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Healthcare · head to head

Practice Fusion vs VIA Veterinary

Practice Fusion logo

Practice Fusion

Healthcare

Free cloud-based EHR for medical practices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VIA Veterinary logo

VIA Veterinary

Veterinary

Medically oriented veterinary practice management, now owned by Antech and Mars Veterinary Health

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Practice Fusion has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Practice Fusion cloud-based architecture requires constant internet connectivity; VIA Veterinary the vendor is owned by Mars Veterinary Health through Antech, the same group that owns Antech Diagnostics, Banfield and VCA, so a practice is buying its record system from its diagnostics supplier and its competitor in the consolidation market.
  • They diverge on capability: Practice Fusion covers Electronic Health Records, VIA Veterinary covers Clinical flowsheets.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Practice Fusion and VIA Veterinary actually diverge.

Attributes where Practice Fusion and VIA Veterinary differ
AttributePractice FusionVIA Veterinary
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWindows, Web, iPadOS
CategoryHealthcareVeterinary
Founded2005Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Practice Fusion

  • Electronic Health Records
  • e-Prescribing
  • Lab Orders
  • Patient Portal
  • Scheduling
  • Labs
  • Pharmacies
  • Imaging Centers

Only in VIA Veterinary

  • Clinical flowsheets
  • Integrated SOAP
  • DICOM imaging
  • Laboratory results
  • VIA Cloud
  • VIA Touch
  • Multi-site
  • Open standards integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Practice Fusion

  • Small to medium medical practicesnot VIA Veterinary
  • Primary care clinicsnot VIA Veterinary
  • Independent clinicians needing electronic chartingnot VIA Veterinary
  • Practice management and billing workflowsnot VIA Veterinary

VIA Veterinary

  • An emergency and critical care hospital that runs on treatment flowsheets and a live whiteboard rather than an appointment calendarnot Practice Fusion
  • A multi-doctor specialty referral practice needing DICOM imaging and lab results inside the medical recordnot Practice Fusion
  • A practice already committed to Antech diagnostics that wants first-party laboratory and imaging integrationnot Practice Fusion
  • A multi-site hospital group consolidating separate practice management installations onto one systemnot Practice Fusion

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Practice Fusion

  • Cloud-based architecture requires constant internet connectivity
  • Requires annual commitment for pricing

VIA Veterinary

  • The vendor is owned by Mars Veterinary Health through Antech, the same group that owns Antech Diagnostics, Banfield and VCA, so a practice is buying its record system from its diagnostics supplier and its competitor in the consolidation market.
  • No pricing is published at all, so licence, implementation, conversion, hardware and support costs all arrive through a sales process and cannot be compared against alternatives before you engage.
  • It remains substantially a Windows on-premises product with a cloud option layered on, so hardware, network and backup remain your operational problem in the traditional deployment.
  • Integration depth with IDEXX diagnostics is the obvious risk given the ownership, and a practice with in-house IDEXX analysers should test that path explicitly rather than assume parity with Antech.
  • The clinical emphasis means front-of-house and client engagement features, including online booking and marketing automation, tend to arrive through third-party integrations rather than natively.

Pricing, plan by plan

Practice Fusion

Free
  • Standard$199/month
    • Provider license with e-prescribing and chart signing
    • 3 signing staff licenses included
    • Unlimited non-signing staff licenses

VIA Veterinary

On request
  • VIA Veterinary$undefined/year
    • Pricing available only through a sales process
    • On-premises or VIA Cloud deployment
    • Implementation, data conversion and training quoted per hospital

Which should you pick?

Choose Practice Fusion if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want e-prescribing.
Practice Fusion review

Choose VIA Veterinary if

  • You need clinical flowsheets.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iPadOS.
  • You also want integrated soap.
VIA Veterinary review

Questions people ask

Is Practice Fusion or VIA Veterinary better?
Neither clearly leads. Practice Fusion starts at Free and VIA Veterinary at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Practice Fusion or VIA Veterinary?
Practice Fusion has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Practice Fusion and On request for VIA Veterinary.
Does Practice Fusion or VIA Veterinary run on more platforms?
Practice Fusion runs on Web, iOS, Android. VIA Veterinary runs on Windows, Web, iPadOS.
Can I use Practice Fusion for free?
Yes. Practice Fusion has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. VIA Veterinary starts at On request.
What is Practice Fusion best used for?
Practice Fusion is most often used for small to medium medical practices, primary care clinics, independent clinicians needing electronic charting, practice management and billing workflows. Of those, small to medium medical practices and primary care clinics are not what VIA Veterinary is typically brought in for.
What can Practice Fusion do that VIA Veterinary cannot?
Practice Fusion covers Electronic Health Records, e-Prescribing, Lab Orders, Patient Portal. VIA Veterinary covers Clinical flowsheets, Integrated SOAP, DICOM imaging, Laboratory results.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Practice Fusion: How much does Practice Fusion cost?

Practice Fusion starts at $199 per month per provider with an annual commitment required. The pricing includes 3 signing staff licenses and unlimited non-signing staff licenses.

Source
VIA Veterinary: Who owns VIA?

VIA Information Systems is an Antech company and part of Mars Veterinary Health, the group that also owns Antech Diagnostics, Banfield and VCA.

Practice Fusion: Does Practice Fusion offer a free trial?

Yes, Practice Fusion offers a complimentary 2-week trial with no commitment, no upfront costs, and no credit card required.

Source
VIA Veterinary: Is pricing published?

No. Licence, implementation, conversion and support costs come only through a sales process.

VIA Veterinary: Can it run in the cloud?

Yes, VIA Cloud is offered alongside traditional on-premises installation, with cloud backup included.

VIA Veterinary: What kind of practice is it built for?

Medically intensive practices: emergency, specialty, referral, equine and multi-doctor small animal hospitals where flowsheets and whiteboards drive the day.

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