IDEXX Laboratories · Veterinary Tech · B2B SaaS
VMS18
Case Management
Gamifying specialist incentives to reduce turnaround times for veterinary clinics — and designing a premium case economy that made sure no case got left behind.
Context
Two platforms, one mission: better outcomes for animals
IDEXX's Telemedicine team owned two connected platforms: VetMedStat (the clinic-facing side) and VMS18 (the specialist-facing side). Veterinary clinics send radiographs, ECGs, ultrasounds, and other medical images to radiology and cardiology specialists via VetMedStat — who read, interpret, and report back through VMS18.
The faster specialists read cases, the faster clinics get results — and the faster animals get diagnosed and treated. The challenge was making that happen at scale during peak hours.
The Problem
Peak hours were creating dangerous backlogs
Clinics were waiting too long for results during high-volume periods. Specialists had capacity, but no real incentive to prioritize peak-hour reading. The core question: what would motivate specialists to read more cases when clinics needed them most?
- Increase specialist platform usage during peak times
- Reduce turnaround time for clinics to receive diagnostic results
The Pivot
Gamification — with a catch
The solution was a Premium Cases system: specialists could earn additional money per case point during peak hours. But a problem emerged quickly — if specialists could cherry-pick premium cases, regular cases would pile up.
The fix was to gamify the unlock mechanism. Specialists had to read a set number of non-premium cases before premium cases became available to them — ensuring even distribution across the full case queue while still providing a compelling financial incentive.
"We needed specialists to want to read more cases. But we also needed to make sure regular cases didn't get ignored in the rush for premium ones. The unlock system solved both problems at once."
The Final Design
A case dashboard with three states
The VMS18 case dashboard features a left-hand reading list showing available cases. The premium case system operates across three distinct states, each communicating clearly where the specialist stands:
State 1 — Premium cases unavailable
Premium cases are not yet active for the current time window. The dashboard communicates this clearly without confusion.
State 1: Premium cases are not yet active in this time window
State 2 — Premium cases locked
Premium cases are available but locked until the specialist reaches their case-point threshold — ensuring non-premium cases get read first and are distributed fairly.
State 2: Premium cases exist but are locked — read non-premium cases first to unlock
State 3 — Premium cases unlocked
Threshold reached. Premium cases — marked with a star — auto-feed into the reading list. Each case earns an additional $2.56 per case point on top of the base rate. The incentive is visible, clear, and motivating.
State 3: Premium cases unlocked — starred cases auto-feed in with per-case earnings displayed
Admin Configuration
Giving IDEXX admins full control
The premium case system needed to be configurable by IDEXX VetMedStat admins — setting the time windows when premium cases activate and the price per case point — without requiring an engineering ticket for every change.
Admin settings: configure premium case time windows and per-case pricing
Next Project
VetMedStat Admin →