Home Forums Discussions Problems Imported Items Load Time

I know this has been discussed over the years, but my search only pulls a few recent threads. Perhaps the old ones are gone.

The biggest day to day problem after upgrading to V8.2.5 is the I.I. load times over wireless on my laptop. I am getting the customary 4 seconds of load time when on Ethernet. I have a gigabit switch, Cat 6 cable, i7 4ghz processor and 16 gb of ram on the 'server' with an SSD drive.

However, laptop load time on wireless is often 30 SECONDS! It is so bad I can hardly use the chart. When I plug the laptop in, it improves. I am close to the router by about 20 feet, so I'm not that stupid. I am suspected interference on the wireless, but why would that pop up with the upgrade? Are there some SQL settings that need to be tweeked? Is there a way to block the dozen other WiFi signals the laptop sees?

Can you set up your wireless laptop so that is a Remote Desktop client of a wired machine?
That gives you the speed of wired and the flexibility of wireless -- at least in our office setup it makes the wireless machines as fast as sitting at the desk.

1. V8.3 is supposed to shorten load times for II
2. In addition, there should be a new feature whereby you can specify the AGE of the II you want opened, so if the II are large you can just open the past year's worth of items. This could be a big improvement for those with slow II opening.
3. You don't want to hear it, but getting rid of wireless would be a good idea.

Well, Jon, if that is true, it is good news.
For the long term, how about archiving older II?
In my PM program, you can send old info to archive, then it does not get tangled up in ones day to day work.

You can RDC to any computer on the network. You can RDC for any computer for that matter. But, I don't see how it is faster. Your wireless computer has to access the network somehow. It doesn't just remote through thin air to the wired computer. So, it still has to connect to the network via a wireless router or WAP. It's true that you are only controlling the mouse and the keyboard, but you have to get to the mouse and the keyboard via your wireless network.

Bert --
The wireless network imposes quite a significant delay compared with the wired network.

This is noticeable in opening and closing charts, but especially in loading "imported items". It is also sometimes a problem with writing prescriptions.

However, the amount of data passed by remote desktop is relatively insignificant because the data stays on the remote server and the client only gets screen updates, so the delay is almost unnoticeable. So if you remote to a wired desktop, you get the wired speed, and don't notice the tiny delay in remote access.

Yes, you can remote to any machine on the network (as long as it is running "pro" version of OS) -- but no one else can use that machine at the same time. In actual practice I use my office desktop (wired) as the Remote Desktop server, and walk around with the laptop as a client.

That is completely true.

1. Why did you ask the question, then, lol.

2. Why not set up a TS?

Well, this turned into an interesting discussion on wireless issues. What do you think about getting into the router to change channels to avoid interference?

My reception computer is wired, but it also is having trouble with I.I. and now, I am told, also lagging or freezing at other odd times - like opening demographics. Anyone seeing similar, or have a fix?

We do A LOT of labs all at once, so multiple labs are being loaded (HIV viral load, T-cells, CMP, CBC, RPR and lipids are our normal labs). It can take 45-60 seconds OR MORE to open. Fast/wired connection. It is an AC issue and they need to fix it. I can literally start opening them, leave the room to do something else, and they are STILL loading when I get back. HUGE WASTE OF MY TIME.

David Lee, MD
IM
Dallas, TX

Not exactly sure what I'm doing right but my imported items are fast within 10 sec even for large folder. Running 4-6 workstations concurrently with server 2012 r2 essentials on a xeon server with ssd and gigabit. AC 8.2.4

Possible tips:

1)Use a good SSD on your server. I have a server grade intel S3500 SSD. Reduces impact for ii if stuff is not in the sql cache. Not sure if it matters, but use a cheaper ssd for all client computers too. if it has to be written to a hard disk locally that is slow too. generally an ssd + enough ram makes even my 7 year old client computers snappy.

2)Definitely use wired gigabit (1000mbs) ethernet and test the connection from the server to each workstation to be sure the speed is there. Make sure it's not being downgraded to 10/100mbs. I had a kinked ethernet wire once and was giving low throughput til i checked it. Use a good ethernet swtich. sometimes need to adjust settings on lan cards to reach gigabit speed. enable jumbo frames. test test test especially before one blames blames blames.

3) Store only smallish pdfs in imported items. Be sure you are scanning/importing the smallest well readable file. Text should be 50kb not more than 500kb. Double check your scanner/pdf generating settings and check your output file sizes.

4) Keep your server tuned and clean. Hire a IT pro if needed or ask sandeep/bert/indy/... the resident experts, who collectively are better than any other small business IT advice I can find on the web anywhere.

Hi beagle,

Great post with the exception that I would go with Sandeep or Indy. Actually, my post followed by Sandeep's corrections works well.

Love the SSD choices. As far as the clients, you almost can't go wrong with SSDs now except going with two small. Sandeep and I recommend 512GBs, but at least 256GBs. The greatest thing about SSDs besides speed and durability is with the software where you can clone to another SSD in about an hour. And, then keep the old SSD for archive until you need it. Most SSDs are good. I personally can't stand OCZ, but that was because I had eight and three failed. But, Intel, Samsung and Crucial you can't go wrong.

Testing connection is another great idea. And, if you have auto-negotiation, it can (sometimes) downgrade at one end which can give you even 10Mbps. Happened to me once. Forced it to 1GB, and it was all set.

Tremendous post. And, I am not just saying that, because of the accolades.

FYI: I still wouldn't use OCZ.

I'm on a desk top and my Imported Items take up to 3 minutes to load to Updox. Is this normal for anyone else? I am currently connected wirelessly to the server in the physician's office.
Advice?

It is always good to troubleshoot. Does the computer you are having the issue with have a wired Ethernet card?

You could get an Ethenet cable and connect it directly to the server or main computer. You can use any Cat5e or Cat6 patch cable. It no longer needs to be a crossover cable. Then check your speeds.

It could very well be a problem with AC, but this is the only surefire way to prove it is not a wireless issue.

If you do not have a long enough cable, you can move either computer closer. Or purchase a long enough one on monoprice.com for abut $2.00.

I think v8 might be slower for ii than previous versions - based on the complaints. I suspect more bandwidth is being used in general. If you are running a weak wireless system or a slow wired system or if your server is not running a ssd, then the weaknesses in you network are showing up.

Can wait for ac to improve. But I wouldn't count on a timely easy fix. So spend some money or time on the above troubleshooting. If it reads like Greek there are some very patient experts here. Or maybe save some headache and hire a pro.

For wireless users just try to copy a 250 mb file from your server to your workstation. If you have a giant ii folder it shouldn't be worse than that. If it takes 10 min to copy you have a network problem or a disc speed problem.

I have my share of ac gripes, but with good network and ssd server and for my workstation load ii is not one of them. Now Escribe with required formulary check for MU? Just about driving me crazy. I do blame the Feds for half of that problem. Why do I have to check formulary for what I know are cheap generic drugs...;(

We are in AC in the clouds, so I don't think there is much of the above we can do, right? Does AC need to optimize something on the server they host??? Using RDC then all the work is done on their machine, not mine, especially loading labs. Even going to a day on the schedule, which we do like a million times a day, takes 10-15 seconds. We have 6 providers and A LOT of imported items and labs. I'm afraid the future versions aren't going to help, but there is only so much slowness one can take before considering an EMR switch...

David Lee, MD
IM
Dallas, TX

Things are getting confusing in this thread... I suspect that we are talking about 3 separate (or perhaps overlapping) issues:
1. boondoc reports slow opening of II, especially over wireless. Please see my post above from 10/23 on AC's plan to address this on the short-term.

2. "I'm on a desk top and my Imported Items take up to 3 minutes to load to Updox.".... this is something different and is more likely related to your wireless connection. Trista, what happens if you take a pdf on your desktop and "print to updox". Is that equally slow? If so, that would prove this is related to your network and Updox, but not AC. Please try that and let us know.

3. David Lee describes: slow opening of AC, but he is wired AND his AC is in the clouds. This is clearly an AC issue; whether with the program itself (in which case upgrading to V8.3 should help) or with their cloud set-up. Either way, I would be talking to them now- they will probably encourage you to see how much 8.3 helps you. Please update us on how things go.

Related to Item #2: It seems to be both from AC and from the desktop, which, to me, indicates a networking issue. I spoke with my "IT Department" aka the Doctor, and he's going to upgrade my wireless router. Hopefully, between that and an upgraded internet line, the problem will be rectified.
In the interim I have to just suck it up.

@Boondoc What speed is your wireless. N and AC wireless are significantly faster
Also having an SSD on your laptop makes it much faster as well.
Thirdly, whats the distance and obstructions to the wireless router? All of these factors make a difference.

As Jon has stated above, 8.3 is in the works. It speeds things up some more: Faster start times and the ability to choose how far back in time you want to pull import items. Hopefully it will pass beta and be generally available soon.

I had a doctor run into this issue a few weeks ago. In fact, we both have similar laptop models (Dell 7000 2-in-1). His was the higher end i7, mine is the i3...yet my laptop would load the II much faster (his took close to 45sec, while mine was like 12).

Finally discovered the Intel wifi chip to be the cause. The i7 system came with an Intel 7365 AC chip, while the i3 was had a Broadcom chip. I could swap them and the one with the intel chip was always much slower. The affect even carried across different APs.

Funny thing is the Intel chip actually speed tested faster, but it seems accessing lots of small files, as in the II folder, slowed the Intel chip down significantly.