Animal Neurology Center spotlights EMR-driven scaling

The Animal Neurology Center, a specialty neurology and neurosurgery hospital in St. Louis, says it has increased throughput and reduced workflow friction after adopting Instinct EMR, according to a May 1 case study published by Instinct. In the vendor-written profile, founder Fred Wininger, VMD, MS, DACVIM (Neurology), said the practice is now handling about seven MRIs a day, up from a more typical two to four, while increasing caseload without adding staff. He also credited the system’s real-time documentation, linked treatment and billing workflows, and automated client communication tools with helping clinicians finish records sooner and share updates with referring veterinarians more quickly. (instinct.vet)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the story is less about one software brand than about a recurring operational pressure point in specialty care: how to scale caseload, imaging, and referral communication without adding administrative drag. The Animal Neurology Center is still a relatively new hospital, having begun seeing cases in December 2024 and opened its Creve Coeur facility in January 2025 after a $3.5 million investment. That makes it a notable early example of a specialty practice trying to build process discipline from the start rather than retrofit it later. Still, the source is a vendor case study, so the claims should be read as anecdotal rather than independent performance data. (ded.mo.gov)

What to watch: Watch for whether Instinct or ANC publishes harder metrics, such as turnaround times, staffing ratios, or referral response data, that would let practices better judge how transferable these gains are. (instinct.vet)