Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Bulk-Add Patients to database

Good morning.

What is the easiest way to add about 1000 patient demographics to an existing database?

I am a solo practice, and initially added demographics from another system to a new database using the import function. The same modules warns that this is not the way to add to the existing database as it will over-write the existing. I am adding a provider and have the same availability of his patient demographics that I wish to add en mass.

Thanks.

Easiest way to add 1000 patients to an existing database is to pay someone to do this on your behalf.

Thanks.

Do you mean having someone key it in? Or someone who can get at the backend and squirt the data in? It just seems to me that since the Access database is already there, the import utility or some such should be able to just add electronic data, in csv or excel or whatever format. I looked at X-link but not sure if it's useful for this purpose, i.e. whether it has an universal interface coming out of it. Besides, $500 is need to activate the link in AC.

Have you tried doing it through your Access program? It'll take about 30 seconds...

Al

I would never recommend paying someone to rekey data. That take longer, be more error prone and probably cost more than paying someone with MSAccess database skills to just append the data into the AC demographics tables. I'm sure someone on this listserv could do it for $100 or so. You would need to know how to secure FTP your data. Possibly the AC team might do it as well but I wouldn't speak for them.

I guess I can just open the Demographics table and append data. I am just not sure if there are any caveats or if the autonumber PatientID is how everything else is linked.

you just have to line up the columns exactly, probably in MSexcel. make a copy of the access database file before you do your work. format of the fields may matter so make them match. work from the copy when doing the import. Make sure you have the minimum data fields required for a patient - sex, DOB, etc. a little more than 30 seconds to line up everything and do your checking but not by much if you are familiar with the work.

I know this answer, but how are you going to get to the demographics table?

OK, so here is a method you can try if nothing else works. It may seem complicated, but I think it is rather workable.

1. Copy the AC folder from the server to your workstation and put it on the C:\ drive (it could be anywhere, but that is the traditional place).
2. You should already have an AC folder on C:\Program Files\ with a clean AmazingCharts.mdb database.
3.Browse to that database by changing the path. This can be done with Amazing Utilities or by right clicking between the name of your practice and the phrase "Electronic Medical Record System" at the opening window. Upon opening, you will probably be required to enter your practice data but not your licensing. REMEMBER This is only temporary.
4. Import the demographics from your partner into Amazing Charts.
6. At that point, you will have your actual AC in the folder on the C: drive, and you will have a clean AC.mdb with new demographics in C:\Program Files\Amazing Charts. NOTE: The actual program is still on the server untouched. I certainly wouldn't do this with your only copy of Amazing Charts' being the one on your workstation on Drive C.
6. Browse to your full AC on the C:\ drive to AC.mdb so it opens AC there with all of your charts and demograpics, etc.
7. Go to admin, then sync and choose merge databases. Uncheck everything but charts on the left. Click on Sync. At this point all of the new demographics should be in your AC.

Both folders will have to contain the same versions so if the AC.mdb in the clean folder on Program Files is an older version, you will need to download a newer one.

Of course, you will want to look inside and see that all of the new demographics are there and that everything else is intact.

I actually made test Amazing Charts folders and tried this, and it worked fine. Disclaimer: I had one demographic in one chart and one in the other. It worked fine. But, I didn't do it with a full chart. But, I think given you can leave the "real" AC on the server, you could try it. It would only take about 20 minutes.

Eric, if I were to do it that way I will probably use an append query so that the data format stays intact. I still would worry about the data integrity, since I do not have all the information about what links to what, and merely adding entries to a table may not be enough if Jon has routines that establishes links to other tables. It would be different if demographics table stands alone, and everything else just references the patient ID.

Bert, thanks for your usual detailed explanations. This sounds like a much more official and safer way. At the end, if everyone looks intact, I presume that you would copy the full AC from C back onto the server?

Thank you all again.

But if you create a new database, won't you have 2 patients with 1001, 1002, ect. as a patient number?

How does AC reconcile this when it syncs?

Good point. I hope the new demographic data/patient ID won't over-write the old. It would not matter if the new ones get reassigned.

Yes, exactly.

The demographic/patient ID will not overwrite any data. Basically, from what I have been able to ascertain, the AC you are doing the syn from has precedence over the AC database that you are importing to it. This is true whether you are merging data or adding remote updates.

So, if your current database had its first four patients as 1000, 1001, 1002 and 1003 and the new database had the same, then if you went to the admin section of the current AC and updated from the new database, then the new databases 1000 through 1003 would become 1004 through 1007 and vice versa.

I believe if you do the syncing from within the current AC, you will be OK.

Personally, I would move the server folder to another computer and sync the database with the newly imported data over. Just play around with it until you know it is right.

What about the import demographics program in the administrative section.
You should be able to add patients like that after mapping the database with the import grid.

I stopped when I read the warning. Maybe the import function does work and it doesn't over-write the existing database.

Ummm...I would stick with the warning. After extensive research in my mini AC lab (three computer workgroup and VM), I discovered the following. First things to remember, the exported Excel file will always be saved to the database actually installed. (I always copy the folder after the first clean install to another location). This would be different if the computer to import from were on a different PC. Second, and this is huge, the Excel file has to have Sheet1 renamed from Demographics to Sheet1.

The current database will be overwritten entirely by the new imports. This is why the import function should only be used once. So, in my experiment (these always take at least 25 to 30 restarts and changes to the other folder), I found the following behavior.

Current Database:
1000 with progress note
1001 with progress note
1002 without Progress Note
All named with last name starting with "A" for simplicity.

New Database to be imported from:
1000 with progress note
1001 without progress note
1002 without progress note
All named with last name starting with "Z."

Mapped the database and imported:
All patients from the current database were GONE.
All patients from new database were imported but had IDs of 1003, 1004 and 1005. All progress notes were missing.

In actual new database, the three "Z" patients were still there and numbered 1000, 1001 and 1002 as expected with 1000 still with his progress note.

I believe this import feature is for importing demographics that one current has whether in AC or another EMR which can be exported to an .xls file or other. I think this is only to be used once.

I could be wrong, but this is what I discovered. You can experiment as you wish.

Both databases have to be the exact save version or at least have the same database structures.

Thank you very much for your further experimentation. I certainly do not want to overwrite progress notes.

Jon or your programming team, if you are listening, do you have any comments? It should take next to no effort to write an Append Query (or code) to append patents from a new table with no attachments (brand new patients exported from another program) to Demographics. As I said, the only question I had was whether there are other tables with links or fields to be created. If this function is added by your team, then all audit trails would be preserved. Is this functionality there? Planned? Condoned?

Thanks all.