June 2011

Coming this summer...

Here are a few of the enhancements in the July release (DQB 1.27):

Master Scheduler:  This has a brand new interface.  Comparable to the previous sets that included units scheduled, completed, and the daily limit for each workcenter for each month and day, each set will now occupy a larger space and use color to distinquish scheduled vs. completed.  Analytics on your workload will include the percentage booked (units scheduled vs. limit) and then percentage completed (completed vs. scheduled).

Standard Procedures:  When you request a standard procedure in case entry, you will now be warned if any of the items have been deleted or made inactive in QuickBooks.  You can then delete or replace each of these items in the standard procedure.

Backup Procedure:  To prevent receiving a message saying the database is in use when attempting to backup the DQB data, extra routines have been added to the Backup Utility to delete the history data, set the database to single-user mode and then drop the connection so that the backup process will run smoothly without interruption.

The full list of updates will soon be added to our website. Those who have an up-to-date service agreement will be able to call for the authorization codes and download the release.

Projects Underway

The Customer Center in the newer Home Page design began with a number of already existing sets of information for customers such as activity logs, alerts, pickup requests, profiles, etc. This summer we will be continuing this project toward the goal of creating more features similar to the ones we had in our legacy DentaLab systems for bringing together all the information related to a customer in one easy-to-use place so that customer reviews, telephone calls and other communications would flow easily and be complete.

In additon to the customer-centric approach, we will include a date-centric approach so that all the transactions for a specific date for any and all customers will be shown in a grid, much like an organized to-do list to honor requests, check on alerts, perform followups and whatever else needs to be accomplished.

We will also be exploring the possibility of introducing Intuit Anywhere into your systems to provide for greater access through a variety of mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones.

The new tutorials on our website have been a nice success and our requests for critiques brought in not only reviews for the these but new suggestions for the system in general.   We will next begin developing the tutorials for the DQB supplements, beginning with Image Scanning. 

Holidays

Upcoming next month will be the USA's Independence Day on July 4, which conveniently falls on a Monday this year, providing a long holiday weekend.    Our offices will be closed but we will check on voicemail and email for those in other countries. 

Our July Specials

These special offers begin now and will be valid through July 31, 2011:

DentalRx:  We are making a special offer to encourage more of you to explore the many benefits of implementing DentalRx for online prescription entry, case lookups and other communications with your dental offices.   For those who license 3 or more DQB users plus one or more DQB supplements and enter into a service agreement, we are offering a DentalRx license at no additional charge (this is a $1600 value!).

If you are already licensed for DQB and further license users and/or supplements valued at $1600 or more and are covered by or execute a new service agreement, this same offer will be extended to you. 

Image Scanning Supplement: Following her husband's serious auto accident, Elaine spent much time in hospitals, rehabilitation centers and radiology centers and took note how these professional healthcare centers are handling electronic health records (EHR).   One very important component of these is the immediate scanning of every document-- authorization, diagnosis, prescription, treatment, test result--into the patient's health records.  She asked if they kept the paper for any length of time and they said no, the paper is put into secured HIPPA bins and then every week a mobile unit comes and shreds it. To encourage more of you to implement image scanning, we are offering a license to the DQB Image Scanning Supplement for a reduced fee of $320, a savings of $80.

For those who have been using the DQB Starter version, we offer a combined upgrade to the Standard version plus the Image Scanning license for a fee of $420, a savings of $180.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:  We accidentally entered the same case twice.   When we tried to delete the first case entry, DQB says it is in use by another user.  What can we do to delete this case?

A:  Case locking and unlocking is normally handled automatically within DQB, except in rare cases when DQB does not get the opportunity to unlock the open case before closing.  Cases are locked during entry/edit to prevent editing by multiple users and then unlocked when the action is completed, but if DQB is temporarily disconnected or unexpectedly prevented from clearing the lock, you would get the message that the case record is in use.   To clear this, at a point when case entry is not in progress, go to Options/Case Settings and click Unlock All Cases, then confirm this and you will be able to delete or edit the case.

Q:  We want to label each model with the patient name.  Do you have a report listing all the patient names for all the cases received each day so that we can cut and tape these on the models?

A:  We often find that those who have not had a case management system before or who have not had one proficient in the special needs of a dental lab will find ways to accomplish their tasks working with whatever they have at hand.   This is true also for those who have been trying to manage their lab with just QuickBooks.  A better way to accomplish the labeling needed for models would be to invest in a small label printer and then choose one of the many case labels provided by DQB that include a patient name and print a label in conjunction with each case entry. 

Q:  In the Customer Activity and Profile reports there are several dates relevant to the customer shown.   Can you tell us when each of these are set?

A: Here's the rundown:

Date First Active is set to the current date when the first case for a customer is entered into the computer.  Once this field is changed from null (empty) to a date for the customer, it is no longer updated.

Date Last Active is set to the current date whenever a new case is entered or an existing case is edited or invoiced.  The date is always checked to make sure it is later than the prior Date Last Active for a customer.

Most Recent Case is set to the Enter date whenever a new case is entered into the computer.  The date is always checked to make sure it is later than the prior Most Recent Case for a customer.

Everybody Goofs...

Does everyone goof at one time or another?  Yes, they do....even the most self-disciplined will make a mistake from time to time.  This is why the phrase "to err is human" has become so widely known and why it is good to have software that is forgiving, that let's you correct your errors.   This has been the one of the hallmarks of QuickBooks for many years and has come to be one of the strengths of DentaLab for QuickBooks as well.  Some samples:

• If you have assigned a case to the wrong doctor, you can change to the correct doctor without having to re-enter the entire case again.
• If you have chosen the wrong item during case entry, you can simply highlight it in the grid and delete it.
• If you discover that you have created an incorrect case invoice, you can simply re-invoice the case and overwrite the incorrect one. 
• If you find you have misspelled a patient name, you can either correct it in the case record or correct it when creating the case invoice and DQB will know to also correct the case record.
  

And on and on the list goes.  If you find you have made a mistake and do not know quite how to fix it, you can also call upon your support team to guide you through the process.

We Love Logmein

For remote support to your computer system, the service we most frequently use is called Logmein.  This is software designed by a USA expatriate who moved to Hungary and established a very successful company.   There are various versions of paid licenses to Logmein, but also a free limited version that serves many very well.  We have been told time and time again by many of our users how very much they appreciate this service and our using it as part of service.

If you work all or part of the time at a location remote from your lab computer system, you can log into your lab by using Logmein.   You can learn more about this service by going to www.logmein.com.   If you decide to go ahead with it, you will be establishing a login id and password. If you plan to frequently log in remotely, you may want to explore their service called Ignition for Windows that allows you access with just one click.   The fee for this is currently $9.95 per year.

Fake Alerts - Spreading Like Wildfire

We are hearing that one particular type of internet malware has been spreading like wildfire.   It comes in the form of a fake alert, appearing to be coming from a reputable-sounding company, telling you that your system has been compromised in some way, then offering to fix it for a fee, coaxing you to turn over your credit card information.

These have been spreading so fast that the anti-virus companies are having a hard time keeping up with them.  Systems thought to be well protected by firewalls at the modem level along with various software security measures are being hit with these trojans.  We want you to be aware of this phenomenon and to tune in to possible solutions that may be coming forth from trusted security providers to keep you safe from these illegal get-rich-quick schemes.

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