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Abstract A new strategy has been introduced in human health care, namely, achieving the best outcomes for the lowest cost and thus maximizing value for patients. In value-based care, the only true measures of quality are the outcomes that matter to patients. When outcomes are measured and reported, it fosters improvement and adoption of best practices, thus further improving outcomes. Understanding outcomes is central in providing value and represents an opportunity for redefining veterinary patient care. Value is created by improving the outcomes of patients with a particular clinical condition over the full cycle of care, which normally involves multiple specialties and care sites. To be successful, a key aspect of value based care is working as teams (integrated practice units) centered around the patient's clinical condition. As veterinary medicine has become more specialized and more complex, multidisciplinary communication and trust among the care team are paramount in providing value to patients (and clients). Use of patient-reported outcomes is an essential aspect for improving clinical care, because it enhances the connections among doctors and with patients. Designing and implementing owner-reported outcomes in veterinary clinical practice will lead to an understanding of the effects of treatments on outcomes and quality of life (QOL) of our patients from the owner's perspective, a key way to assess a veterinary patient's QOL.

The increasing demand for elephant healthcare in Thailand underscores the need for efficient resource management in veterinary hospitals. Treating sick elephants requires substantial medical inputs, and without accurate workload forecasting, hospitals risk shortages in staff, equipment, and medications, potentially compromising care quality. This study evaluated six time-series forecasting models— Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average and its seasonal model (ARIMA/SARIMA), Exponential Smoothing (ETS), Trigonometric, Box-Cox ARMA Trend Seasonality (TBATS), Neural Network Time Series Regression (NNTR), Prophet, and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost)—to predict monthly workloads at two major elephant hospitals: the National Elephant Institute (NEI) hospital in northern Thailand and the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) hospital in the northeast. Historical admission data spanning five years (NEI) and nine years (DLD) were analyzed. The ETS model achieved the highest accuracy at NEI, outperforming all other models by effectively capturing its stable and seasonal caseload patterns. In contrast, the NNTR model performed best at DLD, where it accommodated irregular fluctuations likely driven by external factors. Forecasts for 2025 suggested a consistent caseload at NEI (28–31 cases/month) and a declining trend at DLD, with the lowest projection in September. Although patient volume was low, each case demanded disproportionately high resources, justifying the need for anticipatory planning. This study provides the first demonstration that multi-model time-series forecasting can generate actionable insights using sparse, real-world data from wildlife hospitals. By embedding predictive analytics into routine operations, it offers a novel, scalable framework to support data-driven decision-making in endangered species care.

Background The societal value of cats, dogs and horses is high, and the companion and sport animal health care sector is growing. Clinical research concerning cats, dogs and horses is crucial for the development of evidence-based medical care that benefits animals and their owners, and has implications for human and environmental health from a One Health perspective. Basic information on companion animal and equine research enables more directed measures to improve conditions for research within the area. The aim of the present study was to describe Nordic companion animal and equine clinical research from 2010 to 2019, including bibliometrics, human resources and funding. Results There were 2 042 published research publications originating from Nordic countries on cats (n = 282), dogs (n = 1 086), and horses (n = 781) from 2010 to 2019. The majority (83%) of the publications came from the four Nordic universities with veterinary programs. Seven percent of the publications were collaborations between two or more Nordic universities. Approximately 18% of the PhD theses (178 out of 970) from veterinary faculties or corresponding units concerned these species, most of them dogs (n = 86), followed by horses (n = 64), cats (n = 15) or a combination of these species (n = 13). The scientific areas cardiology, infectious diseases, reproduction, and surgery were prominent for all three species. A large proportion of grants were received from small- to medium-sized funding bodies, mainly funding running costs and only to a limited degree salaries. During 2010–2019, costs for veterinary and other services for cats and dogs steadily increased. The growth of the veterinary healthcare sector was not reflected in an increasing number of clinical research publications, for which no increase was seen after 2014. Conclusions Despite a high societal value of the species, veterinary clinical research on sports and companion animals has not increased, in contrast to the veterinary healthcare sector. Activities stimulating the research area, e.g. funding bodies enabling coverage of salaries, are needed. The development of Nordic veterinary clinical care may benefit from strengthened research cooperation between countries.

This study examined the extent to which Danish veterinary practices encounter financially limited clients and how different factors relating to the animal, the client and the veterinarian affect decisions to provide treatment for these clients. 300 small animal practices were invited to participate in an online survey. 195 participated, giving a response rate of 65 per cent. The results show that Danish small animal veterinary practices encounter clients with limited finances regularly: 33.8 per cent of them 3–4 times, 24.6 per cent 5–10 times and 19.5 per cent 1–2 times a month. Only around 9 per cent reported having a written practice policy on handling financially limited clients. Factors affecting decisions to treat include the severity and type of the animal's condition, the medical care needed and the client's expressed emotions. The propensity to treat is significantly higher in female veterinarians and in situations involving unborn animals. The overall conclusion is that small animal veterinary practices often provide treatment to clients who are not able to pay—far beyond what is legally required. This can be considered a major economic and psychological challenge for the practising veterinarians.

The natural, accidental, or deliberate release of pathogens into livestock populations carries with it a range of consequences for society, from zoonotic disease outbreaks, to changes in food security and economic welfare. An important contribution to mitigating the risk ofdisease outbreaks comes from having well-prepared emergency response plans and agencies with the capacity to put those plans into operation. In the case ofanimal disease, national Veterinary Services (VS) take a central role. Unknown and uncertain events, such as if, when and where the next disease outbreak will occur makes economic decision-making a challenge. While the costs of preparing for emergencies can be quantified in a conventional manner, the scope, scale, and likelihood of benefits actually accruing are all subject to uncertainty. This study attempts to examine the costs and benefits ofpreparing national VS for animal disease emergencies, including natural, accidental, or deliberate release of pathogens. Data collected as part of the World Organisation for Animal Health’s Performance of VS program for countries in East and West Africa and South East Asia were used for estimating investment costs. A state-contingent approach is used to constrain the uncertainty space in terms of disease impact. The probability of a disease event occurring and the probability of that event being contained by emergency preparation are used to describe a frontier at which investment breaks-even in a variety of scenarios. An increased probability of breaking-even on investment was found with high livestock numbers per capita and increasing intensification in livestock production systems. The method and findings provide a means to understand the benefits of preparing for uncertain events and are aimed to further the dialogue around policy development for livestock disease emergencies in lower-income countries.