Specialist opinions
You can send a case to a board-certified specialist, who reads the whole case and writes back with what they would do. It is a paid remote opinion, arranged through Librevet: you keep the films, the plan and their reply together on the case, and nothing leaves the app.
This is not a video consult, and it is not owner-facing. It is one vet asking another vet a clinical question, in writing, about a case both of them can see.
How do I send a case to a specialist?
Two ways in, and they end up on the same screen.
From the case, which is the usual one:
- Open the case, or find it in your gallery.
- Click Send this case — the arrow on the case card, or the same button in the toolbar above the film.
- Choose A specialist, for an opinion.
- Pick the discipline, choose what you want (a full plan, or a full plan with 30-day follow-up), and say what you want to know.
- Pay, and the case goes out.
From the Specialists page, when you want to see who is available first: open Specialist opinions in the gallery sidebar and click Send a case for an opinion. It asks which case, and then you are on the same screen as step 4 above. Each specialist’s own listing also has an Ask button, which takes you there with that person already chosen.
Either way the case is the thing being sent, so you can only send a case you own. A case a colleague has shared with you cannot be sent for an opinion — make your own copy first if you need to.
The Specialists page is also just somewhere to look: who is listed, in which disciplines, what a certificate in each means, and what an opinion costs. Nothing there charges you until you reach the last screen and press Pay and send.
Who are the specialists?
Every specialist in the directory has applied to Librevet, uploaded proof of board certification, and been approved by us. The certificate is checked by a person; it is not a self-declared title.
What “board-certified” means depends on where they trained, and all of these are accepted:
- United States — a diplomate of the relevant American college (for example ACVS for surgery, ACVIM for internal medicine or neurology).
- Europe — a diplomate of the relevant European college (ECVS, ECVN, and so on).
- Australia and New Zealand — a Fellow of the ANZCVS in the relevant subject. Membership is not the same qualification and is not accepted.
The directory shows each specialist’s name, qualification, where they work if they have said, and the disciplines they take. Their certificate itself is private — only Librevet sees it.
What does it cost?
There are two things you can buy, both priced in US dollars for everybody, wherever you are:
- Full plan — they read the whole case and say what they would do differently, in enough detail to follow.
- Full plan with 30-day follow-up — the same, plus one round of questions back, and a look at any follow-up images or results you add within 30 days.
The current prices are shown before you pay, in the send dialog and in the directory. You pay when you send, and nothing is charged for browsing, asking who is available, or writing the question.
If nobody takes the case and you withdraw it, you are refunded in full.
Can it ever be free?
Yes, for one specific arrangement. A specialist hospital can name your practice as one of its referring vets and give you a number of consults a month at no charge — their specialists, their allowance, and it appears as a third destination in the send dialog alongside the pool and a named specialist.
It only appears if a hospital has actually named you. There is no general free tier, and nothing you can apply for here: the hospital sets it up at their end.
How long does it take?
Usually within hours, and within a day of a specialist taking the case on.
The clock starts when somebody claims the case, not when you send it. A case nobody has picked up yet is not late — it is waiting, and you can withdraw it at any point for a full refund.
If a specialist claims a case and then goes quiet, we chase them: one reminder when the promised turnaround passes, and a day after that the case is taken back off them — their access is revoked, and a pool case goes back into the pool for somebody else to claim.
Can I choose which specialist gets it?
Yes, but the default is faster.
By default the case goes to every approved specialist in that discipline at once, and the first one to claim it does the work. That is a race, and it exists so cases get looked at promptly.
You can instead name specific specialists — up to five at once. That is the slower path, because you are waiting on one person’s diary rather than on whoever is free, so it is the one you opt into rather than the default. Naming more than one buys more than one opinion, and is charged per specialist; the race is always a single opinion, because only one of them can win it.
What do I get back?
A written report on the case, in five named sections:
- What you see — the images and history they were given, and anything already measured on them
- Do you agree? — your diagnosis, and where they would differ
- What you would do — the plan itself
- One section that depends on the discipline — Implant and size for orthopaedic surgery, Approach and materials for soft tissue surgery, and so on
- Anything to watch for — complications, alternatives, and when to refer instead of advising
Only What you would do is compulsory; a specialist fills in the rest where they have something to say. They can attach a file as well.
The reply arrives as a thread on the case inside Librevet, and you are emailed to say it has landed. It is not sent by WhatsApp, Teams or any other consumer messaging app — a patient’s case does not go into one, and the confidentiality terms specialists sign say so.
What if there is nobody listed in the discipline I need?
The directory lists every discipline the app knows about, including the ones nobody has listed for yet, and says which is which. A discipline with no approved specialist cannot be sent to — you would be paying to put a case into an empty room — but it is shown rather than hidden, because “nobody has listed for this yet” and “Librevet does not do this” are not the same sentence.
We add specialists as they are approved.
Does the specialist see the whole case?
They see the films, the signalment and history you have entered, your plan and measurements, and the question you asked.
For a case sent to the pool, any approved specialist in that discipline can look at it until somebody claims it — that is deliberate, so nobody has to claim a case blind. Once it is claimed, everyone else loses access and only the specialist holding it can see it.
Can I ask follow-up questions?
On the full plan with 30-day follow-up, yes: one round of questions back on the same case, and they will look at any follow-up images or results you add within 30 days and say whether the plan was achieved.
On a plain full plan, the report is the deliverable.
How do I become a specialist myself?
Go to Settings → Specialist work. That is where you apply: you tick the disciplines you take, upload proof of board certification and a photograph, and agree to what a listing commits you to. Librevet approves listings by hand.
That screen is also a listed specialist’s own workspace — cases sent to you, cases waiting in the pool, and what you have earned. It is not where you buy an opinion on your own case; that is always done from the case itself.