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Coming soon on October 3rd 2026...
Feature Enhancements
Better Visibility into Reminder Changes
Shepherd now gives a clearer picture of how Reminders change over time, across Patient History, Reminder configurations, and Activity History.
Patient History now distinguishes between Reminder changes made manually by staff and those Shepherd performs automatically — such as when a Prescription cancellation or SOAP Treatment reversal affects a Reminder — including whether the Reminder was removed or simply uncompleted.
Reminder configurations now display "(Inactive)" beside any deactivated Product, making it easy to spot Products tied to an existing setup that are no longer active.
Reminder Template Activity History now records more detail when Trigger Products are added, replaced, activated, deactivated, or removed.
Reversing a SOAP Treatment can produce a duplicate Uncompleted Reminder entry alongside the correct automatic entry. This does not indicate a manual action.
User & Team Tagging within Task Descriptions
Users can now @ tag individual users and User Teams directly within a Task Description. Tagged users receive a notification under My Profile → Notifications linking to the Task.
Tagging and Task assignment remain separate.
Tagging someone sends them a notification but does not assign the Task to them or cause the Task to appear in their Assigned to Me view.
If a staff member needs to own the Task and be notified about it, they should be both assigned and tagged.
Search Task Notes
Patient Lifecycle search now includes content from Task Notes, so Tasks can be found using keywords recorded in their Notes in addition to the existing title and description fields. Search is not case-sensitive and partial words work too. This does not change how Tasks or Task Notes are created or displayed.
Improved Time Clock Pay Period Activity History
Time Clock History now adjusts to the context being viewed. On the Pay Period list, history covers all pay periods for the selected year rather than defaulting to a single period. When viewing a specific pay period or timesheet, history is limited to that selection. This changes how history is filtered and displayed — not how activity is recorded.
Clearer Prescription & Refill Cancellation History
Cancellation notes now distinguish between cancelling the original Prescription and cancelling an individual Refill, with separate Prescription Cancel Note and Refill Cancel Note labels — for example, Refill Cancel Note – Refill 1 of 5.
Invoice History also now distinguishes between an Item being deliberately deleted and one removed automatically because its Prescription or Refill was cancelled. These changes are not retroactive — older records retain their previous wording.
Discharge Instructions for SOAP Prescription Refills
Discharge Instructions are now included when a SOAP Prescription is refilled on a later Invoice, carrying forward the instructions saved with the original SOAP medication. Instructions appear consistently across printed, emailed, and Pet Portal Invoices, controlled by the existing Include Discharge Instructions on Invoice setting.
Estimate Pricing Permission
A new Estimate Pricing (Update) permission can modify prices and discounts on Estimates, separate from Invoice pricing. Located under Admin → Users → Roles → Records, it covers minimum/maximum price and discount together. Users without it can still add items, adjust quantities and dosage details, and approve Estimates.
Action required: Clinic administrators should review their roles after this update. Roles that previously had Adjust Price receive Estimate Pricing automatically; roles that had Apply Discount but not Adjust Price will lose the ability to discount Estimates unless Estimate Pricing is granted.
Reporting Enhancements
End of Day Report — A new Filter By control lets you report Invoice Items by Administration Date (now the default) or Creation Date. Two columns have also been renamed: Paid → Amount Paid and Tax → Sales Tax.
Note: rerunning historical date ranges may show different totals with the new default.
Inventory Sales & Usage Report — Returns now appear in the reporting period they occur, even when there were no sales that period.
Patient Report — Generates significantly faster across large patient populations and longer date ranges.
Client Communication Report — Post-Visit Survey emails are now included, with a new filter to view them independently from other communication types.
QuickBooks Journal Entry Report — A new Filter By control offers Administration Date (now the default) or Creation Date.
Note: rerunning historical periods may show different totals with the new default.
Shepherd AI Enhancements
SummarizeAI's Lab Work view has been redesigned to make clear what AI has reviewed and what requires manual clinical review. Lab information is now organized into three distinct sections:
Integrated Lab Results (summarized from lab integrations, grouped by clinical category)
Notes (displayed as entered, not evaluated by AI)
Lab Documents (available for review but not interpreted by AI). Results outside their Reference Interval automatically expand for visibility, and terminology has been standardized around Reference Intervals rather than normal/abnormal language.
Integration Enhancements
Corrected Historical IDEXX Imaging Links
Historical IDEXX Imaging links in Shepherd have been updated from temporary viewer links to permanent WebPACS links, resolving the issue of links expiring over time. The permanent link is tied to the clinic that owns the images and their VetConnect Plus/WebPACS account — only the originating clinic can use it to view the X-rays.
This affects how IDEXX images are handled when sharing records externally:
Sending records to another clinic: The medical record can still be sent from Shepherd, but X-rays need to be sent separately through WebPACS so the receiving clinic can access and download the DICOM images.
Sending records to a client: The WebPACS link included in the exported record will not give the client access to the images.
Beta Integrations
SignalPET | Open Beta
SignalPET provides AI-powered veterinary radiology solutions that help veterinary teams interpret diagnostic imaging efficiently and confidently. By connecting imaging workflows with clinical software, SignalPET helps reduce manual steps, accelerate access to diagnostic insights, and support informed clinical decision-making. Learn more.