General questions
What is the Pet Owner Portal?
The Pet Owner Portal is a secure, web-based portal that provides a practice's pet owners with 24/7 access to their pet's medical records, appointments, prescriptions, and reminders, all pulled directly from Instinct EMR.
Does the portal cost extra?
No. The portal is included in Instinct EMR costs at no additional charge.
Is the portal a mobile app?
No. It is a web-based portal that is mobile-responsive. Pet owners access it through their browser on any device—phone, tablet, or computer. No app download is needed.
How is this different from what staff sees in Instinct EMR?
Instinct EMR is practice-facing; staff use it to manage patient records and workflows. The portal is client-facing; pet owners use it to view their own pet's information. The data is the same, but the portal provides a secure, read-only window for clients.
What if multiple pet owners are attached to the same patient?
Each owner with an email address in Instinct EMR associated with a patient can access the Pet Owner Portal independently using their own email address.
What happens if the same email address is linked to multiple accounts in Instinct EMR?
The owner will see a "Multiple users found" message when attempting to sign in. Either the accounts need to be merged in Instinct EMR or the email needs to be removed from the other accounts in Instinct EMR.
Setup and configuration questions
How long does setup take?
Setup time varies depending on how much configuration the practice wants to do around document sharing and record visibility. Enabling the portal itself takes only a few minutes.
Can practices control which records pet owners see?
Yes. Practices can configure visibility for Chart Documents, Diagnostics and Imaging, Estimates, and Invoices. Individual document sharing can also be toggled on or off at the document level. See Medical Records in the Pet Owner Portal for details.
Can different locations have different portal settings?
Portal settings are configured per practice instance. If locations share an Instinct EMR database, they share one portal. If they have separate databases, each location gets its own portal.
Can a practice change its portal URL after setup?
No. Once the subdomain is set and saved, it cannot be changed through the portal settings. Contact support at [email protected] to request a subdomain change.
Who can access the Pet Owner Portal settings in Admin?
Staff with the admin_manage_pet_owner_portal permission can access and edit portal settings. Staff with the admin_view_pet_owner_portal permission can view the settings without making changes. Admin users change staff permissions by navigating to Admin → Practice → Staff → Manage Roles → Manage.
Still need help?
Contact support via live chat or email [email protected].