CUSTOMER STORY ·
McQueen Veterinary Hospital
How McQueen Veterinary Hospital Opened Its New Clinic and Got Its Staff Up to Speed on Vetspire in the First Week
McQueen Veterinary Hospital opened in Oxford, Mississippi, in May 2026, and after two to three hours of training on Vetspire, its staff were up to speed by the end of the first week, with Dr. Lachlan McQueen, who used to chart until 8 p.m., now leaving at close with every note and discharge finished.
McQueen Veterinary Hospital is a dog and cat practice in Oxford, Mississippi, led by a board-certified canine and feline specialist. McQueen offers endoscopy, laparoscopy, and advanced diagnostics in-house. For local pet owners, that means skipping an hour-and-a-half drive to the nearest referral center.
Dr. Kelsey Hanson and her husband, Dr. Lachlan McQueen, the specialist who leads the clinic, had owned a practice in Oxford before. They sold it to a corporate group in 2021 and opened McQueen as an independent clinic in May 2026 to run a clinic their own way. Every visit at McQueen is built around undivided attention for each client and small personal touches.
To run McQueen the way they wanted, Dr. Hanson needed software that was cloud-based, automated, and simple enough for everyone to use, and she tested several systems hands-on to find it.
She ended up choosing Vetspire, a cloud-based veterinary practice management system with AI built in. After two to three hours of training, staff were up to speed by the end of the first week. Dr. McQueen, the clinic’s veterinarian, now leaves at close with every note and discharge finished.
Finding Automated, Cloud-Based Software for a New Practice
Opening a new practice meant choosing software that could support the experience the founders wanted for their clients. At McQueen, there are no ringing phones in the lobby. A host greets each client at the door, makes them a coffee, draws their pet’s name on a vintage mirror in the exam room, and walks them to the car with an umbrella when it rains.
To make that work, Dr. Hanson wanted software that handled routine work on its own, like sending reminders and letting clients book their own appointments. That way, her team could spend their time on clients rather than on tasks a computer can just do. She wanted those features built in, to avoid paying for add-ons. Beyond that, the software had to run in the cloud so a remote receptionist could log in. Finally, she wanted charges bundled into packages, so staff wouldn’t miss a single charge when entering a surgery.
Her previous practice showed her what to avoid. Texting and online scheduling each ran on a separate tool, and her husband often stayed until 8 p.m. finishing records. Simple tasks like scheduling always took an extra step.
An Easy-to-Use System That Felt Familiar Right Away
Before Vetspire, Dr. Hanson started onboarding with two other systems.
“I started with Shepherd and onboarded with them about halfway. And then when I had to start putting the SOAPs together, I was like, ‘This is clicky and I don’t like this.’”
— Dr. Kelsey Hanson, Co-Owner, McQueen Veterinary Hospital
The clicks weren’t the only red flag. When Dr. Hanson pictured her husband using Shepherd every day, she knew it wouldn’t work. A system that made simple tasks feel complicated would never win him over. So she moved on and tried Digitail.
“My friend had Digitail or was getting Digitail, and I was like, ‘Okay, that was really automated. That one’s cool.’ I started onboarding with that one. And then that was messy. It just was kind of all over the place.”
— Dr. Kelsey Hanson, Co-Owner, McQueen Veterinary Hospital
Still searching, she asked for recommendations on Facebook. A Vetspire user at an urgent care facility offered to walk her through the platform over Zoom. After that hour-long walkthrough and a sales meeting, she decided to go ahead with Vetspire.
Why Vetspire: Automated, Easy to Use, and Familiar
Having already walked away from two systems, Dr. Hanson knew what she was looking for. Here’s what made Vetspire stand out:
- Automation: the first thing that won her over was how much Vetspire did on its own. Reminders went out automatically, and the AI took care of notes and discharges, something her husband especially liked.
- Packages: Vetspire was the only system she’d found that let her nest pick lists inside packages. Every possible charge for a surgery could live in one place, with staff picking what applied. For her, that was a really big deal.
- Ease and familiarity: Scheduling was easy to understand, she could customize a lot, and saved templates (macros) made surgery discharges easy to fill in. After ten years on Cornerstone, Vetspire felt the most familiar, comfortable and easy in a way the others weren’t.
Staff Up to Speed in a Week, Notes Done by Close, and Charges That Add Up
Up to Speed by the End of the First Week
Thankfully getting Vetspire up for her team was exceptionally faster than her path to finding it. It only took two or 3 hours to train her team. Dr. Hanson skimmed the online manual with them, covered the essentials, and let them learn by doing.
By the end of the clinic’s first week, the team was working on their own. With Vetspire built to be user-friendly, the clinic’s remote receptionist was up and running after a single two-hour Zoom training. Even Dr. McQueen, who couldn’t schedule an appointment after six to eight years on Cornerstone, now books his own appointments, follow-ups, and rechecks.
“I do think that overall it is one of the easiest softwares to use. And I think it’s a big deal that you don’t have to have additional services on top of it.”
— Dr. Kelsey Hanson, Co-Owner, McQueen Veterinary Hospital
Leaving at Close With Notes and Discharges Done
No vet should have to stay late just to finish notes and discharges. With Vetspire’s built-in AI Scribe, the team presses play during the visit, and the notes and discharge are written right into the record. There’s no copying and pasting from a separate tool, and every McQueen client now leaves with a discharge or gets one by email after the visit.
“When we were on Cornerstone, he (Dr. McQueen) would be at work till 8:00 doing his notes. Now, on Vetspire, he leaves when we close and his notes are done, the discharges are done.”
— Dr. Kelsey Hanson, Co-Owner, McQueen Veterinary Hospital
Online Booking Lets Clients Book Outside Clinic Hours in Under a Minute
Booking by phone takes time, and many pet owners only get around to it in the evening, after the clinic has closed. Without a way to book online, those appointments can easily slip away. Customer service expert Wendy Myers puts the average phone booking at about eight minutes. Online booking in Vetspire takes under one. Many clients book in the evening, at times like 8:30 or 10 p.m., long after the clinic closes, and Dr. Hanson believes, because of Vetspire, McQueen is able to capture visits that would otherwise wait for “I’ll call in the morning.”
Complete Charges and Books That Balance Every Day
As a business owner, Dr. Hanson counted missed charges among her biggest worries. Now, surgeries and procedures go in as packages, so she no longer has to go back and double-check them. Card payments are built into the system, too, so when she checks the books at the end of each day, they balance.
Text to Pay helps on weekends. When a client texts on a weekend morning because their dog vomited, she fills the medication, sends a text to pay, and leaves the meds outside once it’s paid. There’s nothing left to follow up on later in the week.
Opening a New Practice or Rethinking Your Current System?
Every hour your team spends wrestling with a new system is an hour taken from clients and patients. Vetspire is easy enough to learn on the job, so your staff can focus on care from the first week. Book a Vetspire demo to see how it fits your practice.