How to Evaluate In-Clinic Veterinary Diagnostic Equipment

The best veterinary analyzer is not the one with the longest test menu or the most polished demonstration. It is the system that produces clinically useful, reliable results at your actual volume—without creating an unsustainable workflow, service burden or cost per reportable result.

1. Define the clinical use case before comparing products

Begin with the tests and decisions that matter in your practice—not with a vendor’s product list. Review twelve months of send-out volume if available and identify where turnaround time, appointment flow or after-hours access changes patient management.

• Which tests are frequently sent to a reference laboratory?
• Which results would be more useful during the same visit?
• What species, sample types and clinical presentations dominate your volume?
• Which tests are urgent, and which can wait for a reference laboratory?
• What would the practice do differently if the result were available in minutes?

This creates a defensible test menu and prevents the purchase of capabilities that look impressive but will be used too infrequently to support their cost.

2. Establish your real baseline

Before requesting quotes, document current test counts, reference-laboratory charges, client prices, redraws, rejected samples, staff time and turnaround. Separate routine chemistry, CBC, urinalysis and specialized testing. Monthly averages alone can hide seasonal peaks and low-volume periods.

3. Evaluate analytical and clinical fit

Ask what species, sample types and analytes the system supports and what evidence supports those claims. Review measuring ranges, sample-volume requirements, interferences, flags, reference intervals and the procedure for results outside the reportable range. A result that requires frequent dilution, reruns or manual work may be less useful than the advertised runtime suggests.

For hematology, determine the differential capability, species validation, flagging behavior and circumstances that require a blood-smear review. For chemistry, compare the actual panel configurations you would use—not only the maximum analyte menu.

4. Compare workflow, not just runtime

“Time to result” is only one part of turnaround. Observe sample preparation, warming or centrifugation, pipetting, cartridge or rotor handling, data entry, result review, cleaning and waste disposal. Count the steps and identify where errors can occur.

• Can trained technicians operate the system consistently?
• How much sample is required, and how often are redraws likely?
• Can multiple samples be processed when demand peaks?
• Are results transferred into the PIMS, or manually re-entered?
• What happens when the internet, computer or analyzer is unavailable?

5. Build a quality plan before go-live

Point-of-care convenience does not remove laboratory responsibility. The American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology recommends a documented quality-management program covering personnel, procedures, instruments, reagents, quality control, recordkeeping and corrective action.

Before purchase, document the manufacturer’s calibration and control requirements, lot-change procedure, maintenance schedule, comparison process, staff competency plan and escalation rules. Ask who reviews control failures and how patient testing is handled while a problem is investigated.

6. Calculate total cost per reportable result

Do not compare a reference-laboratory fee with a reagent price. Include equipment or financing, consumables, controls, calibration materials, maintenance, service, connectivity, labor, waste, expired inventory and reruns. Then divide by results that were actually reportable—not tests initiated.

Our guide to hidden veterinary diagnostic-equipment costs provides a more detailed cost model.

7. Examine service, downtime and contract terms

Ask for the support workflow in writing: hours, response target, remote diagnostics, escalation path, replacement policy, loaner availability and responsibility for shipping. Model what one day and one week of downtime would cost in lost tests, staff workarounds and send-out fees.

Review the minimum term, volume commitment, price-adjustment language, exclusivity, early termination, end-of-term obligations and data access. The contract should match the economics used to justify the decision.

8. Run a structured in-practice evaluation

A demonstration shows that an instrument can run. An evaluation shows whether it fits your practice. Use a written protocol and include normal and abnormal samples across the species and use cases you expect. Compare results with an appropriate method, record flags and reruns, observe staff consistency and test the service process.

Related resources

• In-Clinic vs. Reference Lab Testing: Cost, Speed and Clinical Fit
• Veterinary Hematology Analyzers: What to Compare Before You Buy
• 20 Questions Before You Commit to a Diagnostic Platform

References

1. Flatland B, et al. ASVCP quality assurance guidelines for point-of-care testing in veterinary medicine. Veterinary Clinical Pathology. 2013.
2. American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology. Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standard Guidelines.
3. Velayudhan BT, Naikare HK. Point-of-Care Testing in Companion and Food Animal Disease Diagnostics. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2022.