# Clinic pilot readiness Platform operators should use the [controlled clinic pilot operations runbook](clinic-pilot-operations.md) to qualify, validate, support, and graduate each clinic consistently. OpenVPM is ready for a controlled, connected-mode clinic pilot. It should not yet be sold as a universal replacement for every veterinary workflow. This page defines the boundary so a clinic can make a clear decision before moving live work. ## Best fit today The strongest first pilots are companion-animal or house-call clinics that: - can use a connected browser on a computer, phone, or iPad; - chart one patient at a time; - are willing to run OpenVPM alongside their current PIMS for a short validation period; - can name one clinic owner and one day-to-day workflow champion; and - want scheduling, records, billing, client access, data ownership, and optional AI in one system. ## Capability boundary | Area | Status | What the clinic should expect | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Clients, patients, schedule, whiteboard, records, SOAP notes, vitals, vaccines, manual labs, inventory, invoices, and manual payments | Supported now | Use in a connected browser. Core clinic-day work is tenant scoped and role controlled. | | Phone and iPad use | Supported now while connected | Core clinic-day screens are responsive. Server-saved drafts can recover. Optional offline features require separate browser/device acceptance and trusted-device agreement. | | Client portal and appointment requests | Supported now | Clinics review and accept appointment requests. This is not unrestricted instant booking. | | Client card payments | Supported after setup | The clinic must complete its own Stripe Connect setup before pet-owner card payments can be enabled. | | Data import | Supported now for reviewed CSVs | Administrators can dry-run and then import clients, patients, vaccine history, and visit notes. Imports are additive and tenant scoped. | | Export and backup | Supported now | Clinics can export CSVs and a full JSON backup. Hosted deployments also run managed backups. | | Hosted texting | Controlled pilot | SMS stays off until carrier registration, provider verification, consent workflow review, and an explicit clinic/location allowlist are complete. Email reminders can be used while texting is unavailable. | | Larger or unusual migrations | Assisted pilot | Appointment, invoice, attachment, or vendor-specific history migrations need an agreed mapping, sample validation, and secure transfer plan before a full move. | | Production multi-location rollout | Not supported | The current hosted pilot is one location. Multi-location data structures exist, but production operations have not been validated broadly enough to sell or depend on yet. | | Optional AI | Supported with review | AI can help draft or answer questions, but clinic staff remain responsible for clinical review and final records. | | Prepared offline charts and drafts | Optional, default-off pilot | Selected chart snapshots and existing-visit SOAP drafts can be encrypted on a trusted browser for up to 24 hours of offline authorization. Reconnect and explicitly save, review, and sign online. See the [offline acceptance runbook](testing/offline-workspace-acceptance.md). | | Full disconnected clinic operations | Not supported | New visits, prescribing, billing, signing, lab results, attachments, and the full application are outside the prepared offline workspace. Keep an agreed downtime procedure. | | Herd or group medicine | Not supported | Current records and billing are patient based. Herd quantities, group treatments, and production-animal workflows are not ready. | | Direct lab, distributor, reference, or legacy-PIMS integrations | Not supported | IDEXX, Antech, Zoetis, Vetcove, Rhapsody, e-prescribing, accounting sync, and similar vendor connections are not generally available today. | | Automated regulatory reporting | Not supported | Clinics must keep using their existing state and federal reporting process unless a specific integration has been validated. | ## Pilot launch path 1. **Confirm fit.** Agree on the clinic, location, users, devices, target workflow, and any capability that would block adoption. 2. **Start alongside.** Keep the current PIMS as the source of truth while the team completes guided setup and learns OpenVPM with sample data. 3. **Import a small real sample.** Dry-run a few clients and patients first, then vaccine and visit history. Resolve every unexpected match or skipped row before a larger import. 4. **Complete one real visit.** Book, check in, chart, record vitals, close out, invoice or document a no-charge reason, and verify the client handoff. 5. **Validate the edges.** Confirm roles, exports, appointment requests, payments, communications, an interrupted connection, and the clinic's rollback path. 6. **Run a pilot week.** Use the agreed workflow for at least five clinic days. Record friction and review it with the clinic champion each day. 7. **Make a go-live decision.** Move more work only after the clinic signs off on record accuracy, billing, team handoffs, support coverage, and data exit. ## Migration safety rules - Never send patient, client, financial, or credential data through a public issue or ordinary email attachment. Email support only to arrange an approved secure transfer method. - Use an administrator account for imports. Start with a small representative sample and always review the dry run before confirming. - Use the same migration source for every related file so external owner and patient IDs remain linked. - Keep the source export unchanged until the migration is accepted. Store the source file and import issue report according to the clinic's retention policy. - Compare source and destination counts, then spot-check active patients, inactive patients, duplicate names, missing emails, vaccines, and dated notes. - Agree on a cutoff time before the final import. Record any work entered in the old system after that time and reconcile it explicitly. - Export an OpenVPM backup after acceptance and before expanding the rollout. ## Go-live evidence The clinic owner and OpenVPM operator should record: - the supported workflow and location in scope; - the staff roles that were tested; - import counts, issues, and sample-validation results; - completed-visit and billing evidence using non-sensitive identifiers; - payment, booking, email, and SMS status; - backup/export confirmation; - known limitations and the rollback owner; and - the decision date and approvers. No single green dashboard makes a clinic ready. Readiness is the combination of working software, a validated clinic workflow, honest limits, recoverable data, and a team that knows what to do when something goes wrong.