Importing IOS work tickets across systems

MAFCDL

MAFCDL

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Hello laboratory braintrust -

We are about to start discussing a project in-house that will be a HUGE undertaking - but before we do, I want to make sure no one else has found a solution???

Here is the situation -

Our lab has seen a pretty solid and steady adoption of IOS from our accounts - however, we have also been on-boarding a solid number of new clients who still use analog methods. As a result, my front office is now importing RX's from 5 different IOS systems. Overall, not a HUGE deal, but when this data entry is added on top of a growing number of traditional RX's coming in, the time starts to add up. Printing all of the incoming cases from 3shape, iTero, Cerec, Medit, and carestream has become a time-consuming daily event. If they all allowed batch printing like iTero does, then we would be golden - but no. My hope was that as our IOS numbers increased our traditional work would decrease - but our sales crew is bringing in 3-5 new accounts each month and on average only one of them is using IOS...

Our front office does nothing with the scans themselves - just prints the work order and creates the case in our lab management system. The scans are reviewed/accepted by our CAD department at a later time. yes, I could hire more bodies to get the work done - but thats not usually how we roll. Our focus is on efficiency and technology-based solutions.

My plan is to have a software written that monitors each IOS portal and accepts the incoming cases and automatically prints the RX - this small task multiplied across the dozens of new IOS cases each day would save huge time/money - so the cost is not a concern. Its just simply not an easy program to write...

Please tell me i'm blind and that something like this is already out there just waiting to be purchased...or maybe someone has found a simpler solution?

Thanks in advance for any ideas at all you have...

I hope everyone is pacing themselves during the end of the year rush, and getting ready to take some well deserved down-time with family and friends.

Merry Holidays and Happy Christmas.
 
CoolHandLuke

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a myriad of portals accomodate this, for example Labstar.

you create a login for your client, they attach their cases, you receive everything in one format. downside includes teaching new accounts to use unfamiliar software, and troublshooting clients that aren't using it regularly.

there is also DDX portal, same thing

simplest most adoptable way is an upload button on your lab website and have a human dedicated to sorting, importing and printing. far fewer errors this way.
 
MAFCDL

MAFCDL

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a myriad of portals accomodate this, for example Labstar.

you create a login for your client, they attach their cases, you receive everything in one format. downside includes teaching new accounts to use unfamiliar software, and troublshooting clients that aren't using it regularly.

there is also DDX portal, same thing

simplest most adoptable way is an upload button on your lab website and have a human dedicated to sorting, importing and printing. far fewer errors this way.
To clarify, the portal on our website would be asking the offices to physically export the file from their IOS system and upload it to our website?

Additionally, I always thought Labstar and DDX are essentially lab management software? or are they simply pass-through from the IOS system to Evident (our current lab management software)

I'm not sure getting several hundred practices to adopt a new upload process that requires more steps than the simple "choose your lab" drop-down in their current IOS system would be logistically possible...but if others have been able to show clients the value and get them to transition I'd be very open to the idea...
 
CoolHandLuke

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To clarify, the portal on our website would be asking the offices to physically export the file from their IOS system and upload it to our website?

Additionally, I always thought Labstar and DDX are essentially lab management software? or are they simply pass-through from the IOS system to Evident (our current lab management software)

I'm not sure getting several hundred practices to adopt a new upload process that requires more steps than the simple "choose your lab" drop-down in their current IOS system would be logistically possible...but if others have been able to show clients the value and get them to transition I'd be very open to the idea...
yes, they are lab management tools. this kind of thing is baked into many lab management tools. that's what i was getting at.

which leads to the rub.

if you yourself don't believe docs would be willing to jump through these hoops, you'll never keep them.

yes it should be simple to get from A to B, but as so much software is locked, proprietary, or gated behind paywalls for modules (most locked systems can opt to pay for the unlock) this kind of simple solution simply has no ecosystem to grow.

writing some sort of program to funnel it all through ftp's also too much of a beast, because again it relies on customers learning another tool.

itero made it so that even if you dropdown and select a lab, it still passes through itero who stores it on their portal.

that alone circumvents your program idea.

manual export is the only way to make something like this even work, and you can't get behind it, be sure your clients won't either.
 
MAFCDL

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yes, they are lab management tools. this kind of thing is baked into many lab management tools. that's what i was getting at.

which leads to the rub.

if you yourself don't believe docs would be willing to jump through these hoops, you'll never keep them.

yes it should be simple to get from A to B, but as so much software is locked, proprietary, or gated behind paywalls for modules (most locked systems can opt to pay for the unlock) this kind of simple solution simply has no ecosystem to grow.

writing some sort of program to funnel it all through ftp's also too much of a beast, because again it relies on customers learning another tool.

itero made it so that even if you dropdown and select a lab, it still passes through itero who stores it on their portal.

that alone circumvents your program idea.

manual export is the only way to make something like this even work, and you can't get behind it, be sure your clients won't either.
I'm sure we could convert a good majority of our existing Docs into having to export from their scanners - I'm just not sure how I feel about having to dump presenting that friction on my sales team when it comes to on-boarding new clients...

My philosophy has always been that as a lab we will never dump "our" problems on our clients to solve - spending extra time to import cases is very much an "us problem" not a "them problem" -- so I'll probably stay focused on internal solutions for now.

I'll take a look at the other lab management software options, but with our new access to a software development team our best option might be a ground-up custom operating software. The interface challenges with each of the scanner companies you mentioned is a definite reality that will have to be navigated - however, I've been surprised how much internal code/data certain companies have been willing to share/sell so far...

Thanks for talking this one out with me - gave me a lot of new questions/directions to bring back to my team and the computer geeks..

Happy New Year!
 

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