The results are in! 

The results are in! The Clinician’s Brief team fielded our annual industry survey in March 2026 to collect market insights to help you keep a pulse on the animal health market and make data-informed decisions.

The survey was completed by 463 veterinary professionals, including 64 technicians (who answered a technician-specific set of questions), to provide comprehensive insights into the perceptions and preferences of the entire veterinary team. With the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) across all industries, we added several questions to this year’s survey to uncover how AI is impacting daily practice.

The goals of the survey were to:

• Identify how trends have changed since last year’s market survey
• Understand the differences between corporate and private practice preferences
• Uncover current clinic priorities and challenges
• Reveal the impact that AI is having on veterinary practices
• Discover how influential key opinion leaders are on veterinary professionals

Survey respondent breakdown by practice type:

• 51.5% in private practice
• 34.7% in corporate practice
• 7.9% in relief work
• 5.9% other

Survey respondent breakdown by job role:

• 52.8% Associate veterinarians
• 14.7% Practice owner/veterinarian
• 14.3% Veterinary technician
• 12.2% Relief veterinarian

Read on to discover the most crucial findings from this new industry research. We’ve paid special attention to uncovering what has changed (or not) since our last survey in April 2025 to help you keep a pulse on the most relevant and up-to-date trends.

The TLDR: Key Survey Highlights

Profitability remains paramount.
In 2025, profitability emerged as the #1 priority in veterinary practice. Economic uncertainty remains, and so does the focus on practice profitability for both corporate and private veterinary practices. For manufacturers and suppliers, the implication is clear: lead with ROI. In this climate, ROI doesn’t mean encouraging practices to raise prices to generate revenue. Instead, show practices how products and solutions that fit pet owners' budgets and deliver outcomes can drive direct revenue growth.

Care delivery is changing.
Financial headwinds, pet owner affordability challenges, and persistent staffing gaps are forcing practices to rethink operations from workflows to care delivery. Layered on top of these trends is growing unease around distribution consolidation. Those who sell products and services to veterinary professionals should be sensitive to this whirlwind of change. Those who adapt their offering and message to meet the moment have an opportunity to earn trust and business.

The path to the buyer is not direct.
You may have heard the saying, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” That’s definitely true in animal health. The path to the buyer requires a keen understanding of the journey, including the core stakeholders on the care team, who remain key to influencing purchase decisions. Sole decision-makers are increasingly rare, often causing longer sales cycles and increasing the need for manufacturers and suppliers to market to the entire veterinary staff.

AI is getting attention, but trust must be earned.
AI is generating buzz, but veterinarians are proceeding carefully. They’re adopting low-hanging-fruit technologies, such as AI-driven SOAP note tools, as they open their minds to efficiency opportunities. At this early stage, meaningful efficiency gains remain largely unrealized, and enthusiasm is tempered by skepticism until proof points emerge.

Education is the starting point for most buying journeys.
Veterinarians are looking for solutions to their problems, and their journey often begins with educational content rather than a visit to supplier websites. A strong content strategy is essential to influence veterinarians at the most crucial step in their buying journey, the first one.

The Survey Data

Practice priorities and challenges remain consistent year over year.

Top Priorities
The top priorities remain consistent from 2025, and the goals of corporate and private practices share the same top three priorities, with some nuance to the order:

Corporate practices:
#1 Improving workflows
#2 Improving practice profitability
#3 Hiring/growing staff

Private practices:
#1 Improving practice profitability
#2 Hiring/growing staff
#3 Improving workflows

Corporate practices are more concerned with improving workflows than private practices. This trend, following the consolidation boom, is logical as they adapt to unlock workflows that will bolster profitability.

Top Priorities
We asked veterinarians which challenges they have had MORE trouble with over the past 12 months. The top challenges remain consistent year over year from the 2025 survey. What was notable is that the top challenges cited below are even more difficult for corporate practices than private practices. The top challenges are

Corporate practices:
#1 Pet owner financial constraints
#2 Economic uncertainty
#3 Finding staff

Private practices:
#1 Economic uncertainty
#2 Pet owner financial constraints
#3 Finding staff

Despite improvements in the hiring market, practices are still struggling more than last year to find staff. When asked which of the following ways veterinarians are making care more affordable, the top five responses were:

#1 Third-party financing (79%)
#2 Detailed written estimates before treatment (71%)
#3 Generic or compounded medications, where appropriate (62%)
#4 Pet insurance, actively promoting or helping clients enroll (55%)
#5 Tiered treatment options (good/better/best) (47%)

Veterinary perceptions of online pharmacies remain stable year over year, with most clinics reporting a negative impact on business from online pharmacies. The biggest change year over year is an increase from 13% of respondents in 2025 to 21% in 2026 who are “unsure” about online pharmacies’ impact. This could indicate a decrease in transparency about business performance metrics across the veterinary team.

Technology and AI adoption.

Cloud-based PIMS are on the rise.
Adoption of cloud-based practice management software continues to gain momentum. Below are the top 3 PIMS used by corporate and private practices.

Corporate practices:
#1 Avimark
#2 Cornerstone
#3 ezyVet

Private practices:
#1 Avimark
#2 Cornerstone
#3 Covetrus Pulse (formerly eVetPractice)

Client communication tool adoption improves.

In 2025, the #1 client communication tool was “none”. In 2026, “none” has moved to #2, and Plumb’s has jumped up the leaderboard to 3rd place, indicating increased adoption of client communication tools. 22% of respondents indicated that their practice has not yet adopted any communication tool. Notably, AllyDVM is more popular among corporate practices. The top 3 systems in use are:

#1 PetDesk
#2 None
#3 Plumb’s

VIN and Plumb’s hold strong as the leaders in point-of-care reference.
VIN and Plumb’s are far ahead of their third-closest competitor as daily reference tools. When asked to select all of the tools that they use at the point-of-care regularly, the response was telling:

#1 VIN 76%
#2 Plumb’s 74%
#3 Merck Veterinary Manual 17%

A cautious attitude towards AI.
As with most disruptive technology, animal health is cautiously watching how other industries fare with this new approach before jumping in with both feet. AI is a hot topic of conversation, but market adoption tells a story of caution. Only 26% of respondents are actively investing in and experimenting with AI, while the rest of the market is cautiously trying or sitting on the sidelines.

Corporate clinics’ aversion to AI is less than that of private practice. Only 4% of corporate clinics said they are not interested in AI, compared with 11% across all survey respondents.

Here’s the breakdown of AI adoption today:

• 26% Actively investing and experimenting
• 30% Cautiously trying AI for specific workflows
• 23% Waiting to see how the industry evolves
• 11% Are not interested in AI
• 10% Are unsure

Despite a slower adoption than in some industries, there has been a significant uptick in AI utilization from our 2025 survey. In 2025, 49% of practices had not integrated any AI tools, compared to 27% this year.

In 2025, only 22% were using AI-enabled medical records and SOAP notes. This year’s survey shows a major jump with 51% using AI-enabled medical records. Here are the top three tools respondents say they’re using in practice today:

#1 AI-enabled medical record and SOAP note creation (51%)
#2 To my knowledge, we have not integrated AI or machine learning technology into our practice yet (27%)
#3 Diagnostic assistance (16%)

Due to sluggish adoption, only 12% of respondents believe that AI tools are making their practice much more efficient. As the AI landscape evolves, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the role in our industry.

Trends in education and resources.

We asked veterinarians how they are learning about new products, and there were some noteworthy findings:

• Corporate practices have a slightly higher preference for live in-person events than private practices. This may be due to how the different practice types allocate budgets for CE-related travel, or due to economic constraints.
  
  
• In 2026, the popularity of media websites for product education and brand awareness grew by 21%, and emails/ newsletters also grew by 15% year over year. This shows the importance of brand presence on media websites used as daily reference tools.
  
  
• Facebook is king. Maybe you heard that Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, X, and TikTok had dethroned Facebook? It’s not the case. Facebook is preferred as a driver of education and brand awareness over Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, X, and TikTok combined. If you’ve been skipping out on Facebook, it might be time to re-engage.

Here are the top three ways practices are learning about new products:

#1 Media websites and/or virtual webinars through media outlets (77%)
#2 Emails and newsletters (56%)
#3 Live in-person events (54%)

We also asked veterinarians what kind of education they need most today. The responses between corporate and private practices remain consistent:

#1 CE-accredited programs
#2 Clinical education
#3 Specialty-specific education (eg, dermatology, surgery, oncology)

The top 10 topics that they want more content on are:
#1 Analgesia/anesthesia/anesthesiology/pain management
#2 Behavior/behavior-modifying drugs
#3 New drugs/updates
#4 Dermatology
#5 Cardiology/cardiorespiratory drugs
#6 Emergency medicine/critical care
#7 Dentistry/periodontology
#8 Endocrinology/metabolic diseases
#9 Ophthalmology
#10 Nutrition

Next, we asked which tools they use regularly for diagnostic and treatment information. Vin.com, cliniciansbrief.com, and plumbs.com / standards.vet continue to be the three most regularly used resources for diagnostic and treatment information. These three tools were also the top three that veterinarians trust for guidance when facing a complex clinical case.

Interestingly, corporate practices are more likely to use textbooks as a reference tool, while private practices are more likely to use plumbs.com / standards.vet.

When asked which resources are most influential in shaping medical practice standards, the top three resources were vin.com, cliniciansbrief.com, and aaha.org.

Most veterinarians access these digital resources on desktop machines (56%). Corporate practices are more likely to access information on smartphones, but tablet utilization remains low across both segments.

How influential are key opinion leaders?

This is the first year we’ve collected insights on key opinion leaders and influencers. We’ll keep a close eye on trends to provide any year-over-year comparison insights in 2027. 65% of veterinarians have some degree of trust in KOL recommendations:

• 21% High trust
• 41% Somewhat trust
• 33% Neutral
• 5% Little to no trust

While a large portion of respondents (47%) do not follow veterinary influencers or experts, those who do are influenced by recommendations at a clinical level, showing the value of a blended communication strategy. Influencer messaging reaches veterinarians primarily on Facebook, followed by Instagram and private Facebook groups.

We asked to what extent respondents trust product recommendations provided by veterinary KOLs or influencers and found that veterinarians are receptive to KOL product recommendations, but not reliant:

• 14% High trust
• 44% Somewhat trust
• 35% Neutral
• 7% Little to no trust

The evolution of buying behaviors.

The sole decision-maker returns to private practice in 2026. In private practice, sole decision-makers are up to 28%, up from 15% in 2025. Despite a big increase in sole decision-makers in corporate practice, they remain a rare breed.

Here’s the breakdown of how respondents identified their role in the decision-making process

Private practice:

• 31% Partial decision-maker
• 30% Influencer
• 11% No involvement
• 28% Sole decision-maker (up from 15% in 2025)

Corporate practice:

• 41% Partial decision-maker
• 34% Influencer
• 19% No involvement
• 6% Sole decision-maker (up from 1% in 2025)

In the survey, we asked veterinary professionals how they perceive veterinary technicians’ role in decision-making, and compared it to how technicians view their own influence. The results were eye-opening and consistent with 2025’s revelation: technicians don’t realize how much influence they have over buying decisions.

49% of veterinarians reported viewing technicians as influencers, compared with 29% of veterinary technicians identifying themselves as influencers. Indicating that veterinarians view the opinion of veterinary technicians with more weight than veterinary technicians view their own influence. A reminder to B2B veterinary marketers of the importance of marketing to technicians.

Scheduled in-office meetings remain the preferred method of communicating with sales representatives/ distributor representatives.

Also consistent with 2025’s survey is the split perception of the role that pet owners' requests for specific veterinary services, products, and/or medications have on purchase decisions. 37% say that pet owner requests do impact purchase decisions, 36% say no, and 27% aren’t sure.

Be present at every stage of the buying journey with Clinician’s Brief, your direct line to veterinarians.

As indicated by the survey, Clinician’s Brief is a strong and trusted brand both at the point of care and as a starting point for learning about new products and services. When they come to us for advice, we can help make sure you are part of the solution. Contact us today to get started or for more industry data and trends.