I love reading Indy, Sandeep and James's posts. Talk about information overload (a good thing, not a criticism). I can barely stay with them.
I think merging two practices would be difficult, but I think it could be done. Patient ID's as James points out, would be the toughest. But, just like deciding whether to send a patient to urology or nephrology, you would have to decide whether to consult with AC or SQL. There is no doubt you would need a SQL expert who has a copy of AC (can be done) who could then merge them using a lot of scripts and planning. My guess is patients 1001 through 2001 in Office 2 could be instantly changed to 2002 through 3002.
Of course, you have to take into consideration the next database tuner and make sure everything is set up perfectly. But, I wouldn't give up until you tried it. But, you need a SQL Server expert with at least 10 Microsoft MVPs and certifications behind their name. What I have found with my SQL consultant is, after he looks at the situation, he is able to say one of two things. Yes, Bert, that can be done. Or, no Bert, there is no way to do that. It's that simple.
