As a veterinary professional, can I promote my services / HELPP profile page to generate more business?
Yes you can... in fact, we encourage it!
Currently we have two important tools to help you promote your own services:
1. As a registered veterinary professional on the HELPP Vet platform, you get assigned a unique URL based on the username you selected. PROMOTE THIS URL FAR AND WIDE and drive as many people as possible to your page to use your services.
Vet Profile Page...
2. To help promote your page, use the unique QR code on your HELPP Vet welcome page. Scroll over it, download it and use it on your social channels, emails and websites. Print it out and use it on all your marketing collateral. This will help drive people to your page and purchase your veterinary services.
Vet Welcome page...
We will continue to generate new assets to help you promote your veterinary services and drive more business. Watch this space!
As a veterinary professional providing advisory services on the HELPP Vet platform, how do I get paid?
We make payments directly to your nominated bank account via Stripe, 72 hours after your advisory consult*.
When you register with HELPP Vet we create a separate Stripe account for you behind the scenes - this is why we ask for so many details in the registration process (such as your ID, birthday and bank account details) - they are actually required by Stripe to help set up and validate your account.
The 72 hour period is used in case the animal owner you spoke to has an issue and requests a refund. They have 48 hours to ask for a refund, at which time we will contact you for feedback.
* Note, your first payment will be two weeks after your initial consult. This is a Stripe enforced rule, giving them time to confirm payments are secure and going to the correct place.
Is it true that the first minute of a call is free?
In certain instances, a veterinary professional and pet owner will quickly determine that they are not compatible, e.g. the language barrier is too great and you cannot understand each other.
HELPP Vet has therefore implemented a policy where charges for the call are only initiated once the conversation exceeds 60 seconds. We think that this is enough time to determine if there is a 'fit' or not, but it's not long enough for a veterinary professional to provide meaningful advice. We will review this policy over time and adjust if necessary.
As a veterinary professional registered on HELPP Vet, do I need to be GST registered?
As a contractor, in partnership or a company under New Zealand tax law, as soon as you think you'll earn more than $60,000 in 12 months, you must register for GST. When you register to join the HELPP Vet community, there will be a box to tick to select your option on this. You can alter this further down the line if it looks as though you will earn more than that benchmark of $60,000 in 12 months.
Will I need to have my own Professional Indemnity Insurance if I'm giving advice to pet owners through the HELPP Vet platform?
As veterinary professionals providing advice to pet owners through the HELPP Vet platform, we do require that you 1/ have your own Professional Indemnity Insurance, or 2/ agree that you will get this type of insurance in place. When you're in the business of providing advice or professional services to clients such as pet owners, Professional Indemnity insurance can help protect your bank account and reputation against a variety of common claims, including: Providing negligent or misleading advice. By taking out professional indemnity, you'll be protected if the worst happens and also get peace of mind when you're running your day-to-day advice sessions through HELPP Vet.
What if I am registered as a veterinarian in more than one country - can I add all registrations or only one?
Currently, the HELPP Vet registration procedure is that it only accepts one country of registration. We have it future development plans to allow the process to accept more than one country. The solution to this is if you have more than one country of registration, please choose your preferred country and then we recommend you add your details to your profile so the pet owners are aware of what you can offer.
Do I have to sign up to a minimum amount of available hours to give advice on the HELPP Vet platform?
The HELPP Vet team will always be pleased with whatever hours you decide to contract to through this advice service for animal owners. There is absolutely no minimum and you can change your hours around whenever you see fit through your profile page so these changes are reflected in when animal owners see you as available on the website.
Can I give a second opinion when the animal has already been seen by another veterinary professional?
Can I make notes on the advice session during/after my time with the animal owner and what happens to these?
We recommend that you do make notes on the HELPP Vet platform about the advice session that has taken place. You also have the ability to take screen shots of the animal and add these to your notes to try and give a complete summary of what has been discussed and advised. The animal owner has access to these notes through their login to the platform and is able to share these with their regular veterinarian to provide continuity of care.
Can I give advice to animal owners in the areas outside of where I am registered as a vet professional?
You are able to advise an animal owner on their animal's health outside the area where you are registered. For example, you may be registered in New Zealand and you agreed to give advice in Australia and the United Kingdom when you registered on the HELPP Vet platform. In this example, the platform will discover which country the animal owner is requiring your advice from. Your registration selection when you sign up will be applied to advise the platform whether you are referred to as an Animal Doctor (outside your registration area) or a Veterinarian (within your registration area). You don't need to do anything, the platform will figure out what's needed and apply it accordingly.
What happens if I need a break from providing advice through HELPP Vet?
At HELPP Vet, we understand that as a vet professional, you will have times when the hours that you have applied to your profile as available for animal owners will not be suitable 100% of the time. You may be going on holiday, have a family emergency or just simply want to step back for a while. This is, of course, all perfectly acceptable and we won't require you to ever do hours that don't suit your lifestyle and commitments. Please be relaxed about altering your availability according to what suits you.
What is the refund process for an animal owner?
There is a refund process in place at HELPP Vet and animal owners have 24 hours after the advice session to claim this. In every instance, the HELPP Vet team will look carefully into the circumstances and ask the veterinary professional for their point of view on how the advice session went. Please note that a refund will not be awarded simply because the animal owner disagreed with the advice of the veterinary professional and they maybe felt the session was a waste of time. To give you peace of mind, it's also important to note that the animal owner agrees to Terms and Conditions which state these points on refunds.
What's the difference between a veterinarian and an animal doctor?
You are able to advise an animal owner on their animal's health outside the area where you are registered. For example, you may be registered in New Zealand and you agreed to give advice in Australia and the United Kingdom when you registered on the HELPP Vet platform. In this example, the platform will discover which country the animal owner is requiring your advice from. Your registration selection when you sign up will be applied to advise the platform whether you are referred to as an Animal Doctor (outside your registration area) or a Veterinarian (within your registration area). You don't need to do anything, the platform will figure out what's needed and apply it accordingly.
How long does it take for me to get paid by HELPP Vet as a veterinary professional giving my advice services?
The very first time you give advice on the HELPP Vet platform to animal owners, your pay will hit your bank account in three weeks time. The reason for this time lag is that the secure payment platform we use, Stripe, must go through all its checks and balances to ensure all its secure boxes are ticked. After that, all your payments for your advice sessions will be deposited into your account three days after each session. This allows the 24 hours for the animal owner to make any refund requests.
How can I drive more animal owners to my profile and my advice service on the HELPP Vet platform?
When you register as a veterinary professional on HELPP Vet, you will receive your own unique URL and QR code. These are your very own marketing tools that you can add to your social media accounts, your comms with friends, family and your community. The HELPP Vet team has also collated a series of marketing tools for you such as pre-designed Instagram and Facebook posts and email templates. These are all available for your free use and we can share the Google Drive link with you to your Gmail address or Gmail enabled address. Please be reassured that the HELPP Vet team are also advertising its advice services through numerous platforms, but your efforts at promoting your profile will only serve to enhance your earning power. Have a chat with the team if you'd like some advice on this, we're happy to help!
How can I market my profile and my advice service on the HELPP Vet platform?
When you register as a veterinary professional on HELPP Vet, you will receive your own unique URL and QR code. These are your very own marketing tools that you can add to your social media accounts, your comms with friends, family and your community. The HELPP Vet team has also collated a series of marketing tools for you such as pre-designed Instagram and Facebook posts and email templates. These are all available for your free use and we can share the Google Drive link with you to your Gmail address or Gmail enabled address. Please be reassured that the HELPP Vet team are also advertising its advice services through numerous platforms, but your efforts at promoting your profile will only serve to enhance your earning power. Have a chat with the team if you'd like some advice on this, we're happy to help! We also have marketing packages on offer which you could sign up to for a small monthly fee. These could be suitable for you if a/ you simply don't have the time to think about marketing b/ you're unsure about this whole side of the Internet and need our skilled team to step in and help. Have a chat with us about what would work best for you.
Does HELPP Vet offer a service for veterinarian clinics?
The HELPP Vet team is investigating how the platform can benefit veterinarian clinics in the most helpful way. As an example, we have had inquiries from clinics that service a wide, geographical region with only a small number of veterinarians available. Please do get in touch with us if this sounds like your situation and we could have a solution-focused discussion. Currently we haven't trialed this but it is in our future plans moving forward.
I understand that the HELPP Vet platform has been developed for use on mobile phones. Can I use a laptop instead to undertake my advice session with the animal owner?
The HELPP Vet advice platform for animal owners is all currently based around the use of mobile phones. For example, the link that is generated when the animal owner requests to connect with a vet professional is sent to the mobile phone of the vet professional as a text message with a link included. HELPP Vet is now making changes to the platform to enable both a link to a mobile phone and a link to an email to be generated upon request by the animal owner. This will mean that the advice session can be done on a laptop as well as a mobile phone, but this is a future-focused feature. Mobile phones are the current mode of use for an advice session.
Can we set our own prices for our advice to the animal owner?
At this stage, HELPP Vet has set in place the advice session costs in chunks of time that all veterinary professionals on the platform will charge. One of our future-focused plans is to incorporate a booking system that you will have the choice of including against your profile on the platform for a small monthly fee. This will have the advantage of allowing you to schedule your times of work and also will allow you to choose what chunks of time and cost you allocate to each advice session. As an example, animal owners may connect with you for advice on a dietary change or a complicated health issue. This may take longer than the current time allocations as they sit within the HELPP Vet pricing system and so a booking system will benefit both you and the animal owner.
On the HELPP Vet platform, can I offer animal owners a booking system to connect with me?
One of our future-focused plans is to incorporate a booking system that you will have the choice of including against your profile on the platform for a small monthly fee. This will have the advantage of allowing you to schedule your times of work and also will allow you to choose what chunks of time and cost you allocate to each advice session. As an example, animal owners may connect with you for advice on a dietary change or a complicated health issue. This may take longer than the current time allocations as they sit within the HELPP Vet pricing system and so a booking system will benefit both you and the animal owner. Watch out for the constant changes and improvements being made to the platform that will benefit your service.