What’s New August 2009
Your support and maintenance dollars at work. New stuff to try before summer ends
	After 10 years, we finally took the plunge and converted the program to our 2009 development system which has allowed us to offer several new features, new grids with additional customization features including filtering and an editor for column visibility, color, header text and width, sizing for different geometry screens etc.
	We have also added "Kiosk" capability. with 2 programs that can be used by patients in the waiting room. One program TM Check-In allows a patient to generate his/her own demographic, billing etc information for automatic insertion into the database. The other TM Self-Check is for the patient to check assigned forms, eg an intake form or a battery of tests. These will be stored in the patient's EMR History and can be imported into the medical record. This capability will both save enormous amounts of expensive time and tedious work by office staff and clinicians. The "Kiosk" programs can be downloaded from the TheraManager website Support | Downloads page or they are included in the Trial download and we can provide you with a trial registration. If you have done this already prior to August 14, you will need to do it again.
	The prescription writer has been enhanced to speed searching for meds and establishing a custom list of available meds and doses. The web interface has also been speeded up by our partner. Writing scripts will be even faster when we are certified for direct writing directly from within TheraManager. We apologize for the delay in completing this but the delay is NOT on our side. We have also paid our partner to provide browser capabilities, which are now available, for sending scripts electronically from a browser on any computer or mobile phone.
	Development under way currently will make viewing, understanding and printing the patient's billing records even more user friendly than it presently is.
	If you are interested in a hosted service for your database, to give you much faster access for multiple locations, please let us know.
	We are still planning to increase the minimum screen resolution from SVGA (800X600), to give ourselves more layout space. We like 1024X600 to better match the newer wide-angle screens and specifically match netbooks. This should not be a problem to anybody since even old monitors can display XGA (1024X768). (Check your Control Panel | Display | Settings)
EMR
	On the Medical Records Screen, we have made changes that should make dictation or text-entry on a TabletPC as simple and robust as normal editing with mouse and keyboard.
	On the Forms History we now show the score, which allows for a quick assessment of the patient's progress over time.
	Access to the Form Designer is now determined by a right set at the Admin | Users Screen. This is to ensure the long term integrity of the forms, ie that they are not casually tinkered with. We also recommend that the developer of the forms exports them and keeps an off-site copy. You will need to do an admin login and set this user right to access the Form Designer.
	The Form Designer has been made smarter with some Advanced Editing features on the popup menu. Remember that only limited editing is allowed for forms in history since the integrity of the form must be maintained for the stored data to be meaningful. Several people have put forms into history without being aware of the ramifications or really wanting them there. A Remove from History menu item on the popup has been provided. hence it is easy to clean up, but also possible to lose a lot of clinical research history. An alternative is to export and then import the historical form and give it a modified name.
	A new type of form "X" has been established for use in the "Kiosk" as a patient self-check form. These forms will be selected separately from the clinician's forms. An existing form can be duplicated by first exporting the form then importing it and changing the field type to "X".
	If you are registered for the "Kiosk" Self-Check capability, then a new tab titled Self Check will be visible. On the left-hand side of this page all the "X" type forms will be visible. On the center panel you can create an ID for the selected patient and then add any forms selected on the left into the patient's panel on the right. When the patient enters the ID in the TM Self-Check program in the "Kiosk" he/she will be presented with the added forms to check. All the completed forms can be seen on this page by clicking the Show All Button and, of course, in the patient's History
	Please call for a temporary registration certificate to allow you to try this new capability.There will be a charge, modest for early users, of this new capability but the ROI (return-on-investment) is phenomenal because of the time savings. In one example we saw a pay-back time of 10 weeks.
The Waiting Room "Kiosk"
	The "Kiosk" capability consists of two program TM Check-In and TM Self-Check that are intended to be used by patients at a networked computer in the waiting room. The programs' interface to the datbase and control is exercised within TheraManager.
	TM Check-In allows the patient to enter all the same demographic information that is found on the Patients, Bill-Payers, Family and all 4 Insurance Screens with Copy options just as in TheraManager. The program also allows for agreements for release of information to be checked. The Opening Screens can be customized with your cheery picture/logo and your HIPAA confidentiality agreement.
	When the patient has completed entering the information, a new button on the toolbar at the Patients Screen allows the new record to be created immediately. Since the patient's insurance plans may not match your nomenclature or even be in the database, the plans are kept visible and must be entered manually.
	TM Self-Check allows you to present to the patient checkbox forms that you have preselected in the program on a new Self-Check Tab at the EMR Screen. The forms could be specially designed in the Form Designer for your intake needs, or assessment forms that you want the patient to complete on a regular visit for medical or mental assessment (eg psychological testing, Beck inventory etc).
	The forms for use by the patient will require a new form-type "X". Existing forms can be exported, imported and modified or created from scratch. An ID for a given patient can be created at the EMR |Self-Check Tab and then any of these "X" forms can be assigned to the patient and they will appear in the TM Self-Check after the patient has entered the ID into the TM Self-Check program.
	The patients completed forms can be viewed at the Self-Check Tab and we will have a means of entering them into the medical record just like regular clinician forms.
Electronic Prescriptions
	We have developed a new faster search component for searching the selected Drug Index. We highly recommend paying the subscription to use the FDB index, since all the fields are properly populated. Once prescribed the med will be saved into your custom index with the proper MedicationID for accurate electronic prescribing. This ID defines the medication, dose and form, which therefore cannot be changed if there is a MedicationID. However although you are free to add anything you like to your custom list without an ID and print it to paper, we recommend using Cleanup Meds on the popup menu to remove all items without a MedicationID.
	We are now writing scripts directly from within the program to the pharmacy interface (NOT the browser interface) on a preproduction basis and are just waiting for certification.
	Remote prescribing independent of the TheraManager program using a browser on any remote computer or internet-connected mobile phone. Scripts written remotely will still synchronize back into the TheraManager database on returning to base.This option will be available automatically for users registered with the FDB comprehensive option. To use it requires the following initial setup: At the Prescriptions Screen, select yourself and click the EOpen Button Open the Admin Tab Scroll down to Login Information, enter permanent user name and password. Click save. Check to see if your username is grayed-out. If not repeat the operation. Close. For routine use Open your browser to www.theramanager.com Select menu item "E-prescribe Login" on the left-hand side. At the next screen enter the 8 digit database key viewable in the TheraManager About Box. Click through to the NewCropRX Login Screen and enter your user name and password set up as described above.
	Our partner has speeded up the browser interface, but as we said above we all are still waiting for certification of direct electronic writing of scripts to the pharmacy via Surescripts from within the Prescription Screen, which we are now doing on a pre-production basis.
	A new screen for responding to renewal requests has also been created. You will notice that pharmacy selection is now available using a search engine from a national master list on the Prescription Screen in preparation for direct prescribing.
	We will let you know when the program is certified for direct prescribing. This option will be available automatically for users registered with the FDB comprehensive option. We are very excited after almost a year of development to be ready to offer the most comprehensive and direct way of writng scripts electronically available in the industry. The advantages of the comprehensive option shown below are over-whelming so now is the time to sign up.: Writing and renewals on our partners website from TheraManager, which has been available since January. Direct writing and renewals directly in the program, which will be available shortly and be quicker than printing paper. The FDB database which populates the TheraManager Prescription Screen directly with available doses, forms, generic name and type of medication.. Creation of your own custom list of meds within TheraManager from the database. All scripts synchronized and stored in the TheraManager database as well as that of our partner for complete records. Interaction checks including drug-to-drug and drug-to-disease interactions, food and drug allergies, which might reduce your malpractice insurance. Eligibity for the Medicare discount pays for it. Patient Formulary, which might save your patients money. Drug Monographs, to make you smarter. Patient Notes in multiple languages, to inform your patient and save your time. National List of Pharmacies for simplification. Remote browser capability (Any computer or internet-connected PDA or smartphone) for responding to out-of-the-office requests.
Appointments
	We have added additional linked calendars to the Appointments Screen. You will see a minimum of 2 months and additional pairs on higher resolution screens.
	Cancelled appointments have always presented a conundrum, how to book over them yet see them. They have always been visible and will continue to be in the List view on the Appointments Screen. However, we have now arranged for cancelled appointments to be become invisible in the normal graphics view but to be viewed exclusively using a new button that has been added beside the Privacy and Refresh Buttons. Cancelled appointments will, of course, continue to be retained in the patient's record of appointments.
Grids
	All the grids have been replaced with an updated version with several additional new fatures. Most of the columns could be sorted, but now they can be filtered based on their contents. The options can be seen by clicking on the header. Grouping by dragging and dropping the headers is a powerful property that is often overlooked. The column width can be adjusted. An Editor allows the column header text, width, color and visibility to be changed. Access this with a right click popup menu opening up to Grid Settings and Columns Editor. There is a User Setting that allows all these changes to be saved automatically as a default by having the Open Screens with Customized Grid Checkbox on the Tools | User Settings Form checked. The grid will then reopen the way it was at the time it was closed. The grid settings can also be saved as Custom for use on demand or as a backup to the default . An additional print setting for say export to excel can also be saved. To return to the as-designed grid just uncheck the Customized Grid Checkbox on the User Settings Form and close and reopen the program.
Backup and Restore
	The Backup and Restore Buttons are now only enabled after login, so that only authorized users are allowed to perform these functions.
Accounting
	Please logout of TheraManager and preferably turn off your computer at night. It is a bad security practice, wastes electricity and leaves the post/print date set at the date on which the program was opened.
	One bug in the accounting was fixed for the unusual case where a posting was deferred and the co-pay was forgiven. The bug gave the patient a credit when the insurance payment was entered. Please do an update and check any patient records for whom you have used this particular combination. The problem also occurred with insurance payments and deferred billing in a July update. Please do an update and let us know if you see any errors from this cause, as we can fix them.
Group Bookings.
	The program has had the capability for a while of booking all the members of a group into a group visit with one click. It did not however do the same authorization checks and associations for these bookings as is done for solo bookings, so the booked visits were not included in the booked and posted authorization counts. An authorization check has now been added.for group bookings and the bookings will be included in the count. Any patient without a required authorization must be booked individually. Please update and check your groups. For any managed care patient in a group, you should check the visit and authorization counts and rebook where necessary for the booking to increment the authorization count.
	If you want to register, need further support or you have suggestions please contact support@theramanager.com or call 908-508-8900.