Veterinary surveys show AI gains, even as staffing strain persists

Veterinary medicine's 2026 technology story is turning out to be less about experimentation and more about operational necessity. New survey findings released by Instinct Science on March 11 show general practices, specialty hospitals, and ER settings moving quickly on AI and other digital tools, even as staffing shortages, heavier workloads, and client affordability concerns continue to pressure teams. In general practice, nearly half of respondents said they already use AI, while in emergency and specialty care, technology adoption was tied to reported gains in efficiency, patient care, and fewer errors. (globenewswire.com)

The backdrop is a profession that has spent several years trying to stabilize after pandemic-era demand shocks, burnout, and hiring strain. Instinct's new general-practice survey, described by the company as based on responses from more than 700 veterinary professionals, found that flexibility has moved into the mainstream, with fewer than 10% of practices still operating on a traditional fixed full-time schedule, 40% offering part-time roles, and 25% using four-day workweeks. On the specialty and ER side, staffing shortages were still the most-cited challenge at 85%, up from 78% a year earlier, indicating that hiring progress hasn't fully caught up with caseload and workflow demands. (globenewswire.com)

The details help explain why AI use is rising. In general practice, Instinct said the most common AI use cases were medical record and SOAP note creation, cited by 63% of AI users, and diagnostic assistance, cited by 38%. Nearly three-quarters of general-practice AI users said the technology improved efficiency. In specialty and emergency settings, 67% reported improved efficiency after adopting new tools, 57% said patient care improved, more than half said technology reduced treatment or diagnostic errors, and 25% said it helped capture additional revenue. Among those practices, digital treatment sheets had the biggest efficiency impact, followed by cloud-based practice management software and AI scribes, which the company said posted the biggest jump in adoption since 2024. (globenewswire.com)

Those findings also fit with the broader direction of veterinary technology adoption, though not every practice is moving at the same pace. The AVMA's 2025 Economic State of the Veterinary Profession report found that 76.5% of represented practices had practice management software in place in 2024, 59.9% used client communication software integrated with PIMS, and 29.2% used telehealth. Still, among practice owners who felt they were falling behind on technology adoption, the top reasons were lack of time, cost, and limited interest or knowledge. In other words, the profession may be broadly digitizing, but implementation friction remains real. (ebusiness.avma.org)

Outside Instinct's survey, other industry signals point in the same direction on AI. A 2024 survey published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association found that familiarity with AI was associated with more optimism and greater adoption among veterinary professionals. AAHA also highlighted 2024 Digitail survey data showing that nearly 40% of veterinary professionals were already using AI tools. That same AAHA-Digitail survey, which included nearly 4,000 veterinary professionals, found 83% were familiar with AI, but 70% had concerns about reliability and 43% reported lacking proper training. Together, those figures suggest the 2026 Instinct numbers reflect acceleration rather than a sudden break from prior years — and that confidence, training, and governance remain limiting factors even as use rises. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Industry commentary is increasingly framing AI less as a clinical replacement tool and more as a workflow layer. Instinct CEO Caleb Frankel said the company's survey results show technology delivering measurable gains in workflow, patient care, and profitability. That view is echoed in vendor and trade commentary across the sector, where the emphasis has shifted toward documentation relief, scheduling, communication, and charge capture rather than autonomous clinical decision-making. CoVet's 2026 outlook similarly argues that the next gains are likely to come from reducing charting fatigue, improving continuity of care, strengthening vet-client communication, and helping teams navigate emotionally demanding conversations while keeping veterinarians in control of clinical decisions. That distinction matters in veterinary settings, where teams are looking for tools that reduce cognitive load without undermining clinical judgment or adding new compliance risk. (globenewswire.com)

As adoption spreads, another issue is moving closer to the foreground: who inside the practice is responsible for AI oversight. Digitail argued this year that veterinary clinics may need a designated AI coordinator or champion, borrowing from the governance models now appearing in larger industries and health systems. The case is straightforward: AI tools are updated continuously, require staff training, and can introduce reliability, workflow, and ethical questions if no one owns implementation. For smaller practices, that may not mean hiring a new executive, but it could mean assigning responsibility for tool selection, prompt and template maintenance, staff enablement, and policy guardrails as AI becomes part of routine operations.

Technology is also beginning to influence the physical and client-facing design of veterinary care. In hospital design, mobile devices, AI transcription, cloud systems, online portals, and mobile payment tools are reshaping reception areas and exam rooms, allowing less fixed desk space and more direct clinician-client interaction. The same workflow logic is showing up in telehealth. In Australia, VetChat's 2025 report found only 13% of pet owners had tried veterinary telehealth, but 81% said they would consider it in the future, even as 1 in 6 said they had skipped needed veterinary care in the past year because of cost. The report also found 75% of veterinarians working in telehealth reported a positive or substantially positive impact on mental health, stress, and work enjoyment, suggesting digital care models may matter not just for access and convenience, but also for workforce sustainability when used within regulatory limits.

AI is also starting to touch parts of veterinary work beyond the exam room. Commentary from The Veterinary Viewfinder recently highlighted growing concern about AI's role in hiring, including automated screening and ranking of job candidates. That is still more discussion than settled practice in veterinary medicine, but it broadens the governance question: as clinics adopt AI across documentation, communication, scheduling, and potentially recruiting, oversight will need to cover employment workflows as well as clinical ones.

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the real story is the convergence of workforce strategy and technology strategy. Flexible scheduling, retention pressure, and affordability concerns are no longer separate management issues; they're increasingly connected to software choices, workflow design, and the ability to remove low-value administrative work from already stretched teams. Practices that can implement tools well may gain not just efficiency, but also recruiting and retention advantages. Practices that can't may find themselves competing for talent while still relying on systems that consume doctor and technician time. That's especially relevant as client financial limitations emerge as a stronger pressure point, because efficiency gains may become one of the few levers practices can pull without compromising care. And as more practices move from casual AI use to embedded workflows, the differentiator may be less whether they have AI than whether they have the training, ownership, and guardrails to use it safely and consistently. (globenewswire.com)

What to watch: The next important marker will be whether these adoption gains translate into durable improvements in staffing stability, morale, and access to care over the rest of 2026. Watch for follow-up survey data, case studies on AI scribes and cloud systems, and any guidance from major veterinary organizations on responsible AI use, training, and workflow governance. It will also be worth watching whether more practices formalize internal AI leadership, expand telehealth where regulations allow, and begin applying AI to nonclinical functions such as hiring and client communications with clearer policies around reliability, privacy, and accountability. (globenewswire.com)