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16 INSIDE NAVC INSIDE NAVC Association (AVMA), the American Association of Veterinary State Boards, and the Veterinary Medical Association Executives are just a few of the organizations working collaboratively to address these concerns. Pet Owner Use of Telehealth In March 2017, the VIC conducted a telehealth survey of pet owners in the United States to better understand their perceptions and uses of telehealth tools. A total of 678 pet owners completed the 5-question survey; while the survey does not represent all pet owners, the results do give a sense of pet owners' attitudes. The charts show the results of the survey ( Figure 1 ). Unsurprisingly, most respondents have not used telehealth tools. What is surprising are the reasons for the lack of use. Roughly one-third of respondents said that they didn't know that telehealth tools existed. When that number is combined with the 26.4% who said that the tools are not available to them, more than 50% of pet owner respondents are not taking advantage of telehealth tools. Overall, the responses are clearly mixed. This could be because the market for telehealth tools is still nascent; the tools are being developed and awareness is growing, but they are not yet in widespread adoption. Our preliminary results show an appetite for telehealth tools, and that appetite is satisfied when pet owners are aware of where and when to use the tools. The pet owner survey will be conducted again in March 2018, and those results will be shared with the profession. WHAT'S NEXT FOR VETERINARY TELEHEALTH? We have not only learned that veterinary telehealth is coming but how it is coming. Telehealth tools reduce client wait times while increasing veterinarian revenue, all while operating within the confines of the VCPR. FIGURE 1. VIC telehealth survey of pet owners. QUESTION 1. Have you used a telehealth tool (eg, text, video consult via tablet or smartphone) to communicate remotely with a veterinary healthcare provider about your pet? QUESTION 2. If yes, what telehealth tool did you use? (Note: When respondents filled in the specific "other" category, most replied, "I don't use telehealth tools" or a similar statement.) QUESTION 3. Would you recommend to a friend that they use telehealth tools to communicate remotely with a veterinary healthcare provider about their pet? QUESTION 4. If you have not used a telehealth tool to communicate with a veterinary healthcare provider about your pet, how likely are you to do so in the future? QUESTION 5. Why or why not?