I have been having some conversations with Brian, and this is a very good idea and very doable. Again, it goes back to the and only greatest curve of all time the Bell-shaped curve much like another EMR I know uses. Certainly, it could be written so that any medication written and saved would have its four major components saved to an Access database. Part of the issue would be how would AC know which database to search when looking for a medication? Unless this was done manually.
If I were looking at this like a Vinny or any other programmer, I would ask what is it you exactly want it to do. In other words, when I look at the script writer, there are two ways a medication is presented for choosing from a database: First, when you type in a medication such as Diflucant, and you get to Di.... if that med has not been written in the past 54 times (ON THAT COMPUTER), then it will bring up the medication from the AmazingMeds database and give you all the medication formats on the left. So, it will say Diflucan tablets and Diflucan suspension. Clicking on these would give you the different strengths each comes in. Clicking on the strength places the medication (with its format) and the strength in line one. All other information must be entered either manually or from the dropdown box. I know everyone knows this; just wanted to be sure. Having the different formats and strengths come up anytime you choose a medication is very helpful. It's nice to know exactly what the medication comes in and then what strengths and not have to look it up.
Or is Brian and everyone talking about a medication autopopulating the script writer portion of the writer? So that when you type Cef....then Cefzil suspension 250 mg/5mL, 1 tsp po bid for ten days, Disp QS and no refils. This while it would be helpful, would be less like a database, as if you change the strength to 125 mg/5mL, then it would be saved, but the would it then be the medication brought up?
Paul quote:
"So althought she has never written Rx A for this patient, she has for someone else and so as she types the letters it gives her the options she used previously. So is this feature already "Half" there and will this impede or assist in fishishing the job and making it even better? Sounds like my Dr-X's personal Rx history folder might already be there in some form or another."
This is completely independent of the database. While the database never changes unless manually added to or deleted from or whatever, the scenario described by Paul is due to the registry. All prescriptions when saved then have their four components saved to the Windows Registry under AC and the user. Strangely enough, it used to be 54 entries, now it is 92? So, when a user starts to enter a medication, say Flovent, then if that user on THAT computer (registries only pertain to the computer it is on) has written a script for Flovent, then the last one written (most of the time) will then populate the entire script. Generally, you can use it, (much more so in adult medicine than in children due to weights). Ironically, even though if you wrote for MiraLax and wrote for 527 grams in the Dispensed field, the 527 grams would not be saved in the dropdown box as the dispensed field, refills fields and the sig fields are ALWAYS the same as far as what is there. The medication and their formats, however, do change based on what was written. So, while the last 92 medications, sigs, dispensed and refills are kept in the registry in a revolving first in, last out fashion and will be used to write medications, ONLY the medication itself will be changed in the dropdown lists.
Brian quote:
"AmazingMeds would get updated and overwritten. CustomMeds would be proprietary to you, but could also..."
When a new version comes out and you want to install it on the "server," your proprietary database would be just as much at risk if it were now part of the prgram since if there were code to allow the meds to go there, it would have to be there. I still don't quite understand the overwritten part. I would think that the entire folder would be saved, then the AC uninstalled and reinstalled (or you could reinstall over it), then add back your databases and dictionary files such as userdic.tlx, etc.
I hope I am helping. I'm just trying to make sure all of the information is out there. Finally, I am not sure how one would allow the registry to accept for entries, i.e. could it accept 500 entries instead of 92? I don't think it would be that bad if you copied a key from one computer to the next.
