Looking ahead: what 2025 brings

In 2025, new regulations are changing the rules about how inventory is managed in veterinary practices. In accordance with the April 2025 version, detailed records of antibiotic use for small animals are required as of this year — and data must be reported to the “Herkunftssicherungs- und Informationssystem für Tiere” (Animal origin assurance and information system, HI-Tier) by January 2026. For now, there’s no guarantee of a deadline extension. Meanwhile, a separate amendment to the “Verordnung über tierärztliche Hausapotheken” (Veterinary Pharmacy Ordinance, TÄHAV) has already been passed and came into effect on January 1, 2025. This includes, among other things, a requirement to document the delivery and consumption of all prescription medicines by batch.

With new regulations coming into force, small animal vets can no longer afford to treat inventory management as an afterthought. At the same time, a well-run inventory system is key to a practice’s financial health, as my colleague Dr. Felix Ehrich recently explained. So I’d like to examine this topic from two perspectives today: how inventory management can slow down your practice, and how it can become a low-effort, low-stress routine.

Inventory management is not a popular topic

This is the reality I see in most practices I visit —  inventory management is an unpopular, time-consuming task. But since smooth workflows depend on the necessary medications being reliably restocked, the task is usually assigned to a well-organized colleague. That person spends hours getting the orders right. In many practices, the process still looks something like this:

Team members scribble drug names in the pharmacy order book, and then it’s a guessing game about which active ingredient strengths and which pack sizes should be ordered. Orders are placed via various supplier websites and over the phone, all of which takes time. When the goods arrive, it takes two days to put them away and enter them into the system by hand — all while juggling everyday tasks. But since treatments can’t wait, colleagues grab medicines straight from the box, and those never get entered into the system. That means the stock levels recorded in the system are quickly very different from the pharmacy’s actual stock. The result? You dread the year-end inventory — and desperately hope the pharmacy inspector skips your door this year.

Managing inventory is a time-consuming and frustrating task. But with modern practice software for your day-to-day inventory management, it can be so much easier.

Inventory management can be so easy

Time to throw out the order book. Now, anyone on the team can enter medication orders directly in the practice software, right from their desk. They simply select the correct product, along with the right active ingredient, strength and pack size, right on the spot. Notes can be added when ordering for a specific customer, and of course, they’ll appear again when the delivery arrives.

Those responsible for processing orders can see what their colleagues have added to the list. If minimum stock levels have been defined, good software adds items automatically. It also checks minimum order values and alerts users if they haven’t been reached. Once everything is set, orders can be submitted to multiple suppliers —  all with a single click.

Incoming goods, entered in minutes — fast, digital, and error-free

When the goods arrive, they’re entered in the system quickly and correctly. The program uses the electronic order as the basis for the goods receipt, so the software pulls the order data and generates a digital receipt automatically. You simply check what was delivered — no need to enter each product manually. For accurate batch tracking, we recommend using a barcode scanner.

It’s inventory management in minutes, an easy and simple side task. And most importantly, no more data entry errors.

The product catalogue: your new best friend

Modern practice management software helps automate antibiotic consumption quantity reporting, with most of the work being done in the background. All the necessary data is collected and just has to be submitted at the end. For easyVET, we use our mayBASE product catalogue to ensure up-to-date product info. Currently, the only thing easyVET users need to do to comply with small animal antibiotic reporting is use mayBASE. easyVET already records all the relevant data, and once reporting begins, the data can be submitted to HI-Tier through an interface. Of course, the system can only report what’s been entered, so accurate inventory management is essential and should be started now.