SAVSNET for veterinary practices

The Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) collects data from the electronic health records of companion animals. This data is de-identified and used for surveillance and research.

Currently, veterinary practices using either RoboVet (Vetsolutions, Covetrus Software Services) or Teleos Systems veterinary practice management systems are eligible to participate in SAVSNET. We're working to extend compliance with other practice management systems.

How does SAVSNET work with veterinary practices?

Over 500 veterinary practices across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have signed up to SAVSNET.

We collect data from animal’s electronic health records when they are seen at participating veterinary practices for a consultation. Veterinary practices who are part of SAVSNET display information in the waiting room, allowing owners to read about the project and decide whether they would like their pet’s information to be analysed for research. Owners can opt out on a consultation-by-consultation basis by simply telling their veterinary surgeon or nurse in the consultation.

Electronic health record data is submitted to SAVSNET through a window that appears at the end of a consultation, asking the veterinary surgeon or nurse to choose the main reason for the animal being brought to the veterinary practice. Some short multiple choice questions may follow which allow for more detailed information to be shared. On average, it takes veterinary surgeons and nurses just six seconds per consultation to record the information for SAVSNET.

You can see a preview of the SAVSNET window below.

You can see how SAVSNET is embedded into RoboVet practice management software in the following short video.

Why take part in SAVSNET?

SAVSNET relies on the valuable contributions of veterinary practices across the UK. By sharing clinical data, your practice will be directly supporting research aimed at understanding the causes, patterns and risk factors of companion animal diseases.

This information is essential for identifying emerging health threats, reducing disease risk, and improving clinical advice, treatment protocols and outcomes for companion animals. The data will help researchers to understand the reasons why animals are taken to veterinary practices and drive evidence-based improvements in companion animal health and welfare.

Benchmarking and clinical data research provide a tangible benefit to UK veterinary practice. In recognition of this, the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme awards points to practices that contribute clinical data to SAVSNET.

What do we collect?

We'll automatically collect the following types of information each time a vet from a participating practice sees a companion animal:

• Species, breed, age, sex, castration status and microchip number
• Weight and body condition score
• Vaccination history
• Clinical note free-text, summarising why your pet was brought to the vets (or visited by the vet)
• Items purchased, treatments given and drugs prescribed
• Insurance status
• Owner postcode
• Unique anonymised identification numbers assigned to you and your pets.

We will not record your name, address, or any payment details. Occasionally a vet may write names or addresses in your consultation notes, however the vast of majority of these are automatically removed by our software. No identifiers are ever used for our research.

How can owners opt out of SAVSNET?

Owners can request for data to be removed from SAVSNET retrospectively by completing our opt-out form. Veterinary practice staff can also complete this form on an owner’s behalf when requested. All requests to remove data will be actioned, unless data has been included in an active research dataset or already published, in which case the data will be used for no further research.