AVImark Alternatives: Modern Replacements for a Legacy PIMS
AVImark has been a fixture in U.S. small-animal clinics for thirty years. It still runs thousands of practices. But active development has slowed under Covetrus, the interface is showing its age, and the server-based architecture limits what you can bolt onto it.
If you're shopping replacements, here's the short list and the trade-offs.
Why clinics are leaving AVImark
- Slow feature velocity — modern features (online booking, ambient scribes, integrated payments) arrive late, if at all.
- Server maintenance and the IT contract that comes with it.
- Mobile and remote access workarounds (RDP, Citrix) that staff hate.
- Reporting requires exporting to Excel for anything beyond the basics.
The five real replacements
1. Shepherd
Built specifically for vets coming off AVImark and similar legacy PIMS. Fast charting, simpler workflows. Best for 1–4 doctor practices.
2. Provet Cloud
Cloud-native, modular, scales to multi-doctor and multi-site. Good migration support.
3. ezyVet
The "everything" option. Deep customization, strong reporting, higher price and learning curve. See ezyVet alternatives if you've already ruled it out.
4. Vetspire
Modern UX, strong analytics. Best fit for growing groups.
5. Chartling
AI-first clinic OS — ambient scribe writes the SOAP in 87 seconds, plus scheduling, invoicing, controlled substance logs. Drops documentation hours, not just digitizes them.
Migration: the AVImark-specific gotchas
- Treatment codes. AVImark's coding scheme is non-standard; budget a week to remap.
- Linked items. Multi-line treatments (surgery packs) need to be rebuilt in the new system.
- Document attachments. AVImark stores them as file paths; the migration tool may not bring the actual files.
- Vaccine reminders. Verify reminder rules carry over — clinics consistently lose reminders in this migration if they don't audit.
- Keep AVImark in read-only mode for 90 days post-cutover for chart lookup.
What to budget
$3,000–$8,000 for migration services depending on practice size, plus 6–10 weeks of staff time. Most vendors will rebate part of this — ask. Also see our full PIMS buyer's guide.
Or skip the migration weekend
Chartling can layer onto AVImark — the AI scribe drafts the SOAP and pushes it into your existing chart.
Try Chartling — No credit card required