Software for house-call, mobile and relief veterinarians

A clinic with six exam rooms runs on veterinary practice management software: records, inventory, the pharmacy, reminders. SoloWOS isn't that. It fits the vets who work outside a clinic's walls or across several of them: house-call and mobile practices, in-home end-of-life care, and relief veterinarians who fill shifts at other clinics as contractors. Their admin is scheduling around drive time, collecting before the visit, getting estimates and consents signed before they're in someone's living room, and invoicing clinics for shifts.

A house call, from booking to paid invoice

1. A client books from your Link in Bio page or your Google profile: a 60-minute "Wellness house call" or a 90-minute "In-home end-of-life visit", each with a 30-minute buffer for driving. Many families will call first for the second one, and your page can say so.
2. Booking questions do the dispatch work: address and gate code, how many pets and which species, whether there's parking for the van. Each meeting type takes up to 10 questions.
3. A deposit is charged at booking, for example $75 toward the house-call fee, refunded automatically if the client cancels at least 24 hours ahead (example numbers). For end-of-life visits you may prefer no deposit at all.
4. Your Google or Outlook calendar is connected, so a relief shift or a surgery morning blocks those hours on the booking page.
5. For a dental cleaning or a mass removal you'll do at a partner clinic, send the estimate as a proposal: exam, anesthesia, procedure and medications as line items, with a deposit percentage.
6. Anesthesia or euthanasia consent and your payment policy go out through E-Signatures. The owner signs from a phone the night before, so there's no paperwork at the worst moment.
7. After the visit, send the invoice with a pay link, and keep the medical record in your veterinary records software.

Relief work at other clinics

As a relief vet you're a contractor to each clinic. Send your rate sheet (full day, half day, emergency shifts, after-hours premium) as a proposal, the relief agreement for signature, and track each shift with Time Tracking or as a day-rate line. Invoice each clinic at the end of the week, and log license fees, DEA registration and CE in Expenses. Clinics may send you a 1099-NEC at year end, and the quarterly estimated taxes guide covers what you pay in the meantime.

A typical week

• Monday: a relief shift at a clinic 40 minutes away. The 10-hour day goes on the timer, and you note the miles for the mileage deduction.
• Tuesday: four house calls routed in one direction, each with a deposit paid at booking.
• Wednesday: a family books an in-home end-of-life visit for Thursday evening. The consent is signed Wednesday night.
• Thursday: an estimate for a dental cleaning goes out in the morning and is accepted by lunch, deposit paid.
• Friday: you invoice two clinics for the week's relief shifts, and last week's invoices show Paid.

All 13 tools, one by one

How a house-call or relief veterinarian can use each tool. Clinics with their own practice management system will use fewer of them.

• Link in Bio: your service area, house-call prices, a booking link for each visit type and a contact link for clinics that need relief coverage, on one page.
• Short Links: a QR code on the van door and your business card that opens the booking page; change the destination when your service area changes.
• Forms: a new-client form with each pet's name, species, age and previous clinic, and a relief request form for practice managers with dates and shift length.
• Scheduling: house-call meeting types with drive-time buffers, a deposit, a minimum notice, and booking questions for the address and gate code.
• Proposals: treatment estimates with exam, anesthesia and medication lines and a deposit, and your relief rate sheet for each new clinic.
• E-Signatures: anesthesia and euthanasia consent forms, your payment policy and the relief contract, each signed from a phone with an audit trail.
• Document Tracking: post-visit care sheets and your relief CV as tracked PDF links, so you know the owner or practice manager opened them.
• Screen Recording: a short screen video for clients who struggle with the booking page, showing how to pick a time and pay the deposit.
• Notes & Boards: a board of relief clinics and upcoming shifts, with notes on each clinic's software, parking and who to ask for the controlled-drug log.
• Time Tracking: relief shifts timed per clinic, then the unbilled hours added to that clinic's weekly invoice in one step.
• Invoicing: house-call invoices with a separate trip-fee line, and weekly relief invoices to each clinic with reminders 3 and 7 days past due.
• Expenses: van fuel and maintenance, drugs and supplies from your distributor, license and DEA fees, and CE, each with its receipt.
• Automations: a task to mail a sympathy card 3 days after an end-of-life visit is booked, and a follow-up email if a clinic hasn't accepted your rate sheet in 3 days.

Records and other rules, by state

HIPAA protects people's health information, so there's no Business Associate question for your patients' records. Records rules come from your state instead. California's Veterinary Medical Board, for example, says patient records, radiographs included, must be kept for three years after the last visit (16 CCR 2032.3). Other states set their own periods and rules on who can get a copy, so check with your state veterinary board. Whether you charge sales tax on food or preventives you sell depends on your state too.

SoloWOS isn't a medical records system. Keep records, radiographs and the controlled-drug log in your veterinary software, and use SoloWOS for bookings, signatures and billing.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

SoloWOS or PetDesk: which fits

PetDesk adds booking and client messaging on top of a clinic's practice management system, and Shepherd is that system. SoloWOS works without either, which is why it suits relief vets and small house-call practices.

• Choose Shepherd if you run a clinic, or a mobile practice that dispenses from the truck: records, inventory, payments and reminders in one system.
• Choose PetDesk if you already have a practice management system and want text reminders and online booking that write back to it.
• Choose SoloWOS if you're a relief vet billing clinics, or a small house-call practice that keeps records elsewhere and needs bookings with deposits, signed consents and invoices.

Prices and features checked on October 23, 2026 on each company's site.

Start with these three

Scheduling with drive-time buffers and a deposit, E-Signatures for consents and the payment policy, and Invoicing. Relief vets can swap Scheduling for Time Tracking.

Free tools that help

• Mileage deduction calculator for house-call routes and drives to relief shifts.
• Freelance day rate calculator to set a relief day rate from the income you need.
• Self-employment tax calculator for relief income paid on a 1099.
• Invoice late fee calculator for clinics that pay relief invoices late.

What SoloWOS won't do for a veterinarian

• No medical records, SOAP notes, lab integrations or radiograph storage.
• No inventory, pharmacy, controlled-drug log or refill requests.
• No text reminders or two-way texting.
• No wellness plans that charge a card each month; a repeating invoice goes out and the client pays it.
• One client per slot, so no vaccine clinic days with capacity limits.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.