We recently talked about the economic benefits of in-house testing for common veterinary diseases like heartworm, giardia, and parvovirus. Today we’re going to discuss another way in which rapid in-house lateral flow assays like the SafePath® ZippTest® Canine Heartworm Test Kit and Canine Parvovirus Test Kit can benefit your practice – better patient care.

Lateral flow assays have proven to be just as accurate as laboratory testing, and you get results within 10-15 minutes – much faster than sending your samples out to a reference laboratory. Fast results mean a fast diagnosis, which is good for a lot of reasons.

First, and most importantly, being able to quickly diagnose an illness means you can also quickly jumpstart treatment. For potentially life-threatening diseases like heartworm and parvovirus, time is of the essence. Knowing what your patient needs within minutes, rather than days, can improve animals’ chances of full recovery. In addition, a quick diagnosis can help you and your clients prevent the spread of contagious diseases to other animals.

Second, you’ll be able to give your clients answers during their initial office visit instead of a day later. This will ease their anxiety about their pets much more quickly and make them much more satisfied with the level of care they are receiving.

Third, in-house testing can improve clients’ compliance with your recommendations for treatment. Seeing their pet’s test results with their own eyes and having those results explained in person by their pet’s doctor, instead of just hearing a report from one of your staff members over the phone, will give your clients a better understanding of their pet’s health – and more appreciation for the value of your services.

In-house testing means healthy pets, happy clients, and good business. If your practice has been relying solely on external testing at reference laboratories, it may be time to reconsider rapid in-house testing!