[General Discussion] What of your experiences...

Submitted by Guest on Thu, 29/11/2007 - 12:37

General User's Discussion

G'day openvpms users I feel the need to dabble with Ovpms every now and then, usually when I receive my annual renewal contract from one of the 'big' SW suppliers and just about have a heart attack. (Having been a netvet user from way back (just ask TdK) I followed the upgrade path to destruction .... and now regret being tied to the bottom of the harbor ) Anyway to cut to the chase, from a phone call with Tony yesterday I have now downloaded Ovpms , have some of my current database with xyz co. running in it and am just exploring the workings. Of course it feels so much different - new shoes always do. Tony informs me that there are quite a few now trialling Ovpms in their clinics ... is it possible to hear of your opinions? Are there any who have ditched the proprietary software for good? What do you feel about the fact that not many will know how to drive Ovpms as locums etc? (This forum doesn't have PMing?? .. because it's an open forum?) Thanks

Experience has been very positive

Submitted by Matt C on Sat, 01/12/2007 - 12:41.

Hi Keith, We at Boronia Vet Clinic have been using it for quite some time now. Busy clinic, 15 vets and migrated from netvet (sigh....). We have been VERY happy with it. It strengths have been in its stability and the ability to link documents or any attachments readily. This has fed into new documentation protocols in the clinic really well and encouraged new ones to develop (admitting clients to hospital etc). Interestingly its quick uptake by staff - both those who has time to practice and those brand new staff has been quite impressive. This surprised us a little but despite being quite unlike anything people had used before, it seems the cut back look and the lack of clutter is very powerful. The new users (new vets mainly) have very quickly worked their way around. Perhaps the web literate generation see it as a familiar style of interface? [b]The Pros[/b] The money we saved we have used on Tony to install a network fax server (thanks Tony :D ) We have had countless adjustments and fixes to improve our productivity - just flat out not possible in any other software out there). We have started getting additional programs written to help us out with practice specific protocols - ie. Some price checking stuff, a more powerful search engine, a microchip reconcilation tool, a customer watch/tracking tool - much more to come. We can write our own SQL queries to get whatever data WE want from OUR database. We use the unique ID of the patient to create Bpay numbers for our invoices and statements. We have a reconciling application that we use to match customers to incoming Bpay credits. We automatically generate custom designed hospital charts and admit sheets. Our lab forms have been duplicated for our local pathologist and auto fill in patient and client details. We haven't had one day down. NOT ONE. We had maybe 2 non fatal errors that crashed the system in the first 2 weeks when we were testing the version before Version 1.0. Just to reiterate - not ONE day down. [b]The Cons[/b] Its weaknesses in our hands have been its responsiveness or speed (bear in mind we are comparing with netvet ). Feedback from most other clinics is that this has not been an issue for them - it does mainly relate to very very old customers with often 20 or more pages of account historys. The summary view in Medical records is good for notes but we have had some difficulty with staff getting frustrated with the lack of medications appearing in this view (Note: This is in the process of being addressed). Searching by Name fails with a database our size occasionally. We wrote a side along app tat searches pateint name and client name concurrently. This has fixed this issue in our hands. The lack of a reporting interface yet has been temporarily overcome by directly writing queries to the "open" ended database. Our in house lab machines don't talk to OpenVPMS. Reminders have worked very well - we did have some teething problems that were quite promptly worked out. Statements - We have done 4 monthly runs now - each has been a learning process. I wouldn't say until this last one we were really in control. I have reported what we are currently doing in another forum [url]http://www.openvpms.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=230#230[/url] Hope you guys can get something from that post. [/b]

Experience with OpenVPMS - new practice

Submitted by samuelrs on Fri, 07/03/2008 - 20:38.

Hi Keith, I installed openVPMS in our new referral practice 4 months ago. All our staff had no experience in the program before and it took less than a week to become familiar with the slightly different interface. I have not had one single database error or software issue in 4 months of constant use. As our familiarity increases, our productivity increases. The use of macros, templates minimise manual input of data and the correct use of the worklists and the check-in and check-out system makes inpatient tracking easy. Another significant benefit for us (we utilise google apps as a calender and internal mail and staff communication tool) is that the program runs in Mozilla and our other clinic tools are all open in the same program in different tabs. Of all the decisions we made in setting up the new practice, computed radiography and openVPMS have been the best two. The money I saved on SW fees was channeled into the best hardware we could afford, something that I appreciate everyday. I would recommend it to anyone. At the core is a stable module that interfaces with the world standard open source programs - another huge saving. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss it more. Sam Snelling, Advanced VetCare 03 9092 0400

Re: Experience with OpenVPMS - new practice

Submitted by jumlavet (not verified) on Fri, 07/03/2008 - 21:23.

[quote="samuelrs"] The use of macros, templates minimise manual input of data [/quote] Thanks - could you please explain how you are using macros and templates.

Macros and Templates

Submitted by samuelrs on Fri, 07/03/2008 - 22:43.

Hi Keith, Macros are similar to "auto correct" function in microsoft where a small string of text can be expanded into a sentence. It is under Administration on the top menu, then look-ups on the side menu. To add a new macro you select new and then three fields are visible; Code: type the code you want in here. Be careful not to call it a word as it will expand into text inappropriately. ie bid can transform into twice daily when you may just mean bid. We use a naming convention that ends in "x" - namely ...ax for surgical approaches and ...sx for surgical reports etc. Another example - nadx Name: A descriptive name for your macro. You can search for it by this name. Expression: 'enter the text you want nadx to expand to inside a single quotation mark' eg 'Clinical examination of the chest and abdomen was normal'. From this point on - anytime you write nadx in the note field and then press enter, it will expand to the text you have chosen in the expression field. This is a very handy tool to decrease typing time in consults. I also use it to create headings in my notes section of my consult page. Templates are just products that have multiple products already grouped so that that can be charged as a single item but expand into as many items as you please. They are analogous to procedures in RX works. Very handy for surgical procedures that are standard that you do commonly. Hope this helps. I grew up in Bowral by the way and still have family in the district. It is an excellent season from all reports. Sam

Re: What of your experiences...

Submitted by jumlavet (not verified) on Fri, 14/03/2008 - 06:39.

Thanks ....

Re: What of your experiences...

Submitted by tony on Mon, 10/03/2008 - 09:40.

Hi Guys, Just a small note about macros as well. You can actually include complex expressions and merge specific data into them. For example if you wanted to include the patient name in the macros enter the function: openvpms:get(.,'patient.entity.name') There are heaps of functions like this that allow to extract data from the current 'object' you are working on plus lots of others (like concat etc ) that are standard to the xpath language we are using. Also the macro expression allows up to 255 characters of text even though the field looks small. Will increase the field size for ease of editing. You should also be able to include line feeds for formatted multi line text. Will investigate this and post .. Regards Tony

Macros

Submitted by tony on Tue, 11/03/2008 - 21:43.

Hi Guys, Just realised you can increase the field size yourself using the archetypes. Heres what you can do. 1. Goto Administration ->Archetypes 2. Click Select (ALT-L) 3. Enter *lookup.macro* in the search box and hit enter. 4. Select the only matching archetype. 5. Click Edit (Alt-E) 6. In the Node Descriptors tab click on the expression node. 7. Change the Max length field to 300 from 255. 8. Click on OK. You can now go and edit a existing macro and you will see that the expression field uses a bigger text box. If you want to add a multiple line text string do so as per the following example: 'This is line 1 This is line 2 This is line 3' The single quotes are important at the begining and end of the expression you are entering. The new lines will be preserved when the macro is expanded. I hope this helps. Cheers Tony

excellent

Submitted by jumlavet (not verified) on Thu, 13/03/2008 - 22:49.

Thanks Tony - just tried adding *soap* as macro and now have Subjective: Objective: Assessment: Plan: in my notes ready to fill in the details. I can see this macro facility will be widely used for recurrent procedures etc. ...

Over one years use, almost no problems

Submitted by Jimvet on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 16:41.

OPEN VPMS IS AN OUTSTANDING PROGRAM. Our practice started using OpenVPMS in December 2005 (we opened for business as a new practice Nov 30, 2005). We run OpenVPMS as a stand alone system. We have never used any other vet software program here, although over the years I have used RxWorks (previously Visual Vetaid), Vetaid, Ezevet and Netvet. I also had a good look at Cornerstone before deciding on OpenVPMS. As far as I know (please correct if wrong) we were the first stand alone user of OpenVPMS, although other practices have been running it in parallel with their existing programs for some time. Costs: A major software supplier (Australia, UK mainly) quoted us $ 18,000 (Australian dollars) plus a fee of $ 100 per terminal per month for their program. For a start up one vet, 4 terminal practice this was never a realistic option. They would not compromise on the terminal fee although I know for a fact one of the largest multiple hospital practices in Sydney does not pay for every terminal. A colleague looking at this program in the last few days tells me they have not changed their tune. The other quote for a widely used program (US and Australia) was going to cost $A 12,000. Both of these quotes were for software only. Despite the high costs I was familiar with the first program, which is pretty good, and would have considered paying the fee had they: a) compromised on the terminal fee and b) had adequate support. I have known that program for over 10 years in its various incarnations and been consistently disappointed (enraged) by its appalling service and "support" which would generally not be forthcoming for days despite multiple calls. I was working as an associate when they installed the program in a large Sydney (Australia) vet practice and saw first hand their failure to deliver what they promised - "it will take us under 12 hours to set up, we will be there as long as it takes, etc." Five days later the program was not running and they had disappeared back to their interstate base leaving us to tear out our hair. In contrast we were able to install our OpenVPMS software and all computer hardware, servers, etc for less than the cost of the lower of the two alternative quotes here. OpenVPMS annual support fees are very reasonable. Ease of use: In addition to our full timers, our workforce includes students who are is for as little as 4 hours per week, yet everyone seems to easily understand & remember OpenVPMS. Locums seem to manage fine with OpenVPMS provided the regular nurse/reception staff are present in support. Bugs, crashes & speed of response: As the "test pilots" for the Beta relase we did run into a few minor bugs. They were rapidly identified and corrected. Our OpenVPMS system has not a significant crash that I can recall in the last 15 months. This is far superior to any other software I have used. Attachments: This is a useful feature for path reports, referral letters, etc. In conclusion, we still have a bit to learn about features of OpenVPMS but are very happy with the program and in particular support. It would be nice if interested users in Sydney might meet for a forum at some time as this would enhance our understanding of the software. No major problems, though and it does everything we need. As the software is evolving rapidly I think the future looks bright for OpenVPMS.

Thanks

Submitted by jumlavet (not verified) on Thu, 13/03/2008 - 22:36.

Thanks Jimvet... Thank you for a detailed response to the question at hand. As one who started out with netvet probably close to 20 years ago and who has migrated to the various pathways which followed through medisoft and beyond, I am well aware of the current situation as described in your opening paragraph. One doesn't change software hurriedly particularly when one is well acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of any one system. I respect those who are pioneering OVPMS and certainly acknowledge the dedication of Tony et al (many whom I don't really know) to this project, particularly when there are those who are mightily skeptical of its success. I believe from what I have seen and experienced that open sourcing is a powerful force....just take a look at how the Mozilla foundation has captured such a large browser 'share' with Firefox. (I think there may be an open source dental management program which was developed also along similar pathway to OVPMS). I fundamentally believe that what is 'pushing' OVPMS to be seriously looked at though is the greed and maybe lack of service of the various proprietary players in the 'market'. The escalating costs of ownership (or 'annual support contracts') of software is forcing us all to look outside the current 'square'. I know I stumbled upon openvpms (via google search) for no other reason other than I was looking for an open source type alternative to the brand names. The fact is I was under no contract for a considerable period with my current software (by mutual agreement) but was forced back into a 'stranglehold' situation because of a very simple error in my current software about 18mths ago. I was made to upgrade from a stable version to one which the company had (unknown to me at the time) control to lock down. I then realized that as a small hospital with 4 terminals, and which had over more than 20 years, already paid out a large amount of money to software companies, the thought of continuing to pay out over the next say 10 years something towards 30-40K in support or annual contract fees, was ludicrous or scandalous to say the least. (Thankfully I maintain my own server...) What can one say at this point - am I ready to transition? - not quite yet..... But again thanks to all for a great insight into your journeys....... and I'm continuing to evaluate in my practice how we may use OVPMS. Cheers and all the best for the future...

Over one years use, almost no problems

Submitted by tony on Fri, 14/03/2008 - 08:25.

Hi Guys, I would really like to take this opportunity to thank Jim for he's continuing support for the project. Back in November 2006, when he first opened he's practice, we were very much in the test stages of the project and Jim took the risk of installing software that had never been used in a real practice environment before. He provided he's valuable time to provide extremely valuable feedback on functionality, work-flows and bugs. He also patiently waited for new features to become available and help to test them. In so many ways he had a big part to play in the stability of our first release to the public in October 2007. He continues to be a guinea pig for all our new releases and provide input to new features. Many thanks Jim for your vision and bravery :-) Cheers Tony

[General Discussion] What of your experiences...

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