LOS ANGELES, Jan. 1, 2024 – Airvet, the leading provider of pet telehealth services for employers, made history by becoming the first veterinary telehealth company to make a fully VCPR compliant remote diagnosis and written prescription in the state of California. By expanding its services beyond telehealth and into true telemedicine, Airvet continues to demonstrate its innovation in the pet care industry and its ongoing commitment to making pet care more accessible, affordable and convenient for tens of millions of pet families across the nation.
This telemedicine visit will be the first of many in the state of California as Assembly Bill 1399 is now in effect, granting veterinarians the legal right to virtually prescribe medications to pet parents. Prior to AB1399, veterinarians in California could conduct telehealth visits and evaluate a pet and recommend care, but were unable to prescribe medications. This milestone legislation will be especially impactful for California pet parents struggling to get convenient access to care. Some current barriers include living in remote or rural areas, mobility challenges, and the ongoing veterinary shortage.
Dr. Jeff Werber, Airvet’s Chief Veterinary Officer, was on-call New Year’s Eve and conducted the visit. “It’s an honor to be a part of this milestone in veterinary medicine. I have been working with pets and pet parents for 40 years and I am thrilled that California is finally recognizing the significant benefits of telemedicine for veterinary care.”
As pets continue to be recognized as key members of the family, employers are beginning to take note and expand their family benefits to include pet related benefits such as pet telehealth, pet insurance, pet bereavement leave, and even paw-ternity leave. Airvet partners with many of the country’s leading employers to offer telehealth as an employee benefit, including Adobe, Manulife, Ceridian and more. Virtual prescriptions are already available to Airvet’s consumer members and will soon be made available to employer members, too.
“The national shortage of veterinarians has made access to care challenging and telemedicine is a critical next step in providing comprehensive care to pet parents. California has taken an important step to increase access to care and we’re optimistic that the passage of AB1399 will influence more states to take action and pass similar legislation to make veterinary care more accessible for all of its residents. We are especially excited for what this change means in terms of how Airvet can deepen our existing relationships with California-based employers and new partnerships in 2024,” said Dan Lieberman, President of Airvet.
Reside in California? Get complimentary access to Airvet
For a limited time Airvet is offering California residents complimentary access to Airvet’s platform. To learn more, visit join.airvet.com/california and complete the form.
About Airvet
Founded in 2018, Airvet was built with a focus on modernizing the pet care experience and is the #1 rated pet telemedicine app in the App Store with over 7,400 reviews and a 4.9/5 star rating. As the nation’s largest and highest-rated pet telehealth company in the US and Canada, serving over 250,000+ pet families, Airvet provides 24/7 access to video visits and chats with thousands of licensed veterinarians and pet care providers, delivered as a highly valued employee benefit to companies like Adobe, Manulife, Eyemart Express, Ceridian and Rexford Industrial.
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