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A veterinary data migration checklist has four parts: list every type of data your current system holds, export all of it, test the import on a copy before go-live, and check a sample of real patients afterwards. The aim is simple. No chart, balance, reminder or vaccine date gets lost or changed on the way.
In Ontario, there's one more thing. Your records have to stay compliant through the move: the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) expects them to stay complete, to keep original entries with an audit trail, and to be kept for five years after the last entry. So this checklist goes through the record rules first, then the data, then the steps.
Before you start: the record rules the migration must keep
A migration touches your legal records, so it has to respect the same rules as day-to-day charting. The CVO's Medical Records Professional Practice Standard sets out what a new system, and the move into it, must keep intact.
Records have to stay complete and accessible enough that another vet could pick up care. Updates must be dated and identifiable, with earlier content preserved, and changes need an audit trail showing the original, the author, and the date and time. You need safeguards against loss, damage and unauthorized access or disclosure. When a client or another vet asks, complete records go out within two business days. And everything is kept for five years after the last entry, then disposed of confidentially.
Because records must be kept for five years after the last entry, don't cancel your old system or delete its data until you have a complete, readable export you can produce on request.
Veterinary data migration checklist: what to export
Ask your current vendor for a full export, and find out exactly what's in it before you plan anything else. Every clinic's data is a little different, but these are the groups nearly every system holds:
| Data | Includes | Check after import |
|---|---|---|
| Clients | Names, phones, emails, addresses, communication consent | Counts match; no duplicates; consent flags kept |
| Patients | Species, breed, sex, birth date, microchip, alerts | Each patient linked to the right client |
| Medical history | SOAP notes, problems, lab results, attachments | Dates, authors and original wording intact |
| Vaccines | Products, dates given, due dates, rabies certificates | Due dates match the old system |
| Prescriptions and controlled drugs | Active prescriptions, refills, drug register | Refills remaining are correct |
| Reminders and recalls | Upcoming reminders by patient | Nothing due next month is missing |
| Appointments | Future bookings | Every future visit is on the new calendar |
| Financial | Open balances, deposits, credits, invoice history | Each client's balance matches to the cent |
| Inventory | Items, stock counts, lots, expiry dates, suppliers | Counts reconciled on go-live day |
The migration, step by step
1. Plan and map
- Name one person who owns the migration, and give them real time for it.
- Get the export and a written list of every file and field.
- Map old fields to new ones, and decide what happens to fields with no obvious home (often they become a note on the patient).
- Clean up obvious duplicates and inactive clients in the old system first, where your records policy allows.
- Pick a go-live date in a quiet week, away from holidays and the busy vaccine months.
2. Do a test run
Before the real move, import a recent copy of the data into the new system. Then ask a vet, a technician and someone from the front desk to each check ten patients they know well. Include the awkward ones: a complex case, a deceased patient, a client with an open balance. Write down every difference and fix the mapping before you go further.
3. Go-live
Freeze changes in the old system at a set time and take the final export. Import it, then compare totals for clients, patients, future appointments and open balances. Count controlled drugs and key inventory on the day and enter those counts. Keep the old system open read-only, because someone will need to look something up.
4. After go-live
- Check the first week's reminders before they go out.
- Spot-check charts every day for the first two weeks as patients come in.
- Store the final export somewhere secure that you'll still be able to open in five years.
- Agree in writing with the old vendor how and when your data will be deleted.
Privacy and security during the move
Export files hold every client's contact details, so treat them like the records they are. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada reminds businesses that they stay accountable for personal information they hand to a cloud provider. It suggests checking where data is stored, what access controls and logs exist, and how you get your data back and have it securely deleted when a contract ends.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security's baseline controls for small organizations add some practical habits: encrypted backups, restores you've actually tested, and two-step sign-in on cloud admin accounts. Don't email export files around. And when the migration's done, delete the working copies sitting on laptops.
If you are moving to PetGrid
PetGrid's import and export reads your old system's PDFs, photos and spreadsheets into rows that your staff review and approve before anything is saved. Later, you can download every report and the whole clinic as one ZIP. Notes in patient charts are never overwritten and keep an audit trail, as our patient records page describes, and the switching page explains how a move is run.
For the bigger picture, our guide to switching veterinary software without losing data covers planning the whole change.
Questions fréquentes
What data should a vet clinic migrate to new software?
Everything that makes up the medical record and the business: clients, patients, medical history, vaccines, prescriptions, reminders, future appointments, balances and inventory. Get a full export and a field list from your current vendor first.
How long must Ontario vets keep records after switching software?
Five years after the last entry, under the CVO medical records standard. Keep a complete, readable export of the old system for at least that long, and make sure you can produce it on request.
How do I check a veterinary data migration worked?
Compare totals for clients, patients, appointments and balances, then have staff check real patients they know, including complicated ones. Review the first reminders before they go out.
Should we clean up data before or after migration?
Before, where you can. Merging duplicates and fixing obvious errors in the old system means fewer problems to chase after the import, as long as you don't delete records you're required to keep.
Can we keep using the old system after go-live?
Keep it read-only for lookups for a while, but stop entering new data there. Two live systems lead to missed entries and records that disagree.
En bref
Work through this veterinary data migration checklist in order. Know the record rules, export everything, test on a copy, verify at go-live, and keep the old data for five years. If you're tempted to skip a step, don't let it be the test run. That's where you find the problems while they're still cheap to fix.
If PetGrid is on your shortlist, have a look at pricing and book a demo to walk through an import with your own data.
Voyez PetGrid dans votre propre clinique : la console, les brouillons de l'IA et l'application que reçoivent vos clients, avec vos propres données.
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