Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

For users or potential users.
Post Reply
User avatar
Rickliftig
Posts: 764
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: West Hartford, CT
Contact:

Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by Rickliftig » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:11 pm

In the latest release (6.9.4), automation is working 'jes fine!

So far, I am thinking of:
1) Post-op instructions to be printed when a procedure is set complete (like extraction)
2) New Patient forms being generated
3) The broken appointment letter generator

Does any one have any other ideas?

I am wondering if perhaps a Note/No fee type code could have a flag to print info sheets when treatment planning? I wonder how it could be triggered. For example, I TP a root canal and want the explanation sheet to print for the patient's information. Could it perhaps be triggered when a treatment plan is printed?

Would this be useful?
Another Happy Open Dental User!

Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net

User avatar
jordansparks
Site Admin
Posts: 5755
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:59 pm
Location: Salem, Oregon
Contact:

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by jordansparks » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:22 pm

#1 should already be functional. Post-op instructions can just be another kind of patient letter.

We're probably going to add a trigger for printing a statement. And we're probably going to start adding the ability to test for conditions, so that the trigger only happens for certain situations. One of the conditions I need immediately is when a custom patient field contains certain text. The action I need is for a certain note to show on the statement. But that's an odd action because it's only useful for one kind of trigger. So I'm going to have to think about that some more.

One very interesting condition would be if it just matched a single patNum. The list of automation entries would quickly get out of control in that case unless there was a place to view automation entries for individual patients. For example, popups could be moved over to this framework and tons of conditions added so that a popup only happened in the Chart module, for example. Or only when a certain claim was opened for a patient.

If we continue to broaden the usage and start using it for all sorts of behaviors, I would like to create a default set of behaviors hard coded into the program. One problem with the PracticeWorks automation is that it shipped empty. The user had to take a lot of effort to set it up. I would rather have it all baked in, and then let the user make lesser changes from there.

I know when the programmers from PracticeWorks started writing Kudzu, they built the automation before anything else because they thought that it could serve as a framework for many other features. http://www.lighthouse-pmg.com/kudzu-progress.phtml
Looks like their venture fizzled, though.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

User avatar
Rickliftig
Posts: 764
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: West Hartford, CT
Contact:

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by Rickliftig » Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:38 am

One thought I had before hitting the sack was a rudimentary branching system.

ie) Broken appointment trigger would give you the option of several letters to print depending on the circumstances.

- I like the idea of fully populating the behavior. This would be yet another argument for making sheets and dialogs easily exchangeable between users. Sort of the Open Dental version of 'skinning' an app.
Another Happy Open Dental User!

Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net

User avatar
Rickliftig
Posts: 764
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: West Hartford, CT
Contact:

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by Rickliftig » Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:41 am

BTW- in case it isn't obvious - the automation system is very cool - lots of potential here.
Another Happy Open Dental User!

Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net

User avatar
Rickliftig
Posts: 764
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: West Hartford, CT
Contact:

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by Rickliftig » Wed Jan 06, 2010 4:59 am

Just thought of another idea -
Verbal Script Generation/automation

Scenario:

Patient calls: "I have a toothache". The front desk activates a trigger and a list of interview questions pops up to guide the front desk(and will of course get entered in the comm log or chart)
Another Happy Open Dental User!

Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net

enamelrod
Posts: 462
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:51 am

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by enamelrod » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:01 pm

AM I JUST VENTING, BEING A CRY BABY OR ASKING FOR A REQUEST

This has been one of the few new features I have truly realized the possibilities but when I read it was being married to sheets. I almost just gave up on OD. I have tried and Tried to get Sheets to work and I am venting the Sheets have a long way to go before they are really useful. Maybe I am being harsh and impatient please someone chime in. When will sheets have any functions close to mail merge? It is a glaring weakness in this new features development. Is there any way to using acrobat to develop sheets and then insert the data over the pdf like you have done with the dental claim forms. I love the concept of automation, but the Sheets are soooo basic it makes the automation useless. I read Jordans comments about Curve Dental on Dtown and he really just touched on the tip of the iceberg with curve dental and there are some glaring problems with that PMS and I feel exactly the same about this feature. Will it be expanded or is it like curve dental’s cute graphics and weak engine. SAVE THE AUTOMATION FEATURE AND PLEASE GIVE US SOME DIRECTION GREAT LEADER. Where is OD headed with this sheets idea? Or can you scrap it for a PDF SOLUTION! I have heard it several times how people don’t want to have to buy extra programs but sometimes buying a program is a better choice then reinventing the wheel. Just like you have given into Windows server as a recommended choice for OD, Please either expand sheets or pick a way that will allow OD users to use the automation feature to its fullest.

And maybe the plugin architecture may be the answer. I will be the first to pay for plugins that work and are useful…sounds like you can knock yourself out with developing the android(OD) and Have everyone else sell their APPS to do all these features in demand. Like Outlook integration, Quickbook Integration, True report generation like crystal reports, asterisk integration, Integration with more robust message systems(spark), Confirmation systems, True supply tracking systems(fishbowl or DHPI system). Full xray integration with an apteryx style back end. And the list goes on.

PLEASE SAVE THE AUTOMATION. MAKE AUTOMATION WORK AND EVERYONE CAN GET RID OF ONE POSITION IN THEIR OFFICE AND YOU CAN RAISE YOU MONTHLY SUPPORT FEE.


I feel this feature is Second only to the Web Service which I am also banking on will be fully developed

User avatar
jordansparks
Site Admin
Posts: 5755
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:59 pm
Location: Salem, Oregon
Contact:

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by jordansparks » Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:48 pm

I don't think we would scrap sheets, but we are very open to offering a pdf alternative for those who wish. Sheets doesn't seem basic to me, but quite useful. What other dental software gives you total control over your Rx printout for example? Maybe if you explained what it was you were trying to do. I would even be happy to remote connect with you so I can see what the problem is. I honestly just don't get it and I think I need to see it. Can you call tomorrow (Friday) morning?

I was just on the Adobe website, and I'm happy to see the high level of documentation and toolkits available for developers. While we would gain awesome power, we would have to give up a few things like the signature boxes. Those would have to be moved outside the forms because Adobe doesn't do anything like that. There are also some things that we would still need to do whether we expand sheets or do it with Adobe, such as patient images. We need to pull the patient-specific images from the AtoZ folder and pass it to either the sheet or the pdf. Looks like it would require Adobe Acrobat Pro at $449 per workstation that wanted to generate and work with forms/letters. The pro version includes Adobe LiveCycle Designer, a professional form design tool. It's possible that many/most workstations could easily get by with Acrobat Standard at $299, especially if they were only generating pdf's rather than trying to input data into forms and have it flow into the database.

Finally, automation is certainly not married to sheets. Merge letters could also be an action.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

User avatar
jordansparks
Site Admin
Posts: 5755
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:59 pm
Location: Salem, Oregon
Contact:

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by jordansparks » Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:47 pm

Thank you for taking the time to remote connect to me and show me what you were trying to do. I understand now. There were two problems:

1. You were trying to implement routing slips, patient registration forms, and medical history forms in sheets. We do not yet support those types, but we are getting more votes all the time, and they are clearly popular requests. I would suggest not jumping the gun, but instead waiting for us to implement routing slips. That will give you access to those fields. You could still implement them now as patient letter types and that wouldn't be terrible, but the disadvantage is that you would have to set them up again as a routing slip later because you cannot change a sheet from one type to another.

2. If you have an existing complex form, you do not need to duplicate it all in sheets. Just convert it to an image and pop the image in as a sheet background. Then, the fields get dropped on top of the background. The result can be a sheet that looks very complex and gorgeous. I will make that more clear on the instructions.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

User avatar
jordansparks
Site Admin
Posts: 5755
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:59 pm
Location: Salem, Oregon
Contact:

Re: Lets Brainstorm the Automation Feature some more

Post by jordansparks » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:30 pm

This is getting off topic, so I'm going to finish this conversation in a new topic called "Patient registration forms".
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

Post Reply