Process: capture of routine first opinion clinical data via electronic patient records held within veterinary clinic Practice Management Systems (PMS)

VetCOMPASS Animal Surveillance data
• only use clinical data
• does not capture owner details
• coded
• pet details included: species, breed, sex, neutered, colour, weight, chipped, insured, passported, partial postcode
• dates included: registration, birth, consult, deactivation
• treatment included: clinical notes, drugs dispensed, summary term

Aims of VetCOMPASS
• investigate the range and frequency of small animal health problems seen by general practice vets
• highlight major risk factors for these conditions
• disease surveillance
• quantify intervention effectiveness

Current progress
• piloted in a number of RxWorks practices
• now working with a number of practice groups
• ongoing recruitment of private practices
• working with other PMS systems
• about to pilot in other countries
• keen to collaborate with charities

Plans for the future
• recruit practices (individual, group, charity, emergency)
• publicise VetCOMPASS Animal Surveillance to vets and pet owners
• continue to expand on VetCOMPASS Animal Surveillance based studies

PhD Online surveillance: ‘Acquired and inherited disorders of dogs and cats’
The RSPCA has now sponsored a PhD investigation to investigate the levels of acquired and inherited disorders in dogs and cats in the UK. This will run from 2010-13 and will use data captured by VetCOMPASS Animal Surveillance to establish levels of specific disorders among the vet-visiting animal population. This will be the first large scale investigation into the prevalence of these conditions using primary practice information and should aid in disease control measures to reduce these conditions for the future.

Further Information 
1. VetCOMPASS veterinary Electronic Animal Record Disease Surveillance in Companion Animals in the UK. 2010 [cited 2011 27/01/2011]; Available from: http://www.rvc.ac.uk/VetCOMPASS/Index.cfm
2. The VeNom Coding Group. http://www.venomcoding.org. 2010.