{"id":784,"date":"2021-05-08T00:45:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T00:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/building-a-future-of-access-to-veterinary-care\/"},"modified":"2025-01-27T10:03:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T18:03:34","slug":"building-a-future-of-access-to-veterinary-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/blog\/building-a-future-of-access-to-veterinary-care\/","title":{"rendered":"How Telemedicine Expands Access to Care"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><\/center><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We have exciting news that has the potential <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">to positively impact animals and their guardians across California<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Part of the San Francisco SPCA&#8217;s <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/vision-2030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Vision 2030<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> is to ensure that all San Francisco pets and guardians have access to veterinary care by <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the year<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> 2030. This vision is more important than ever because the pet population is forecasted to continue growing in the coming years. As the pet population grows, America <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">is also facing<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> a growing shortage of veterinary care providers. Current projections suggest that 75 million pets in the United States will be without care by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We must seek ways to expand access to care now. One of the most efficient and effective ways <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">to do so<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> is by expanding veterinary telemedicine so that pets can receive care virtually. Veterinary telemedicine could allow more veterinarians to practice and open access to care for clients for whom transportation or in-person visits are extremely difficult or unaffordable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">California&#8217;s telemedicine laws are currently more restrictive than any other state <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">in the country<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. That needs to change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Earlier this week, on May 3, the SF SPCA filed a lawsuit against the California Veterinary Medical Board (a government agency responsible for licensing veterinarians) <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">with the hopes of expanding<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> access to telemedicine so that more animals can receive better care.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> We did this because we believe the restriction on veterinary telemedicine is an illegal violation of veterinarians&#8217; and clients&#8217; First Amendment rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We know that veterinary telemedicine works. Last year, you may remember that our Shelter Policy and Legal Services team worked to get the California Veterinary Medical Board to allow the use of telemedicine during the pandemic. Many other states loosened veterinary telemedicine restrictions as well. In Ontario, Canada, veterinarians have <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">been using<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> telemedicine successfully for three years. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In fact,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> telemedicine <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">is readily used<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to treat people, including nonverbal people and babies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Changing the current telemedicine regulations is one of the most impactful ways to address the growing access to care issue. Expanding veterinary telemedicine has the potential <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">to positively impact the lives of countless animals and humans alike<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and set a precedent for other states across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Thank you for your continued support as we work toward ensuring that all pets can receive the medical care that they deserve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dr. Jennifer Scarlett<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">President, San Francisco SPCA<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The San Francisco SPCA is a non-profit animal welfare organization that exists due to the generosity of its donors. Please consider <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/give-1\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=CX-telemedicine-blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">making a donation<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> today<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to help us continue our life-saving work.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have exciting news that has the potential to positively impact animals and their guardians across California. Part of the San Francisco SPCA&#8217;s Vision 2030 is to ensure that all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - 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