HISA Record-Keeping for Attending Veterinarians: A Practical Compliance Guide

HISA record keeping is one of the most consequential compliance requirements in Thoroughbred racing today, and the weight of it falls almost entirely on attending veterinarians. Since the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority rules came into effect, any veterinarian who treats a Covered Horse has specific submission and documentation obligations — and the penalties for getting it wrong are not limited to the racetrack. HISA violations are treated as board violations in every state where the veterinarian is licensed.

For attending vets working racetrack, layup, or performance barns, HISA record keeping has gone from a new requirement to a routine part of every treatment. This guide covers what attending veterinarians actually need to submit, the record-keeping requirements behind those submissions, and how to build a workflow that meets HISA rules without turning every visit into an hour of paperwork.

What Is HISA and Who Does It Apply To?

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is the federal regulatory body that sets and enforces uniform anti-doping, medication control, and racetrack safety rules for Thoroughbred racing in the United States.

HISA record keeping applies to two groups:

• Covered Horses — Thoroughbreds participating in racing
• Covered Persons — trainers, owners, and any veterinarian licensed by a state racing commission who treats a Covered Horse

For attending vets, three things are true:

1. If you treat a Covered Horse, you must be registered with HISA as a Covered Person.
2. You are required to upload treatment records to the horse’s record in the HISA Portal.
3. These obligations exist whether you are the barn’s regular vet, a referral specialist, or an emergency replacement.

Registration with HISA is free, one-time, and done through the HISA registration portal. That is the easy part.

What Attending Veterinarians Must Submit

Under HISA rules, attending veterinarians are responsible for submitting treatment records for every examination, procedure, and medication given to a Covered Horse. The information expected in those submissions generally includes:

• The horse’s identification (HISA horse record)
• Date and time of treatment
• Diagnosis or reason for treatment — a diagnosis must be in the record before any medication is given
• Medication name, strength (mg/ml), dose in milligrams
• Route and location of injection
• Results of the physical examination supporting the treatment
• The treating veterinarian’s identity

If any piece of this is missing, the record is not compliant. Records cannot be altered after the fact, and state boards have broad discretion to examine any records they request — which is why electronic medical records with audit trails are generally preferred over paper. The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has made medical record keeping a focus in recent convention programming, reinforcing that these documentation standards are not unique to HISA — they reflect what state veterinary practice acts already require.

What Trainers and Responsible Persons Must Do

The rules distinguish between veterinary records (submitted to HISA by the attending vet) and trainer records (maintained by the trainer and produced on request).

This split matters for attending veterinarians because:

• Your records are sent directly to HISA — they travel with the horse when it is claimed or transferred.
• The trainer’s records are separate and only required to be maintained, not submitted. If you share a medication list or treatment summary with the trainer, that does not count as a HISA submission.
• If a horse is claimed, your veterinary records transfer automatically with the horse. Trainer records do not — they are transferred manually by the outgoing trainer within three days.

Understanding this split is important when clients ask, “Did you send that to HISA?” The answer for attending veterinarians is: yes, every treatment, to the horse’s HISA record.

The 5 Essential Rules of HISA Record Keeping

Regardless of which submission method you use, five principles make HISA record keeping substantially easier:

1. Document the Diagnosis Before the Treatment

Every medication entry must be supported by a diagnosis and physical exam findings. If the record cannot answer “why was this given,” it is not compliant. This is the single most common reason HISA records get flagged.

2. Use Specific Language, Not Shorthand

“Lameness” is not enough. “Grade 3/5 left front lameness with positive response to distal limb flexion” is defensible. Be as verbose as necessary — poor records are the gateway to more serious consequences in any board inquiry.

3. Never Alter a Record After It Is Requested

If a regulatory body or board has asked for records, the state of those records at the moment of the request is what must be produced. Electronic records with audit trails make this straightforward. Paper records with scribbled edits do not.

4. Include Client Authorization for Off-Label Use

In states like Texas, all off-label and compounded medications must be approved by the client and noted in the record. Following this practice nationally — regardless of state requirements — is good protection against future complaints.

5. Log Controlled Substances the Same Day, Not Weekly

Controlled drug logs maintained at the point of care are easier to defend in a DEA inspection than logs reconciled from memory at the end of the week. Cassadol includes controlled drug tracking built into the medical record so the log is captured as part of the visit, not as a separate task.

The Submission Methods HISA Accepts

Attending veterinarians can submit examination findings and treatment records to HISA through any of the following:

1. The HISA Portal directly — manually entering each record.
2. A software integration with HISA — where the practice management software sends records automatically in the HISA-mandated format.
3. Another method agreed with HISA.

For a busy ambulatory equine practice working multiple tracks, manual portal entry is workable but slow. Every treatment becomes a two-step process: record the treatment in the PIMS for billing and medical records, then re-enter it in the HISA Portal. For a vet doing twenty treatments a day on Covered Horses, that is hours of duplicate data entry per week.

This is where a HISA integration inside a practice management system changes the workflow.

How the Cassadol HISA Integration Works

Cassadol’s equine practice management software has a HISA integration built to eliminate dual entry for attending veterinarians who work with Covered Horses regularly:

• Enter medical records into Cassadol and the records will be sent to HISA in the format they mandate.
• Medical records captured while billing in Cassadol are sent to HISA, so there are no missed billings.
• HISA history is displayed inside Cassadol to verify records have been received by HISA.
• Detailed logs and confirmation receipts from HISA make it easy to track and audit billing and record-keeping processes.

For an attending vet managing Covered Horses across several trainers and facilities, this changes HISA record keeping from a nightly administrative task into a background process that runs automatically as part of ordinary medical record-keeping.

When an Attending Vet Does Not Need to Submit

Not every equine visit falls under HISA record keeping. The rules apply specifically to Covered Horses — Thoroughbreds actively in or being prepared for racing. For a mixed ambulatory practice that also treats sport horses, pleasure horses, and retirees, the HISA submission obligation only applies to the racing Thoroughbreds on the schedule.

That said, the record-keeping best practices — diagnosis before treatment, specific language, audit trails, no post-hoc alterations — apply to every equine medical record regardless of HISA status. State veterinary boards use the same standards whether the horse is a racehorse or a retired lesson horse.

What Happens When a Horse Is Claimed

Claiming is a common scenario that tests a practice’s HISA record keeping. The rules are specific:

• Veterinary records (submitted to HISA) transfer automatically with the horse to the new owner and trainer as soon as the Portal is updated.
• Trainer records transfer manually within three days of the claim.
• The new attending veterinarian gets access to the HISA-submitted history immediately.

For an attending vet, this means the records you submit during your time with a horse become part of that horse’s permanent HISA history — they travel to the next trainer, the next track, and the next vet. That is a strong argument for quality over quantity in every submission.

The Bottom Line on HISA Record Keeping

HISA record keeping is not going away. If anything, the scope of oversight and the speed of enforcement have increased since the rules took effect. For attending veterinarians who work with Covered Horses, the compliance load is real — but it is manageable with the right workflow.

The practices that handle HISA record keeping best treat it as a byproduct of good medical record-keeping rather than a separate compliance chore. Enter the record once, in the right system, with the right detail, and the submission is already done.

To see how Cassadol’s HISA integration fits into a mobile equine practice workflow, request a demo or explore our full list of integrations.

This article is written for informational purposes and does not constitute legal or regulatory advice. Attending veterinarians should consult HISA directly and their state veterinary board for current requirements specific to their jurisdiction.