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For the dentists: I get many questions regarding what software we use. I looked at practice management software, and chose Dentech. The unix-based program does NOT present a problem in our office. In fact, it rarely crashes (versus the many windows-based machines throughout the office). Dentech has gone one-step further, and made it simple to integrate windows and Unix. They wrote a program which allows me to hit two keys (<shift> F10) and open the same patient in the Vipersoft database. PC's throughout the office allow us to access either program from anywhere. Note that all ops use PC's, not unix terminals. The staff can bring up Viper, Word, Excel, Dentech, etc, all from the same screen. Dental Office Software:
Customization: I must give credit where credit is due. I wrote all the macros and scripts, but not without the help of Compuserve's Excel, Word, and SCO forums! UNIX: These are variation on a theme. Dentech has a program which automagically generates certain reports. I'm using the power of unix 'cron' to automate tasks. These commands run nightly, and will automatically forward copies of reports generated from Dentech via email, to my notebook computer. I use "Outlook2000" for internet and intranet email, and don't have to remember to hunt around the dental system when reports are generated. They just appear in the Inbox! I also cover for several colleagues when they're out of the office. Several also have unix-based software, and we're able to email the progress notes for patients I may treat while they're gone. Our office doesn't have to print and fax a copy of the progress notes; we send it electronically. Windows: This batch file runs nightly on a win98 box, and moves all the pictures we capture from win98 to a Unix server. These files (along with the dental software) then get backed up nightly onto a 24gig DDS3 tape. The video stuff is over 5gig in size, and without this batch file, takes roughly 8 hours to run over a 100baseT network. The 'date' script knocks it down to a two minute procedure!
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