Home Forums Discussions Problems forum phobic

ok, i would really like to stay on top of things an benefit from the knowledge and experience of the rest of you, but when i go onto a forum like this (or others) i am totally overwhelmed.

i don't know how to begin to find out if my problems (lagging, crashing, hanging) have been discussed already.

or if my wishes (easier way to find out where scripts were sent, how to tell if there are already active messages in someone elses inbox, easier way to combine multiple messages than cut and paste) have already been wished.

and i don't want to be one of those noobs that comes on and discusses stuff that is soooooo old news.

so, any advice?
thanks
-tac

Well, since you have already identified yourself as a noob....take the plung and ask questions. If there is a thread about it , we'll tell you.

And Welcome to the AC Boards!

There are a couple things you can do.

I agree with Wayne, just plunge and ask the question. There truly is no stupid question.

The other is that you can do a search. Be broad, search "hanging" or "messages" and they may give you the answer. If you don't keep up with the board, sometimes these things were discussed very recently. While you might be new, a lot of things may have been recent additions.

Again, Welcome to the Boards.

this forum is one of the many "best" things about AC

Try and get help with ChartLink and anything from CPSI, for example.

Speaking with other physicians at meetings, it seems that however high the frustration level may be with AC, it is far worse with anything else.

I am getting used to the world of electronic medical records, and I certainly see some benefits. Overall, though -- at least for a solo practice -- it is hard to see what problem it is solving.

Tac,
I fully agree with what you have read above. The search function for the forum is not the most robust (in fact,I find it down right annoying) but it is worth a try. Otherwise it is a good idea to spend a few minutes browsing recent topics to see if your issue has been discussed. Having said that, you should feel free to just jump right with your thoughts.
Lagging, crashing, and hanging have all been discused at length, but feel free to mention your own specific issues to get some recommendations. Posting your wishes will likely get a few votes of agreement, and maybe a suggestion of a workaround.

This is my cue to put another plug in for a "stickies" forum, where classic questions and answers can be saved forever by our famed forum mods. I have saved about 20 to cut & paste into responses for the repeated posts, if you need nominations. In exchange, I promise to use less quotes.

Bert? Wendell? Leslie?

Funny you should bring that up now...it was discussed (favorably) at Tahoe yesterday. I agree...they should set it up!

John,

This mat be something the users will have to create on their own. I will certainly nominate you to be one of 4-5 "taggers" who attach stickies to posts that then would allow them to be sorted into a FAQ. We have talked about it here in Tahoe

I am ready.

Great! Now to figure out how. I think JB. will help us

I obtained AC about a year ago. I have used it the least of all my staff, due to my inherent resistance to doing anything on a computer (I check emails maybe once a week; my keyboarding is painfully slow, and fraught with errors; I don't like to have errors or incompleteness in my work, so I labor on corrections, etc.).
However, we just laid the hammer down the first of Oct. for the meaningfull use 90 day gauntlet so I could recoup some of my investment sooner than later. So I have spent more time in front of the AC screen lately. Thus I somehow stumbled onto the User Board. I believe it was because I found a notice about a post from Bert on the part of the screen where it usually tells about insurance....? and I clicked on it. It took a couple of days for me to be "accepted", and for me to find out by checking my email; but here I am. This seemed to be an appropriate place for me to put my toes in the water.
I have told my Admin people about this resource. They have been actively chatting with AC people regarding issues we have been having with MU documentation.
I may not be back to the Board for awhile. It takes a long time for me to do this. But I wanted to raise my hand and say "Hi", and thanks for being there.

Marvin, Family Medicine, Cottonwood, AZ

tac, Marvin

Think of AC and this forum the same way they told you about how to learn to use a computer in the first place:

-- Turn it on and play with it. No matter what you do short of pouring orange juice into it, you cannot really hurt it. Make all the mistakes you want. I personally like having made several test patients to try every possible stupid trick on.

-- Your notes at first will be lousy. Big deal. At their worst, they will be good enough.

-- No one that deserves your respect will make fun of you for your areas of ignorance. We are all ignorant about something. There are those on this board who can converse in a computer language I cannot comprehend at all, but I bet I can at least match them acronym for acronym in helicopter aerodynamics.

-- You understood the Krebs cycle once upon a time. You can do this. We're just your study group, without the cold pizza.