optical software

[SPECS]

CAN ANYONE HELP ME WITH INFO ON CHOOSING SOFTWEAR FOR LOGGING INFO ON NEW PATIENTS.i AM OPENING A NEW STORE AND WOULD LIKE TO GET A JUMP ON THIS .THANK YOU

[RichardS]

I don't know what the specfic needs of your practice are, the one thing that I can tell you NOT to get is Office Mate.

If you are strapped for cash, get a basic computer and set the whole thing up in Access, very basic and very flexable. From there, you have data in a format that is easily transferable to other programs.

Should you decide to get Office Mate (God help you if you do), DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ELSE ON THE COMPUTER! This is because the horrible experiences that I had with them might have been related to the fact that we had MS Office on the computer.

Just a thought!

Richard "Thank God For This Message Board Otherwise I Would Be Bored To Death vs. Tears " S

[Texas Ranger]

I can only say that I've used the eyecom2 software from healthline systems in san Diego,Ca. for about 14 years, converted to their windows version 3 or 4 years ago, it has really been a blessing. Al.

[Alan W]

There is no optical retail or practice management software more powerful and versatile than C.O.S. by CC Systems in Largo Florida.

It will run under Windows, but it's a DOS based program. Beautiful to look at? NO Absolute power and control from technical to accounting and guerilla marketing YES!

The files are Foxbase and very compatible with other systems if you should ever change them. Their web site www.opticalonline.com
alows you to download a full working program with a maximum of 500 patients free. If you buy it they unlock it. No one has been able to produce a program that dos more than this one except for the features that only Windows can do. But, that is NOT a good criteria, since most professional point of sale systems in other industries are not Windows based.

[Jodi]

Check out Filopto practice management software by ACCRA Med at www.filopto.com.
Very powerful and very affordable!

[Spex]

You may want to check out Luxottica's EZFrame. It's affordable & works fine for me. There are a few things that are different than some of the others out there but it does what I need it to do.

Good Luck!

[sukh_d]

I would recommend My Vision Express Optician software from www.myvisionexpress.com . It is full of features and very affordable..only $895 for the whole location. It is not priced in 1000's nor is it per machine..It is for the whole store.

It is packed with features such as

Patient information
Order entry
Inventory
Insurance
Correspondence
Marketing
Commissions
Accounting
Appointment scheduling
Detailed reporting
Employee Time Clock
Backup and restore
Fully HIPAA compliant

I would order a FREE demo that you can use for 90 days and find out for yourself. For details visit their website at www.myvisionexpress.com

[Steve Machol]

sukh_d,

I assume you either offer this software directly or have some other financial interest in it. If so, please be follow the OptiBoard Posting Guidelines which state:

Please identify all potential conflicts of interest clearly. If you are commenting on an issue or product that you have a financial interest in, you must identify this relationship.

Thank you! :)

[trevbigg]

I help develop a PM system on the market. I am not going to promote that software, because my opinion would be biased towards it. It is a wonderful product.

Which also makes me add, these are my private opinions and not those of my employer.

What I do want to talk about is the idea of using Excel and Access and Fox Pro and trying to cobble together a program to make your own PM system. Can it be done? Yes. Will it reflect the way your office functions, and your office flow? Yes. Is it initially cheaper than buying a PM package. Maybe – some PM’s are cheaper than some legitimate copies of Microsoft products, with proper licenses for each of your workstations.

But that does not reflect the cost of your time in programming and maintaining your own product, and the features you will not be able to really create and maintain (claim filing, claim printing, etc.).

Also, what is your main job? To be a programmer or to be an eye care practitioner?

I realize from looking at many products on the market. And I have looked at them all … both desktop and on line… there are many issues with all of them. If they have all the features you want, they are too complex for your staff in the things they do every day. If they are simple, it is because they lack depth in the things your staff does all day. And – as has been pointed out – they crash. (By the way OfficeMate uses Access which is an unreliable database for an office/mission critical program, so even making a program with it on your own is a gamble.) And they force you – in some cases – to manage your practice in a way that does not work for the patients you see. (Sometimes for the better.)

My opinion, most likely not that of the vendors, but…
Find one that works for you – at your current level of staff competency, your practice maturity, and practice specialty.

Go here for a list of various PMs. And I think even OptiBoard in their links list a few.
http://directory.google.com/Top/Busi...ce_Management/
http://www.eyecaremall.com/software.html
http://www.eyecareinfo.com/professionals/computer.shtml

For example for a new office – while OfficeMate has some issues. It is friendly, and easy to use. And relatively inexpensive. I know I will get beaten for this next comment, but buyer beware, cheaper has a limit. RLI is cheap in all senses of the word. And while cheap may work for a new office. This may not.

Established but newly growing offices may consider Compulink or on the higher end Maximeyes. The one from CCSystems is great for a multi office environment.

For a high end office Maximeyes and maybe ODProfessional (given price/features) are choices. But complex and I would have to wonder – how much of what you paid for – are you really using fully/effectively. You would not start off with Maximeyes as a new Dr! Unless you were independently wealthy.

Which brings up a point. You are most likely going to transition and grow out of your software. So make sure you can move data from one system to another. And make sure you know what you can move. Lots of people tout that we “will migrate all your data”. Not true. Not everything comes over. In many cases the detail of the transactions can not come over. And if they could I would have to wonder – are you moving up the software chain – or just “over”.

Your home grown system (or current PM) should be HIPAA compliant, and secure. And know who you are buying from. Some PMs are on the edge. It is an expensive, low margin business.
Call their customer care “hot line” several times during the day. Do they answer?

There was a website called
http://threedot.com/insideeyetech/OS...ologyGuide.htm

Which is not up (as you can tell) which had this PDF on it. Lined them all up. 40 pages of very detailed analysis. Great stuff. Wish you could get more of this info. (yes I can email it .. it is rather large.. or better maybe it can be posted elsewhere on this site.)

If you like it… write to the owner.. nickmathe@threedot.com or nmathe@PACBELL.NET
I don’t know him. Don’t have an opinion of him or his work.

If you want to see the site before it went down.. you can use Google for cached pages or go to www.archive.org.

[Texas Ranger]

Specs, So just curious, what did you finally acquire?