS) in just seconds.
Scribenote serves hundreds of clinics across North America, both independently owned and through enterprise-wide deals. In under 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 only $250K pre-seed funding.
With this new funding round, Scribenote plans to develop its AI technology further 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. For the 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.
As Scribenote continues growing, Gallagher frequently reflects on his last few months caring for his childhood Golden Retriever Cali – who lived to the ripe old age of 16. And 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 should and give thousands of veterinarians like Katie the ability to deliver that care more efficiently.
KEY QUOTES:
“Scribenote is not just about saving time; it’s about improving the quality of veterinary care and the lives of those who provide it. By automating the documentation process, we’re enabling veterinarians to focus more on their patients and less on paperwork.
-Ryan Gallagher, Co-founder and CEO of Scribenote
“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. The Scribenote team has deep empathy for the daily challenges veterinarians face and a hands-on understanding of their workflow.”
-Olivia Moore, partner at Andreessen Horowitz
“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.”
-Ryan Gallagher
