Praktika Newsletter May 2013, Issue 2
Scheduler / Appointment Book Update
There have been a few changes in the Scheduler / Appointment Book in the past two weeks that are worth mentioning. The changes concern both the looks and the functionality of the module.
The Scheduler mode now has a better visibility of selected buttons: a green “selected” icon and reversed out text. The Scheduler mode has also received a blue perimeter border to distinguish it visually from the Appointment mode. Other changes include improved cursors, customisable font size for Appoinment notes and Appointment blocks as well customisable provider colours.
Please read the details of those updates below.
Scheduler New Cursors
The new cursors in the Scheduler module are designed to be more uniform and easier to use. Praktika now uses operating system cursors that are faster and more stable. The cursors are still colour coded but most of them are represented as “standard” arrow pointers with a type icon attached at the bottom. This is the first step in preparation for some extra functionality of the Scheduler involving the fully customisable Treatment Types.
Scheduler Font Size
There are new customisable practice settings that allow you to change the font size of the Appontment blocks and notes as well as of the font size for the printed day schedules. Go to the Management Module -> Practice Details -> Scheduler to modify those font settings. You may need to refresh the screen for the settings to apply. For that click on the Practice Location Selector (top right corner) in the Scheduler and unselect and then select your location.
Scheduler Provider Colours
Now the provider colours can be selected by the users. Go to Management -> Practice Staff – > Colour column and click on the colour picker. The colours are given in a sequence that provides the maximum contrast within the colour pairs. We only suggest the best visual order, you can follow your preferred scheme.
Deleting Adjustments
There has bee a significant change in the way the account adjustments are handled. Now the adjustments can be simply removed without reversing them. For that, just select an adjustment and press the “-” (Minus) button. Note that all payments, transfer from deposits and refunds still require reversals.
Patient File – Date Joined
The personal file has got a new entry field – Date Joined. It is filled in automatically when a Patient Record is created, but it can be modified to reflect the day of the first visit. It is done to cover the cases when patient files are entered from the archived patient documents or when the data is converted from other sources. It is located under the personal photo of the Personal Info file.
User – Set Primary (Default) Location
User can now have their default locations specified (in case of multiple location practices). This is the location into which the user will login by default. You can set it in Management -> Practice Staff -> Primary Location column. First select the location you want to set as primary, then go to the setting and tick the box.
Staff Resignations per Location
Staff resignations and dismissals now work on the location basis. A staff member can be dismissed from one location, while still being active at other locations. Note that the “Lock out” function will still immediately terminate the staff member’s access to Praktika at any location.
Printing from Google Chrome under Windows
There are a few issues you should be aware of when it comes to printing from Praktika while running it in the Google Chrome browser (Windows). The Mac version seems to work OK (Version 26.0.1410.65 on Mountain Lion 10.8.3).Printing from Google Chrome under Windows
In the Windows Chrome version the print dialogue displays the wrong zoom setting of the page and tends to display the previously printed page rather than the current one. You can still use Windows Google Chrome browser with Praktika, but to avoid the printing problems, select “Print using system dialog…” setting rather than the internal print dialogue. (See the picture on the left). We hope that eventually Google will fix the bug which was documented several months ago.
