There are a few things to know about microchips and HQ.
First, your clinic is welcome to use any chip you like with HQ.
Second, we have a special partnership with Petstablished and 24PetWatch, which entitles your clinic to two things: discounted chips and auto-registration.
Entering Chips
In Patient Flow, go to Exam > Update Animal to find the microchip provider field and select the provider. Then enter the chip number.
Entering a microchip numberOr, on the Patient Flow Surgery page, you can add the microchip number in the bottom right:
Adding the microchip in SurgeryFinally, you can enter a microchip number in Check In/Check Out by going to the animal’s appointment page and editing the information.
Entering an animal's microchip numberThe Email Field
The primary way an owner will be alerted is via email. That’s why it’s essential to have the correct email on file for every pet owner in HQ. Why do we do it this way?
-If no email address is input, the pet will still be registered, but the owner will not receive an email with pertinent information related to their registration.
-If no email address is input for a 24PetWatch chip, the owner can go to https://microchip.24petwatch.com/PreReg-PetOwner.aspx and register there. This will allow the owner to make changes to their phone number, mailing address, and email (should they get one at a later date) so they can always keep their account current.
Common Mistakes
Entering an incorrect chip number
We try to catch invalid chip numbers if the chip doesn’t conform to standard chip sequence formatting. However, chips are often not uniform, and we do not have all variations setup in our chip validator. If we do catch an error, an error message will be displayed that looks like this:
Invalid microchip alertOne helpful thing you can do is purchase a barcode scanner, insert your cursor in the chip field, and scan the barcode sticker with your scanner. This will auto-fill the chip number, which means you do not have to type it in. It’s a time saver and an error reducer. Any barcode scanner will work. You can find one on Amazon for $20.
Forgetting to enter the chip
We have built a feature in HQ where when you input a service item for a microchip; you are not able to checkout unless you insert a microchip. There is no way to disable this feature. If you do not wish for this feature to be applied to your clinic, you can choose this microchip item “Microchip (no chip number provided).”
Auto Registration Issues
There are a host of other issues that can occur during the registration process. It’s imperative that you check the HQ dashboard for any alert messages related to the previous day’s Petstablished and 24PetWatch chips. All error messages will be displayed here.
For further inquiries on failed microchip registration please contact the registry company and include the chip number:
For 24PetWatch chips you can email Sharon.Simas@pethealthinc.com
For Petstablished you can email Susan Eng susan@wagtopia.com.
Registering a chip that is already registered in 24PetWatch
If you try and register a chip that is already registered through 24PetWatch, you will receive an error message that lets you know the chip is already in the database. There is currently no way to enter the chip twice in HQ.
Microchip Tags
If your clinic utilizes 24 Pet Watch or Petstablished, you will notice Microchip tags next to the microchip number stating if the microchips are:
a. Registered:This tag means the microchip was successfully auto-registered by HQ:
b. Pending: This tag means the chip has not yet been auto-registered by HQ. You will see this tag on your current day’s microchips. Clinics who do not utilize either 24 Pet Watch or Petstablished will see the ‘Pending’ tag on their microchips, and they will not change to ‘registered’ or ‘failed.’ There is not an option to remove the pending tag manually.
c. Failed: This tag means there was an error regarding auto-registration, and your clinic should contact the support teams for either 24 Pet Watch or Petstablished:
For 24PetWatch chip errors, you can email Sharon.Simas@pethealthinc.com
For Petstablished chip errors, you can email Susan Eng susan@wagtopia.com
These tags will populate in patient flow, the animal’s history, and in both the appointment and treatment sheet tabs.
