If you want a simple webcam software link to show up in OD to start your generic webcam software, just go to setup/program links and add 'Webcam' for button name, then enter the capture program's exact workstation file location into the appropriate box in OD/add/program links. (example c:\\Program Files\webcamsoftware\webcam.exe) Click the enable button. The program button will appear in OD on all your workstations. There's also an option to make it show on one top line or another in OD -- your choice.
Note : Every workstation should have the same software and folder location for the webcam button to work.
Note : This simple program link won't do anything more than start the webcam software -- there is no connection to patient names or chart #s. But you can at least start up the capture software while in OD by clicking an OD button.
Intraoral camera -- The webcam capture program (soft.exe) that came with my 2M wifi IO camera (China ebay $250) keeps the folder name of the last saved image between uses -- I set it up at every workstation so it saves to an Intraoral folder in the Images folder on my server. The program also asks for a name and saves with the name plus a date and time stamp, plus unique picture number. Works fine...
Patient pictures -- I have a simple generic 2Meg webcam at the front desk workstation that takes patient photos. It can use the same capture software and program button as the IO camera. On the front desk computer, the webcam software can remember saving to a ptpictures folder on the Images folder on the server. Again, you have to manually enter a name, but it saves any pictures with the name plus a time and day stamp plus unique picture number.
Digitizing old school xrays -- Ebay China also offers a $150 digitizer for xrays that is basically a webcam in a 3" box with a slide out tray to hold #2 xrays. It can use the same webcam capture software as your intraoral and patient picture webcam software, which means it can also use the same webcam button on OD. Ditto here about setting the webcam capture software to save to the server, only one might use a DigitizedXrays folder on the server's Image folder. Again, you have to manually enter a name, but it saves with a name plus time and day stamp plus unique picture number. Also, you might want to set the capture resolution towards the high side to get the best quality digitized xrays you can. I think it remembers this setting between uses.
It's a modestly simple task to import these various webcam images into OD for any particular patient. Select a patient (click on their appointment or select manually), click images, click import, and find the folder and thumbnail of pictures (or digizited xrays) that you want to import to that patient. OD will also ask you if its an xray, photo, or patient picture when it associates imported pictures with a patient record. You can also manually import captured photos, IOs, and xrays into many digital xray software systems by similar means, if that's what you want to do. Having them all on a common server folder helps simplify this task. If you are going to associate xrays and/or photos with insurance claims, it may be easiest to have them imported into OD for linking with an electronic claim.
Would it be nice if there were a simple generic webcam software with OD button that all of these generic webcams could use to directly capture and associate into a patient's OD file? Well, duh... Like the sun rises in the east? In the meantime, the simple webcam program button defined above and generic webcam software that comes with some of these devices may provide some utility.