This release, originally scheduled for 2/18, has been delayed to 2/25.
🚀 New Features & Capabilities
Pet Insurance & Wellness Marketplace
This week, we're introducing a new option in Shepherd: pet insurance and wellness plans through our partner ViCoverage (powered by Vertical Insure).
Why we're offering this
We know that financial barriers often prevent clients from approving recommended care. When clients have coverage in place, they're more likely to say yes to treatments and stay on schedule with preventative care.
What this means for your team
There's nothing new for your staff to learn or manage. Clients can easily add coverage in a few clicks without external links or forms. That means fewer insurance conversations for your team and more time focused on patient care. VICoverage handles all enrollment and client support.
How it works
Your clients will see coverage options on invoices and in the pet portal. They can explore plans, enroll, or dismiss - entirely their choice.
This feature is automatically enabled, but it is easy to turn off if it is not something you want to offer.
Marketplace Enablement: Turn the Insurance & Wellness Marketplace on or off from Admin → Client Communications → Pet Portal → Insurance & Wellness Marketplace.
Provider Controls: Select which insurance and wellness providers are available to clients, with plan availability updating automatically based on your selections.
Pet Portal Access: When enabled, clients can access the marketplace directly from the Pet Portal.
Email Sharing Options: Clinics can share a direct marketplace link through client emails, including manual sends and invoice emails.
Live Plan Preview: Admins can preview exactly which plans clients will see based on current provider settings.
Real-Time Updates and Logging: Setting changes apply immediately and are recorded for audit visibility.
Learn more about the Insurance & Wellness Marketplace.
Billing | Finance Charges Now Available
Finance Charges are now available in Shepherd, giving practices flexible control over how overdue balances are managed. Located under Admin → Clinic Settings → Financial Settings → Finance Charges, this feature allows authorized users to configure and automate recurring charges based on defined rules.
Finance charges apply only to invoices created after the feature is enabled and are not applied retroactively.
What You Can Configure
Enable or disable finance charges at the clinic level
Choose a flat fee or percentage-based structure
Set a minimum balance threshold
Define a grace period based on invoice date
Select which invoice statuses can incur charges
Exclude specific client types
Optionally allow compounding on unpaid finance charge invoices
All configuration changes apply moving forward from the time they are updated.
How Finance Charges Work
When criteria are met, Shepherd automatically generates a separate Finance Charge invoice.
Each charge receives its own invoice number
The originating invoice is clearly referenced
Line item displays as Finance Charge Fee
Charges cannot be discounted or taxed
Invoices can be printed, emailed, downloaded, and paid like standard invoices
A dedicated Finance Charges sub-tab on the Invoices page allows easy filtering and management.
Statements & Reporting
Finance charges are fully integrated across the system:
Statements now include a Finance Charge column in aging balances
Finance charge invoices appear as their own line item on statements
Included in Invoice Summary, Invoice Line Items, Client, Accounts Receivable, and End of Day reports
Categorized separately for clear financial tracking
Finance Charges provide structured overdue balance management while maintaining transparency, flexibility, and reporting consistency. Learn more about Finance Charges in our Help Center.
Scheduling Templates | Provider-Based Configuration
We’ve enhanced Scheduling Templates to support more flexible, real-world scheduling patterns, including rotating provider schedules and holiday exceptions. Clinics can now choose whether templates are organized by day of the week or by provider, unlocking deeper customization without sacrificing existing safeguards.
What’s New
New “Define Templates By” Setting: Clinics can now choose to configure scheduling templates by Day or by Provider under Admin → Scheduling → Settings.
Provider-Based Templates: When enabled, templates are organized per provider, allowing schedules that vary week to week while following a defined recurrence pattern.
Advanced Recurrence Options for Providers: Provider templates support daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, annual, and custom recurrence patterns, including defined end conditions.
Holiday and Date Exclusions: Exclude one or more specific dates from an otherwise recurring template, such as holidays, while keeping the rest of the schedule intact.
Template Duplication: Duplicate existing templates across days or providers to reduce repetitive setup.
Calendar Overview: A new Calendar Overview modal provides a visual view of templates by week, with filtering by provider.
Hierarchy and Safeguards Maintained: Office hours, provider availability, and direct booking rules are always respected before templates are applied.
Why It Matters
Supports Complex Provider Schedules: Ideal for rotating, multi-week provider schedules that do not follow a simple day-based pattern.
Reduces Manual Adjustments: Date exclusions and template duplication minimize repetitive edits and workarounds.
Improves Accuracy and Control: Clear hierarchy rules ensure templates never override provider availability or clinic policies.
Enhances Visibility: Calendar and table improvements make it easier to understand and manage scheduling at scale.
Learn more about Scheduling Templates (Article Coming Soon!).
Wellness Plans | Closed Beta Now Expanding
We’re expanding our Wellness Plans closed beta and are looking for additional clinics to participate. This beta requires Shepherd Pay to be enabled. If your clinic is interested in joining, please complete the interest form below. A member of our team will follow up with next steps and eligibility details. Read more about Wellness Plans within Shepherd!
🛠️ Existing Feature Updates
Comprehensive SOAP | Sticky Tab Navigation
Comprehensive SOAP tabs now remain visible at the top of the page while scrolling, making it easier to move between sections without returning to the top of the note.
Inventory Management | Bulk Edit Inventory Status
You can now mass activate or deactivate inventory items directly within Bulk Edit. This enhancement makes it faster and easier to manage your inventory list - whether you’re launching new products, retiring seasonal items, or simply cleaning up outdated listings. With just a few clicks, you can:
Activate multiple items at once
Deactivate items in bulk
Keep your inventory organized and up to date
Manage availability exactly the way you prefer
This update helps you save time and maintain full control over your inventory without needing to edit items one by one.
Products | Custom Product ID
Custom Product ID is now available and searchable system-wide, with bulk edit and multisite support. Product category parents can now be updated, and inventory item names remain visible across tabs.
Reporting | Invoice Line Item Report Alignment Updates
We’ve enhanced the Invoice Line Item Report to better align with the Production Report, making financial reconciliation clearer and more intuitive.
Previously, the two reports relied on different value outputs, making it difficult to compare totals directly. With this update, users can now reconcile values across both reports without manual calculations.
What’s New
New Net Subtotal Total: A Net Subtotal value now appears in the totals section of the Invoice Line Item Report.
Located in the bottom right corner under the Production User columns
Calculated as Invoice Subtotal minus Discounts
Directly comparable to Net Production in the Production Report
Column Rename for Clarity:
“Subtotal” has been renamed to Inv. Subtotal
Improved Tooltips:
Inv. Subtotal tooltip clarifies that the value excludes discounts, includes returns, and is pre-tax
Net Subtotal tooltip explains that it reflects Invoice Subtotal minus discounts and aligns with Net Production in the Production Report
Learn more about the Invoice Line Item Report.
Reporting | Prescription Report Enhancements
We’ve updated the Prescription Report to improve compliance, clarify refill timeline logic, and provide greater visibility into prescription activity.
What’s New
Directions Column Added: A new Directions column now appears to the right of Quantity Dispensed. It displays up to 75 characters, shows the full text on hover, and displays a dash when no directions are recorded.
Updated Refill Date Logic: Time period filtering for refills now uses the Refill Completed Date. New prescriptions continue to use the original prescription date.
New Refill Date Columns: Refill Requested Date and Refill Approved Date have been added to the right of Refills Remaining.
Timeline Clarification Callout: A static information callout explains how date filtering is applied within the report.
Learn more about the Prescription Report.
Tasks | Filter by User Teams
User Teams now appear in the Assigned To filter, allowing you to quickly view tasks assigned to specific teams. Learn more about Tasks.
User Permissions | Product Lot Editing
We’ve added a new permission that separates product lot editing from core product configuration, giving clinics more precise control over inventory access.
What’s New
New Permission Added: Introduced Product Lots (Create, edit) to control who can create and edit lot information for controlled and vaccine products.
Existing Permission Unchanged: Create/Edit Products (Create, edit) continues to govern core product setup and editing.
Independent Assignment: Product and lot permissions can now be assigned separately within user roles.
Automatic Migration: Roles with Create/Edit Products are granted the new lot permission by default, with the option to adjust.
Scoped Editing Behavior: Users with only the Product Lots permission can edit lot details but cannot modify any other product information.
Learn more about User Permissions within Shepherd.
✨Shepherd AI Updates
SummarizeAI | We want to hear your thoughts!
What are your thoughts on the newest Shepherd AI offering designed to provide you with on-demand patient history summaries for quick reference in SOAPs or profiles, helping you catch up without scrolling? Let us know by filling out this quick survey.
Haven't had a chance to try it yet? Check out the video below and our Help Center for more information.
🧩Integrations & Data Connection Updates
Integrations | Antech V6 Healthtracks (Closed Beta)
Antech is retiring its current integration framework and transitioning all customers to its new V6 technology platform. As a result, all practices using the Antech or Heska integration will be required to move to Antech V6. In preparation for this change, we are launching the new Antech V6 Healthtracks integration in closed beta.
The V6 integration:
Unifies Antech Reference Laboratory and Heska workflows under Antech’s updated platform
Reflects Antech’s new Healthtracks branding within the ordering experience
Is delivered as a new, separate integration tile within Shepherd.
This will require mapping all new lab products when setting up the integration
Additional migration guidance and timelines will be shared directly with impacted clinics as the beta progresses toward general availability.
Interested in Joining the Beta?
If your clinic uses Antech or Heska and would like to participate in the Antech V6 beta, please complete the beta interest form. Our team will follow up with next steps and timing details.
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