Here’s an apples-to-apples comparison between the advanced veterinary medical search tool Sofie and the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), based on survey responses by veterinarians and focus group findings collected by an impartial third party. Why are we sharing this information?
While Sofie and VIN are both veterinary medical search tools, Sofie is different from VIN in many significant ways. Yet we discovered that many veterinarians believe Sofie is the same as VIN. Given the importance of veterinary medical search tools in the daily diagnosis and treatment of patients, we felt it was important to clarify both the similarities and differences between Sofie and VIN.
Our clarification does not come as a criticism or recommendation against VIN, or any other veterinary medical search tool. (We want to make this perfectly clear.) We simply believe that having more information helps with decisions. To support this, we offer this clarification to show how Sofie, at the very least, serves as a complement to VIN.
To preserve their privacy, we kept the names of survey respondents confidential.
Let’s begin with one of the foremost questions asked by veterinarians.
How does Sofie’s Knowledge Base Compare to VIN?
Based on focus group research, veterinarians expressed satisfaction toward VIN’s peer-to-peer community forum for answers and assistance with cases. One respondent said, “I’m very new and not a lot of things are yet routine for me.” When stuck for time, the respondent said, “I will go to VIN before a textbook.”
Citing what they did not enjoy about VIN (or at least were cautious about), respondents identified user-experience, whether information may be current, the time involved to find information, and the subjective nature of VIN’s community forum. A few examples:
- “The VIN website is not very user-friendly.”
- “The downside is there is a lot of information to go through and you have to be careful because sometimes you’ll be going through something that is a lot older and maybe that’s not the best now.”
- “It becomes quite time-consuming. I don’t have time in the middle of my day to sit and read through everything.”
- “Have to take it with a grain of salt. If it’s from people I’ve worked with before and respect their opinion, I will value that more. But some people just want to share their opinions without being as knowledgeable.”
Sofie does not currently have a community forum. Sofie has an online knowledge base of over 40,000 pages of peer-reviewed, evidence-based reference materials from over 25 of the top veterinary textbooks, journal articles, and conference proceedings, accessible from any internet-enabled device, and Sofie is continually being updated with new veterinary medical content.
Sofie’s lack of a community forum appealed to many respondents:
- “Sofie is more efficient. I won’t get an individual opinion on Sofie.”
- “I use Sofie like Google—the search engine is really good.”
- “Speed at which you can get answers, and with LifeLearn Sofie, the comprehensive search function (get current peer-reviewed info quickly and get multiple pieces of info).”
The preferred speed and efficiency cited by respondents comes from what lies at the heart of Sofie—IBM Watson®, an innovative, cognitive computing system that uses augmented intelligence to rapidly search multiple sources at once and deliver information from Sofie’s vast information library, containing over $5000 worth of veterinary medical information.
In addition to searching by keywords as you would with other search engines, Sofie is also designed to respond to natural-language questions—just like you would ask a colleague—and delivers results based on context. This makes searching and finding answers quick and easy, whether you need:
- Drug formulary information
- Differential diagnoses
- Diagnostic algorithms
- Emergency treatments
- Surgical techniques
- Exotic animals
- Nutrition information
What About Client Education?
Sofie is a purpose-built search tool. For client education, LifeLearn provides ClientEd, a unique pet health education library designed to strengthen the veterinary team’s role as animal health educators and improve compliance. Organized into categories and searchable by keyword, ClientEd contains more than 2,100 pet health handouts that cover a wide range of topics and species (all written and reviewed by animal health and communication experts), and handouts can be emailed to clients or printed.
VIN similarly provides veterinarians and team members with access to pet health information (organized into categories and searchable by keyword) that can be emailed or printed through its client education website, Veterinary Partner.
What differentiates ClientEd is personalization and flexibility. For a nominal monthly cost of $64 (USD/CAD), ClientEd is available as a standalone resource or can be integrated into practice management software systems and websites (including WebDVM websites), which streamlines workflows. Practices can brand ClientEd handouts to enhance their connection with clients and marketing efforts, and veterinary team members can also edit ClientEd content and create their own handouts with information tailored to match a practice’s beliefs and health recommendations.
ClientEd also helps veterinary teams find trusted pet health information faster at the point of need with all-new features:
- Improved user interface and modern design
- Easier ability to edit, favorite, and identify new content
- Better content abilities and more Educator Resources
How Does Sofie Compare in Price?
Individual membership to VIN currently costs $65 per month (before taxes). Where Sofie was previously $44 per month, Sofie currently costs $79 per month, which is $14 above monthly VIN membership. Yet this marginal difference gives veterinarians access to all-new Sofie features, including:
- Vetcalculators—one-click access to drug dosage calculators, toxicity calculators, trauma triage scores, and more.
- New search filters for simpler, quicker navigation to specific information within Sofie.
- Updated synonyms and acronyms for more accurate and relevant results, and better user experience.
- New print and email functionality enabling users to share specific Sofie information with colleagues and team members.
- *One-click access to ClientEd to save time, support efficient client education, and improve compliance. (*ClientEd subscription required.)
- Favorites section and personalized article notes to bookmark frequently accessed Sofie information for time-savings and improved efficiency.
- New and updated content—including the updated version of the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Manual—to ensure you have the most accurate and relevant information at your fingertips.
What About Student Discounts?
Sofie and VIN support veterinary students in different ways. VIN supports new grads while Sofie supports veterinary students during studies.
- VIN offers membership to new veterinary school grads for $19.50 per month for the first 12 months after receiving their veterinary degree, and $39 per month for the second 12-month period. Compared to the regular cost of individual VIN membership over two years ($1,560), new grads save $858 but naturally must still pay $702.
- Sofie supports veterinary students during their studies at no cost. To help veterinary students, interns, and residents in their courses, case studies, and in-clinic work placements, Sofie is available here as a free subscription to any student currently enrolled in an accredited veterinary doctorate program. At Sofie’s individual user license cost of $79 per month over two years, that’s $1,896 in free value to support veterinary students in their studies.
What About Free Trials?
- Veterinarians can try Sofie free for 30 days to assess Sofie for themselves, and no credit card is required.
- VIN similarly offers a free 30-day trial membership, though it’s unclear whether a credit card may be required.
Final note: After hearing about Sofie, some focus group participants expressed skepticism by saying that Sofie “sounds too good to be true.”
We appreciate skepticism, which is why we encourage veterinarians to try Sofie for free and discover for themselves why veterinarians choose Sofie.
Questions? Concerns? We’re here with answers. Simply click here to request a chat.
