Home Forums Discussions Problems Slow Prescription Window

AC Support is working with me on this, so hopefully fix soon. Just sharing with community. When I open an Rx window, it takes about 10 seconds (literally) to populate meds. This is even with automatic interaction checking turned off. Otherwise, it seems that AC seems to be working OK (on 10.0.2 Windows 8.1 Pro). Happen to start the day after Database Tuner used I think. Weird... (Mother says I'm special.)

But if anyone recognizes the symptoms I'd love to hear. If and when fixed I'll post it.

Hi Jack,

Does this happen on more than one computer?

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Hi Jack and Carl,

For the last 3 or 4 days, I have been noticing that opening the Amazing Charts prescription writer window, which had been about instantaneous, is now taking between 3 and 10 seconds, occasionally longer. Once or twice it even came up with a blank box, and took about 5 more seconds for the medications to propagate.

Then, the electronic prescribing has similarly long lag to it.

All of this is just over the last 3 or 4 days. It happens with both myself and my physician's assistant, no matter which computer we use.

From somewhere in the past, and this may just be Urban Legend, I heard that AC has been "mining data" from the prescription writer, every time it opens, and that that would slow it down. This may have started shortly after the sale of AC to PriMed. Or this may all just be paranoia..

Interestingly, we have had this slowness intermittently over the last year or so, but typically it would last less than a day, and I think it would resolve by turning the interaction checker off.

Carl, you can either respond to this with text, or a link to a picture:)

Thanks.

Gene

Hi Gene,

From what you say, I suspect that the problem is with the far end of your internet connection.

Everything still works, but it's slowed down noticeably at the user end.

***

Sadly, I see this kind of problem quite often.

When I call a bank, it's routine to be told that they're sorry, the system is slow today.

When my nurse wants to give me my pills, we wait for a distant server to populate my chart.

One of my offices simply gave up using one program at 3 p.m. every day because something at the far end made the delays intolerable.

***

A crude test would be to use a remote connection to the office and try to bring up the rx window at some ungodly hour, say 3 a.m., and see if the response time improves.

If the rx window pops up briskly when the distant systems are unlikely to be busy, then you know that they're just bogging down during the day when there's lots of traffic.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Hi Carl,

Thanks for your thoughts.

Here is what is confusing. Our Amazing Charts is locally hosted. Electronic prescribing, of course, requires data transmitted over the Internet. Just opening the prescription writer SHOULD not require anything beside the local server. Interaction checking may or may not, I am not sure whether this is done locally or via the Internet. But just opening the prescription writer, and populating it with medications, should be strictly local.

Hence the concern with "big brother watching", does Amazing Charts receive active medications for every patient every time the prescription writer is opened?

Perhaps related, on those few occasions that the Internet has been down, Amazing Charts (locally hosted) will work. But, on at least a few occasions, if it is not already running, it will take forever, as in minute 10 minutes, to open a new user on a PC. Again, AC seems to "check in" as part of the process.

Which leads to a concern. One of the reasons that I like a locally hosted EMR is that… Well… It is locally hosted. In case of major problems, either locally or nationally, where the Internet would be unavailable for a prolonged period, we would be able to function.

Or would we, based on the above observations.?

Thanks.

Gene

So if you go to your local "server", turn off the internet and turn off interaction checking, then open the prescription writer it SHOULD open equally quickly, right?

That is actually the question. Does it just open, or does it first attempt to "phone home" and wait a while to decide that connection failed?

Oohh, such communication! Yea! In response to question, it is all my machines (all THREE, I'm BIGTIME). Turning off interaction checking on opening does not prevent the weird delay. And, it sounds like DocGene has the same problem I do. Have not yet got my call from AC support today, so will still advise when I know more.

Hi Jack,

No change today. AC itself is fine, but opening Rx writer, and especially eRxing is very slow. It works just....so......slowly.......

Gene

Interestingly, authorizing refills when the pharmacy has sent a request electronically is NOT slow.

Gene

We are also having this problem. Opening the write scripts window and having the list of active meds show up is slow. Then at the last step, at the Transmit to Pharmacy button, is even slower.

Misery loves company! Thanks for everyone posting. Still have not got the appointment with the "upper levels" at technical support, but it is REALLY helpful to hear that I am not the only case (and may help the "upper levels"....

You're not the only one.

Hi Gene,

Unfortunately, speculating about what a program may be doing silently rarely does much good because the programmers have signed no contracts to do things the way we think things should be done.

That is, a program may check for an internet connection every 5 minutes, check when an option far removed from what we have in mind is activated, or check only after some other hidden procedure executes successfully--

And since things aren't working right, something is wrong deep in the bowels of a very complicated program.

Unless, of course, the program is fine, and the problem driving us crazy is at the other end, which is stuttering, slow, or randomly confused.

I'd still like to hear what the original 10-second rx window does at 3 a.m., a fairly easy test from home for any insomniac with access to the free TeamViewer remote control software.

If the rx window opens noticeably faster when the remote servers are likely to be idle, then the problem is with those servers and their internet connections, and all we can do is implore the companies involved to fix things.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the perspective.

So, for example, could a Windows 10 update cause a problem "deep in the bowels of a very complicated program"??

I can access AC from home, I will try it at an off peak time....if I remember....and if I stay awake.....

Thanks

Gene

Hi Gene,

Could a Windows 10 update cause a problem with the programs that we run?

Sure!

Any non-trivial program or update can confuse any other program in ways that neither programmer anticipated.

***

A dozen Windows Server updates once refused to install and gave me a useless error message.

(Usually server updates go well, unlike the nightmare that we see in versions like Windows 7.)

Google led me to a post about how to fix things.

The fellow frankly admitted that his solution made no sense, but he insisted that it was easy and worked.

Just hide a standard icon on the server taskbar

Don't uninstall the standard program linked to the icon--just hide the icon.

It worked like a charm--all 12 updates installed without a hitch after the offending icon was out of sight.

Obviously, hiding a taskbar icon made no more sense than trimming toenails to cure paralysis.

But that's an example of how very complicated programs can fail.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

So far, even with interaction checking off, there still appears to be a call to New Crop when opening the Rx Writer window and transmitting Rx originating with prescriber (not pharmacy refill request), which is holding up the population of the window and slowing the Rx transmission. This process is different on version 11, which is why I asked if anyone with slow Rx window is on version 11. If it is slow in version 11, we do not have a solution yet. So...
"I await your next syllable with great eagerness." - John Gielgud as Hobson in "Arthur".

With my internet disabled, the Rx Window pops up just like it is supposed to.