Pilot case study · May – July 2026 · Updated September 2026
The chronic-care data arrived by text, every week, without being chased
A six-doctor general practice in Colorado enrolled two chronic patients in Vigil in mid-May: an arthritis patient and a cat with IBD. Their owners log by plain SMS: no app, no portal, no password. Ten weeks later, here is what the practice knows that it otherwise wouldn't.
Every week
Both households have texted structured check-ins every single week since mid-June, zero missed weeks
100% by SMS
Every entry from the family the practice “could never reach by phone” arrived by text
$300
Medication failure surfaced by an owner's text. The vet saw it in Vigil before anyone told her
Case 1 · Arthritis
The $300 catch
In early June, the owner texted that a newly prescribed medication was badly tolerated, nausea for three days, and had been returned to the clinic. A $300 misfire.
The prescribing vet learned this from the owner's Vigil log, not from her own front desk: the return had been noted in-clinic but never relayed. She called the owner the same day to reset the treatment plan, instead of discovering it at the next recheck, weeks later.
Case 2 · IBD
The family phones couldn't reach
This household was the practice's hardest to reach: “we call, we text, they don't respond.” On a previous medication change they went dark for two weeks; the relapse was discovered late.
This time, on a steroid taper, the owner has texted an update every week: stool quality, appetite, no weight loss, even a photo for stool monitoring. Same owners, same phone. What changed was the channel: a one-line text reply instead of a call to return.
Ten weeks, as they happened
May 14
Both patients enrolled in the exam room, on the spot; owners were logging within days
Jun 2
Owner text surfaces the $300 medication failure; vet calls the owner that day
Mid-June
Weekly check-in cadence locks in for both households, unbroken since
Jul 21
Latest entries: both households logged the same Tuesday, unprompted
Since then · August and September 2026
Aug 27
A third practice, a 50-year independent, set up during a single call. Before the call ended, staff had enrolled a patient nobody asked them to, and that owner logged two entries within six minutes.
Aug 31
First paid terms: a specialist weight-management practice agreed paid terms in writing.
Sep 2
Vets now message owners from the record, and replies land beside the chart instead of in a text thread. A practice can text its own line and the entry charts under the vet's name.
Owners log by text or on the web, about half each. The ones who stick are the ones enrolled in the exam room; nothing sent home has ever converted.
What the practice side sees
- Owner enrollment in the room: enter their email, they accept on their phone, first entry before they leave
- The between-visit record as a chart, with the owner's original words kept beside every entry
- Trend summaries in SOAP format, ready before each recheck
- Message an owner from the record; the reply lands beside the chart, not in a text thread
- Alert thresholds you set yourself, so any alert carries your judgment. Owners are told “your vet set this,” never the app
- A weekly digest email of patients with new activity
- Photos attached to entries (stool, mobility, skin) where they help
- Text your own practice line and the entry charts under your name
See the live portal in 15 minutes
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Or email alexander@vigilpet.com
All figures from production logs of a live pilot (May 14 – July 21, 2026), reported without selection: the practice has two Vigil-enrolled patients, both shown here. Since that window, one of the two households paused texting at the end of July; the other has logged nearly every week through September. Practice count, terms, and the “since then” items are as of September 8, 2026, from the same production logs. Conditions supported today: diabetes, arthritis, IBD, seizures, IMHA, allergies, and weight management.