Special Orders

Created August 11, 2026

Responsible department: Inventory Management (Erica, Sonni)

Purpose

Our goal with special orders is to give doctors and clients access to exactly the medications, supplies, and diets a patient needs to receive great medicine, even when that product isn't something we normally stock or carry in regular treatment inventory across our hospitals. Special ordering lets us say yes to the best medical option for a patient rather than limiting care to what happens to already be on the shelf, while still keeping pricing reasonable and turnaround time as short as possible.

Context

What is a special order?

A special order is any medication, supply, diet, or piece of equipment that is not part of a hospital's standard stocked inventory or normal treatment regimen, and instead has to be sourced specifically for one patient, one client's request, or one boarding guest's needs.

When is it appropriate to place one?

A special order is appropriate any time:

• A doctor determines a patient's treatment plan calls for a product outside the hospital's normal formulary or stock.
• An exotic patient needs a medication, supply, or diet that falls outside typical dog/cat inventory.
• A client requests a specific product that a doctor has approved for their pet's care.

There's no fixed go-to vendor for special orders — whoever places the order should check price and availability across our distributors at the time of the request and choose whichever offers the best combination of the two (see Tools below for vendor references).

Terminologies

• Special order: A medication, supply, diet, or piece of equipment not part of standard hospital stock, ordered specifically for one patient, client, or boarding guest.
• Nonrefundable deposit: Full, upfront payment collected from the client for the cost of the special-order item, required before the order is placed. Because most special-order items can't be returned to the vendor once ordered, this payment is not refunded.
• Want/Backorder List: Each hospital's shared internal tracking spreadsheet. It includes a "Special Orders" tab visible to all hospital staff, showing date requested, item description, quantity, order date, ETA, and tracking information for every special order in progress.