vetof

Vetof is a proposed interoperability framework for veterinary medicine, aimed at standardizing the exchange of electronic health records, imaging data, laboratory results, and telemedicine notes across clinics, laboratories, and research institutions. The term is used in discussions about creating a cohesive data ecosystem that accommodates animal patients, owner information, and species-specific clinical concepts.

The idea behind vetof emerged in the veterinary informatics community in the early 2020s, as stakeholders sought to extend health information exchange practices beyond human medicine. Its proponents describe vetof as a veterinary-oriented complement to general health IT standards, designed to handle species diversity, weight-based dosing, and owner-reported data while enabling cross-institutional data sharing and collaborative research.

A typical vetof data model would be modular and compatible with existing standards such as HL7 and FHIR, while incorporating veterinary-specific extensions. Core elements would include patient (animal) demographics, species and breed, owner contact, encounters, diagnoses, procedures, medications with dosage details, vaccinations, allergies, laboratory results, imaging, and outcomes. Privacy controls, consent management, and audit trails would be integral, reflecting ethical and regulatory considerations in veterinary practice.

Current status of vetof is exploratory. Several pilot projects and open-source initiatives exist, mainly within academic veterinary centers and informatics communities. There is no universal adoption, and implementations vary in scope and maturity. Ongoing development focuses on vocabulary standardization, governance, and alignment with existing health information exchanges to minimize disruption for practicing veterinarians.

See also: HL7, FHIR, veterinary informatics, health information exchange, veterinary telemedicine.