What is Vet Data Standards?

An advocacy initiative encouraging veterinary software to adopt HL7 FHIR for portable patient record exports, so clinical histories can move cleanly between systems.

Is this a Vetrics product page?

No. Vet Data Standards is an industry advocacy site. Vetrics is listed because it already implements FHIR exports, and other products are welcome to join the directory.

Do practices need to understand FHIR technically?

No. Practices mainly need to know whether their software can export complete, structured, portable records - and whether those exports follow a recognised healthcare standard.

Open advocacy for veterinary interoperability

Veterinary data deserves a global standard

Human healthcare already speaks a common language for patient records. Veterinary medicine should too. Vet Data Standards advocates for FHIR adoption so clinical histories stay portable, structured, and under the practice's control.

See the standard Who supports it

The problem

Why it matters

Today, too many veterinary records are trapped in proprietary formats. That slows referrals, makes practice switches painful, and leaves years of clinical history at risk when a system changes.

Practices get locked in

When patient data only exports as a vendor-specific dump, changing practice management software becomes a multi-month data recovery project.

Referrals lose clinical context

Referral hospitals still receive fragmented PDFs and scanned notes instead of structured histories that arrive ready to use.

Clients expect continuity

Pet owners assume their animal's full history can move with them. Portability should be normal, not a special request.

The profession needs a shared baseline

Without a common export format, every migration, integration, and archive becomes a one-off engineering job.

The standard

What is FHIR?

FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is the international HL7 standard that hospitals and health systems use to share patient data safely and consistently.

You do not need to be a developer to benefit from it. FHIR simply means clinical records are structured, dated, linked, and portable - not dumped into a spreadsheet that only one system can read.

Veterinary extensions already exist for patient animals. That means the same global healthcare language can carry consultations, prescriptions, vaccinations, labs, procedures, allergies, vitals, documents, and images.

Healthcare-grade format

The same family of standards used by human hospitals worldwide.

Structured and linked

Entries keep dates, clinicians, and clinical context instead of flattening into free text.

Built for portability

Records can move between systems without starting clinical history from scratch.

Scorecard

What good looks like

Any veterinary system claiming FHIR-compatible exports should be able to meet this baseline. Use it as a scorecard for your current provider or your next one.

1
Structured clinical record
Consultations, prescriptions, vaccinations, lab results, procedures, allergies, and vitals - properly categorised and dated.
2
Readable PDF summary
A document any clinician can open, print, or email without special software.
3
Attached files and images
X-rays, lab reports, clinical photos, and uploaded documents travel with the record they belong to.
4
Complete manifest
A clear inventory of what is included, with checksums so nothing is silently lost in transit.

Who supports it

This directory lists products that already implement FHIR-based veterinary patient record exports. Vetrics is the first. The list is designed to grow as more vendors adopt the standard.

Vetrics

Founding implementer

Vetrics exports complete patient histories in FHIR - structured clinical records, a readable PDF summary, attached documents and images, and a verifiable manifest in a single download.

View exports

Your product next

Are you a PMS vendor shipping FHIR veterinary exports? Get listed.

Get listed

Take part

Join the standard

FHIR adoption gets stronger when practices ask for it and vendors ship it. Whether you build practice software or run a clinic, you can help move the industry forward.

For PMS vendors

Implement FHIR-based patient record exports, meet the checklist above, and ask to be listed as a supporter.

Get in touch

For veterinary practices

Ask your current provider whether they offer globally compatible FHIR exports - and what a migration would look like if they do not.

Email your provider a template