AVImark for Windows

2001 Enhancement Log

Date, VersionDescription of change

05-03-01, 148If an error is encountered while sending e-mail, an error message will be displayed showing possible solutions for correction. The text of your e-mail message will stay displayed until it can be copied into another note window like notepad or the client notes window.

When sending e-mail through the Image Editor the selected client's e-mail address will automatically be entered in the send-to field.

Saved prescription labels are now sorted in alphabetical order. This allows you to highlight a label name and press the first letter of the label name you are searching for, which will take you to labels beginning with that letter.

AVImark now enables you to confirm the move of a patient to another client. The client that is receiving the patient will now have a window confirming who the patient came from, showing the original owner and the new owner. An entry will be posted in the patient's medical history indicating the originating client's account number.

When creating a medical condition record, the cursor will default to being placed in the first field that was used in the previous S.O.A.P. record created by that user.

The VMD designation entered in the staff setup area of Users and Security will trigger a 'Dr.' title in the Appointment Calendar... just like the DVM designation does now.

When booking an appointment in a blocked off time, the appointment will appear "on top" instead of beneath the blocked off description.

AVImark now has a drop-down list of action codes to choose from while in the "Edit Diagnoses" window, similar to the treatment and inventory list.

AVImark will now allow you to specify a doctor to be assigned to an inventory item, similar to what you can do with treatments. When entering Medical History, the performing doctor will default to the doctor selected for this item.

If you encounter errors while rebuilding indexes, a report will be generated at the end of the rebuild that can be viewed or printed. The report identifies where the problem occurred for correction. This enables Avimark to complete the rebuild process without requiring you to write down each error message.

AVImark will now warn you when a held check is to be deposited on a Sunday, allowing you to choose whether or not you want it to be deposited on that day.

An alert in a blocked off area of the appointment calendar can now be customized with its own note window.

3/14/01, 145AVImark now allows you to suppress printing of selected notes on the Patient Chart on a note-by-note basis. That is, the AVImark Notes window now has a check box that indicates whether the note in question is to be printed on the chart or not. This check box is checked by default but can be set off automatically based on the presence of a new action code for Treatments, Items, and Diagnoses called “Don’t print notes on chart” (the actual action code character used is the “>”).

For example, let’s say that in your hospital you normally print all medical history notes on your charts but would like to suppress printing of notes that contain lengthy test results. In this case you would go to the Treatment List and set the “Don’t print notes on chart” action code on the Treatments that represent the tests for which you want note printing suppressed. From this point on, AVImark will automatically suppress printing for these treatments on the chart (as well as the invoice if you are using the “Include notes on Invoice” Hospital Setup option).

However, if you wanted to change your mind for a particular treatment in a patient’s medical history for which note printing was suppressed, simply open the note window in question and check the “Print” check box in the lower right-hand corner.

3/01/01, 145AVImark now allows you to organize your documents into subdirectories of the “Documents directory” named in Hospital Setup. For example, you could now have a directory structure for your documents such as…

My Documents (named in Hospital Setup)

Letters

Certificates

Personal

Take-home documents

Treatments

Items

Diagnoses

Forms

AVImark will automatically attempt to locate documents that are attached to Treatments, Items, and Diagnoses, as well as any manually entered document name for which a directory has not been selected. Note that your Rabies certificate document must be kept in your “My Documents” directory (as identified in Hospital Setup).

You can now e-mail inventory purchase orders. AVImark will use the vendor’s e-mail address found in the Change Vendor window.

2/17/01, 144 ABAXIS VetScan Interface

AVImark will now allow importing of Abaxis(R) VetScan test result data. Interfacing with Abaxis HMT is not yet supported.

AVImark lets you collect data from the Abaxis VetScan machine and input the data directly into the patient’s medical history. This is done in 2 ways. The first step is to define the input fields for a given treatment in your AVImark Treatment List (You will need to do this definition only once for a given treatment.)

  • Secondly, when the treatment is entered into the Medical History Area of a given patient, AVImark will import the actual data from the Abaxis VetScan.

Serial Port connection

You will need to specify in Work with...Hospital Setup which serial port your machine is connected to.

  • Choose Work with...Hospital setup...System...Instrument...Instrument on and type the name of the port (e.g. “COM1”) your Abaxis VetScan is connected to.

Data field definition

In order for AVImark to allow the VetScan to define the input fields for a given treatment, do this:

  • Select the correct blood test treatment in your treatment list, then choose Right Click...Change to open the Edit Treatment window.
  • Click the More Stuff box in the Attachments section at the bottom right corner of the Edit Treatment window.

This will open the Define More Stuff window.

  • Choose (Menu) Work with...Abaxis VetScan.
  • You will be instructed to Click OK, then start a test run on the machine.

You will be returned to the Define More Stuff window and, after a few minutes, the data fields definitions will be imported from the VetScan and displayed.

  • Click OK to finish and return to the Edit Treatment window.
  • By including a “B” as one of the Action Codes for the treatment, AVImark will automatically open the data import window when you enter the treatment into the patient’s medical history.
  • Click Done to return to the Treatment List. Click Done to return to the CID.

Data import

Once the data fields are defined as described above, you will be able to automatically import data from the VetScan machine directly into the Medical History Area of the patient when the treatment is performed.

From the Medical History Area of the patient, enter the blood profile treatment.

  • As mentioned above, by including a “B” as one of the Action Codes for the treatment, AVImark will automatically open the data import window when you enter the treatment into the patient’s medical history. If you’re not sure what an Action Code is, refer to "Treatment Action Code(s)" on page 3-10.
  • With this treatment highlighted, choose Right Click...More Stuff.

This will open the Enter Data Fields window with the data fields already defined for you.

  • Choose (Menu) Work with...VetScan.
  • You will be instructed to Click OK, then start the analysis.
  • AVImark will import the data for this test into the enter Data Fields window.

2/17/01, 144 IDEXX VetTest 8008 Interface

Finally, we have developed the AVImark-to-VetTest (IDEXX) instrument interface! For all of you that have waited for so long for this feature, thank you for your patience. With this update, AVImark has been tested only with the IDEXX VetTest 8008 instrument, connected via both direct connect and the VetCom instrument. The VetTest software that we tested with was the current version at this time, Version 6.1. If your VetTest software is at a lower version level, we recommend that you contact IDEXX for an up-to-date copy. This version number is printed on the VetTest System diskette, normally inserted in the back of the VetTest instrument.

You can use the VetTest instrument to “auto-define” the AVImark test result fields for your different analysis tests, as well as to “import” (i.e. receive) test results into the patient’s medical history for these analyses. A single test result or a panel of up to 12 results values (the capacity of the VetTest instrument) can be imported at one time.

Before proceeding, be sure you have connected the VetTest to a serial port on the back of one of your workstations. Either COM1 or COM2 should work…you will have to know which one you have used…maybe your computer person can help you. Typically, unless you already are using COM1 for some purpose, you should use the COM1 port. If you are using COM1 already (e.g. for a serial-attached printer, like the Dymo), you should use the COM2 port. However, if you are also using a modem, it will most likely be on COM2, and in this case you probably should use a different workstation (unless you want to remove the modem).

Use the appropriate IDEXX cable(s) and connectors. In our tests, we used the IDEXX “VetTest-S” cable to connect using the VetCom device (we used port 1 on the VetCom, although I think any of the four ports would have worked). When we attached the VetTest directly to our computer (not using the VetCom device), we used the IDEXX “VetTest-D” cable. In both cases, we used a IDEXX “PC-9” connector on the computer end of the cable. Please work with IDEXX on obtaining all this stuff, of course. By the way, we found the IDEXX folks to be very helpful in setting up our VetTest system, as well as with all the details of making everything work.

AVIMARK HOSPITAL SETUP

You will need to enter several values into AVImark’s Hospital Setup that let AVImark know how the VetTest is connected to your computer. At the workstation that will be used to get test results from the VetTest, go to Work with, Hospital Setup, and then click on the System tab at the top. Click the tab labeled “Instrument”, just underneath the Documents tab. You will see prompts for the Com port the instrument is attached to, the Baud rate, etc. Set the Com port to the correct setting based on which connector you attached the cable from the VetTest to on the back of our computer. Set the Baud rate to “9600”, the Data bits value to “8”, the Parity value to “None”, and the Stop bits value to “1”. Click the “Done” button at the bottom to save your changes.

One further note: AVImark allows you to have several workstations in your hospital attached to VetTest instruments. Consequently, the settings you enter into Hospital Setup at one workstation are kept separate from those entered at another workstation. For example, you might have workstation A connected to its VetTest instrument via Com port 1, while workstation B might be connected to its VetTest via Com port 2.

DEFINING RESULT FIELDS

VetTest results are entered in the patient's medical record in AVImark using the feature called "More Stuff", also know as “Additional Data Fields”. You may currently be using this feature to manually enter test results or additional information about your clients and/or patients. If you are not familiar with this feature, it would be helpful to read Chapter 24, Additional Data Fields in the AVImark manual. This feature allows you to enter additional information about any treatment that you perform in a formal way.

First, you set up these data fields for the treatment in question (for example, a blood screen) either in the AVImark Treatment List or on the Client Information Display (right from the patient’s medical history). You are allowed to define any number of data fields that you want to enter when you actually add the treatment to the patient's medical record. In the case of VetTest blood chemistries, each field represents one test. For example, for a BUN test, you might define a field named "Urea nitrogen" to contain the actual test result value. For a complete work-up, you would define one field for each analyte tested. Up to twelve tests can be conducted on a sample at one time with the VetTest. Hence, you would rarely define more than twelve of these data fields for a panel, although you should feel free to add your own fields for things like comments, etc. to the VetTest profiles if you wish.

AVImark can assist you with the process of defining these data fields using the VetTest instrument if you wish. That is, AVImark allows you to conduct an analysis at the VetTest, then use the results that the VetTest sends to AVImark to "auto-define" the appropriate data fields for the treatment in question. This method of defining your test result fields is particularly useful with panels, where several result fields must be defined. In addition, defining your fields this way insures that the fields are properly defined, with exactly the right field names and data types.

Field Result Names

Since AVImark knows which data fields to record the test results in based on their field names, it is obviously very important that each test result field has the proper name. Each analyte that you measure at the VetTest has a formal abbreviated identifier. For example, Albumin is identified by the VetTest as "ALB", and Phosphate is identified as "PHOS". You might expect that the additional field names that you would choose for your AVImark result fields would have to match these VetTest abbreviated identifiers. However, AVImark provides a means for expanding these abbreviations into more readable names, having up to 15 characters in length. You would identify Albumin as "Albumin" and Phosphate as "Phosphate".

In order to translate from the VetTest formal abbreviations to the more readable names, AVImark uses a System Table, called the “VetTest Chemistry table”. This table is automatically added to your AVImark database when you install Version 144. All the current VetTest analyte names are automatically entered as table entries. When test results are sent by the VetTest to AVImark, we use the entries in this system table to find the correct additional data field name in which to record the result. For example, when the VetTest sends AVImark the results of an Albumin test, VetTest sends the test result looking something like this:

ALB 34.5 mg/ml (15.3 - 54.5)

In order to locate the correct test result field in AVImark, AVImark first translates the formal abbreviation “ALB” sent by VetTest to the word "Albumin" using the System Table, then locates the correct test result field and records the result value.

Of course, if you allow AVImark to auto-define your test result fields, we will name each result field with the appropriate name, based on the entries in this table. However, if you choose to define the test result fields yourself, it is critical that you use the correct field names. Otherwise, AVImark will have trouble correctly recording the results in the right place. We would recommend printing out the VetTest Chemistry Table, then using the names shown to identify your fields. Be sure to indicate that each result field is of type "Decimal".

Auto-defining Result Fields

If you wish to have AVImark define the your result fields for you, follow these steps:

  1. Decide which AVImark treatment represents the test or panel that you want to auto-define, then locate that treatment in the AVImark Treatment List or enter that treatment into the appropriate patient’s Medical History. If you are in the Treatment List, double-click on the treatment, then click on the "More Stuff" check box in the lower right hand corner of the Change Treatment window. If you are in the Medical History of a patient, highlight the treatment in question, the right-click, More stuff, then Define Fields.
  2. Be sure you have the VetTest correctly attached to the workstation you are at and have the appropriate IDEXX test slide(s) for the test (or panel) you are working with. In addition, you will need a small quantity of Vetrol Control sample prepared.
  3. In the Additional Data Fields window, click on the "Work with" menu item at the top of the window, then click on the menu item called “IDEXX VetTest”. You will be prompted to “Click Ok, then go to the VetTest and press ‘6’ to Initialize Remote Devices”.
  4. Do this, and AVImark will prompt you to proceed with completing the test at the VetTest instrument. Proceed as directed on the VetTest with loading the appropriate slides. Start the analysis process and wait until it is complete. When the analysis is finished, you will be prompted to remove the sample tip from the probe, then press ‘E’. It is at this point that the VetTest sends over the test results.
  5. As the test results are sent to AVImark, you will suddenly see each of the test names appear as new fields in the “Define More Stuff” window. The field name(s) should be the more readable name(s) from the VetTest Chemistry table. If, however, the field name appears as simply the formal VetTest abbreviation (e.g. CHOL, instead of Cholesterol), this indicates that AVImark could not find an entry in the system table whose Code value matched the formal VetTest abbreviation—“CHOL” in this example. If this happens, you should go to the VetTest Chemistry table in Work with, System tables and either correct or add the appropriate entry, providing a Code value of the formal VetTest test abbreviation, and an appropriate 15-character or less name as the Description value.

It is highly recommended that you neither remove nor change entries in this system table without contacting AVImark technical support first, since we need to be “on board” with any changes you make. The changes you find to be necessary will probably be necessary for other AVImark users of this feature.