The Help Desk
Medical Packages
Medical Director for Windows
Monet (Doctor's Desktop, MediMin)
| Medical Director | |
| Functions | Patient database / scripts |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Distributor | Medical Director |
| Contact | Dr Frank Pyefinch, fpyefinch@md.com.au |
| Web Site | http://www.md.com.au |
Survey Results
Functions used by respondents
| Appointments | 2 | Billing | 3 |
| CPI Handouts | 4 | Full Consultation Records | 3 |
| HIC Medclaims | 3 | Networked | 5 |
| Pathology Downloads | 6 | Patient Education | 8 |
| Patient Health Summaries | 8 | Prescriptions | 7 |
| Recalls | 5 | Referral Letters | 6 |
| Travel Information | 7 | Waiting Room Times |
Other Functions
| one comment I would make is about a previous billing package that I used and that is misoft/mita I was bittely disappointed in this in followup and far too expensive I also purchased a Jam patient education module which I thought was a little too expensive and also not very comprehensive with no updates - Solo GP, 10/12 16:04 |
| Ante-natal records, diabetes and CVD records, chart children's percentile growth charts, audit, - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| Demographic analysis. - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| ante-natal record, resp function, diabetic record, cardiovascular risk, metric conversion, height/weight - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| Limited clinical measurement data collation. Also use CVS risk calculator as a very effective compliance & motivational tool. - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| Immunisation records,clinical history, database searches - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| Occupational Health Screening, cardiovascualr risk assessment - Group GP, 28/1/99 14:28 |
| letter writing - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| medical record - Specialist Practice, 16/6/99 9:10 PM |
| theNewAddress - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| I run MDW on a Macintosh using Win98 emulation. This platform is more stable than the dedicated Windows PC's that other doctors in our practice use - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| Genie - Group GP, 1/3/00 9:36 PM |
| Pathology and Radiology Requests - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| INR moniotring, diabetic monitoring, aged care assessments, research - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
Costs of Installation & Ongoing Costs
| MDW - $200pa - -Solo GP |
| $4500-$6000 - Group GP |
| Costs of package minimal, cost of upgrading machines major cost - Group GP |
| cheap, easy - Group GP, 05/12 9:12 |
| very reasonable one off cost no/minimal ongoing costs - Solo GP, 10/12 16:01 |
| We have a 5 PC LAN, which all up cost about $15,000 over 12-15 months. Ongoing costs are minimal for software as MDW and MediDesk are $200/yr and $495/yr repsectively. If you set it up right first, your ongoing costs should be small and you should orientate yourself that way, at least until your off first base. - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| Labour costs in setting up an NT network is significant. However, Medical Director has been far more stable under NT than under Win95 and worth the extra investment. - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| a bargain - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| Cost of hardware & setup is a big initial cost.MDW is dirt cheap yet far exceeds value for money than almost all other packages. value / cost ratio for accounting packages in my view is far too small & could easily be improved if software suppliers consulted GPs when designing. - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| Minimal ongoing costs,very low subscription/maintenance fee, significant cost in setting up Windows NT servers but worthwhile investment to achieve reliability and security - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| Hardware upgrades are the major cost, and maintenance of the network - Group GP, 28/1/99 14:28 |
| very good value for money - Solo GP, 30/3/99 1:42 PM |
| Excellent - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| $3,000-4,000 - Specialist Practice, 16/6/99 9:10 PM |
| Medical Director is fairly cheap. Windows costs lot to run in terms of harware repairs and consultancy fees - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| MD is cheap Rx is expensive - Group GP, 10/12/99 10:21 PM |
| $25,000 - Group GP, 29/1/00 11:10 PM |
| Always needing the support engineer. FUnctions not working properly have grossly delayed full implementation - Group GP, 27/8/2000 4:34 PM |
| $200 p.a. plus time - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| Medilink expensive. Support expensive but now good. Poor at around time of GST. Porgram seems stable so hope to dispense with annual fee for upgrades and support. Medical Director was fantastic a few years ago. Now the whole practice dreads the 3 monthly upgrade. Continual large costs associated with upgrading the hardware. Every 3 month there are problems and the systems goes slower again until more RAM is pruchased. - Group GP, 20/6/2001 10:44 PM |
| Operating system was excessively expensive - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
Time involved in establishing the package
| Fun!! - -Solo GP |
| A few days with a little help from some computer nerds from the CQ uni and a lot of study and research before the actual establishment. - Group GP |
| minimal required, few hours only - Group GP |
| simple and brief updating process - Group GP, 05/12 9:12 |
| current system has been very time efficient in setup - Solo GP, 10/12 16:01 |
| The biggest establishment problem is the data entry phase for your clinical system. It takes about 12 months to get the info in on average and there is no way round that. i.e. just get on and do it. Then you can generate meaningful info, some as age-sex registers, no. of patients with hypothyroidism etc, health summaries, comprehensive referral letters. Once you are over that hump (allow about a year to get a majority of patients in) it is pretty much clear sailing if you have a stable well set-up system. - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| Several months to fully debug the entire setup. We do have a fairly comprehensive computer system now, however. - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| very simple to set up and easy to use - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| Very little time spent when using windows operating sys. Very time consuming using Unix.There is real problems finding expert tech help. - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| Established progressively over a 2 year period so time spent was never a real issue - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| Ongoing 1-2 hours per week - Group GP, 28/1/99 14:28 |
| rather intuitive,short time - Solo GP, 30/3/99 1:42 PM |
| Very good - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| 6 months - Specialist Practice, 16/6/99 9:10 PM |
| Time consuming. Frequent Medical Director updates DO NOT WORK and contain bugs and we need th re-update when a 'Patch' is produced. - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| Started with billing and slowly moved to appointments, path, scripts, referals, scanned reports and then full patient records - Group GP, 10/12/99 10:21 PM |
| 1 year - Group GP, 29/1/00 11:10 PM |
| Too long - Group GP, 27/8/2000 4:34 PM |
| Lots; every upgrade has new problems that is takes time to sort out. The latest version v2.6 is particularly frustrating - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| Establishing medical director was very quick but keeping it going is very time consuming now. medilink the oposite. Lots of training time and glitches in the beginning. now works well with little input. - Group GP, 20/6/2001 10:44 PM |
| installation was easy - though my associates have resisted adequate security - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
Level of Support received from developers
| Excellent - -Solo GP |
| Excellent support from Peter Murphy (Pracsoft). MD support has also excellent prefessional support. - Group GP |
| very good as needed, support personel very helpful - Group GP |
| excellent; phone has 1 800 number and email gets quick response - Group GP, 05/12 9:12 |
| low level now occasional phone call good tutorial and installation and trouble shooting guide - Solo GP, 10/12 16:01 |
| I have found the phone support from MIMS and MDW to be excellent and being via a 1800 number makes it very convenient. - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| Support from Medical Director has been very good considering the large number of people they support. We have had to do a a fair bit ourselves, relying on both in house expertise as well as our hardware and network suppliers. - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| excellent support with prompt and appropriate help whenever I need it - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| Med Director support stands out as an example to software suppliers. Superb! - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| Excellent and timely support with very helpful attitude, problems occur at times resulting from the ongoing development of the software but they are typically handled effectively by the MD staff with a helpful attitude - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| Telephone support usually good - Group GP, 28/1/99 14:28 |
| good - Solo GP, 30/3/99 1:42 PM |
| Excellent - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| at any time - Specialist Practice, 16/6/99 9:10 PM |
| MDW phone support is ok and often helpful - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| Rx Poor MD good - Group GP, 10/12/99 10:21 PM |
| Good - Group GP, 29/1/00 11:10 PM |
| usually good, but since HCN have taken over, the support level seems to be inferior to previous - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| Med director now difficult to access. Medilink good by phone and modem. - Group GP, 20/6/2001 10:44 PM |
| very good - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
Functionallity & Benefits of the Sytem
| Excellent - -Solo GP |
| Instant access to patient records and billing. Demographic and othr clinical data can be extracted. - Group GP |
| Medical Director script writing is first class, full patient records slow down consultation somewhat but quicker if dont use pick lists, and can type - Group GP |
| indispensible - Group GP, 05/12 9:12 |
| works well am very happy would not go back to manual - Solo GP, 10/12 16:01 |
| Overall they have been very well thought out. - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| We are attempting to go paperless. When it all works it is great. When it doesn't its a great source of frustration. A combination paper electronic medical record is the worst combination. - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| excellent, easy to use I find the travel medicine particulary useful - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| Extremely user friendly & relevant. Saves heaps of time & fun to use. Patients love it. Pharmcists , hospital staff like it. - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| Major benefits in prescribing, immunisation and pathology results - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| excellent - Solo GP, 30/3/99 1:42 PM |
| Excellent - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| saves me a lot of filing time for my medical records since 1985 - Specialist Practice, 16/6/99 9:10 PM |
| Better organisation of records. Faster prescribing. - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| MD great - Group GP, 10/12/99 10:21 PM |
| Ease, sped, safety, easy recall - Group GP, 29/1/00 11:10 PM |
| excellent prescribing, but Authority scrips are not well done on the latest version - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| Now looking at alternatives to medical director. Rumors now in June 2001 that a major upgrade will occur in 6 months requiring even more hardware. If so we will abandon MD after 6 years. Medilink works well though some of the summaries could be better. - Group GP, 20/6/2001 10:44 PM |
| poor use by my associates makes the functionality more limited than it should be - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
Suggestions and Improvements
| Mainly billing errors from HIC or Workers Comp that has to be rebilled or whatever can be fiddly at times. - Group GP |
| lots of minor improvements but major improvement would be voice activation for non typists - Group GP |
| Make a link please - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| Many user suggestions are incorporated into the program but the pace of change is sometimes frustratingly slow. The implementation of HL7 (http://www.standards.org.au/tas/1998/sep/features/t1909f07/t1909f07.htm) for pathology and later clinical data will be of great benefit. - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| room for alcohol intake and family history, easier access to patient's page from recall screen. it does crash more than I'd like - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| No - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| More detailed documentation to assist practice 'IT managers' - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| An appointment calender would be good - also be able to see a week at a time - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| Make a Mac version so that we can use quality hardware and a stable OS. - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| Recalls can be improved to have reminders as well as recalls. - Group GP, 10/12/99 10:21 PM |
| List of ailments with possible forms of treatments. - Group GP, 29/1/00 11:10 PM |
| link pathology and radiology requests - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| Summaries for medilink to say how many individual patient seen. Counts 2 item nos as 2 patients. - Group GP, 20/6/2001 10:44 PM |
| many - have directed these to supplier - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
Other comments. To whom would you recommend the Package
| Just about anyone - |
| Anyone who wants robust hassle free computerisation of a practice should go for this combination. - Group GP |
| Recommend Medical Director to any GP - Group GP |
| All doctors whether GP specialist or in casualtys - Group GP, 05/12 9:12 |
| Both are very highly recommendable to any GP. - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| Medical Director has progressed significantly over the last four years that I have used it. It is not perfect but - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| all GPs should have computerised prescribing - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| Any Dr in GP especially if just getting started in computers. - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| Flexibility of function allows for variation in computer experience of practice doctors, can be introduced progressively with no big hurdles in the process (except for the obvious hardware & OS costs) - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| ATS for small/group practices Pathology downloads for all - really useful Heartack fantastic tool for increasing business in the corporate area - Group GP, 28/1/99 14:28 |
| all GP's - Solo GP, 30/3/99 1:42 PM |
| have already recommended it to other GP's - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| I run MDW on a Macintosh using Win98 emulation. This platform is more stable than the dedicated Windows PC's that other doctors in our practice use - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| MD is great for everyone - Group GP, 10/12/99 10:21 PM |
| Recommend that all doctors use it. - Group GP, 29/1/00 11:10 PM |
| At this time, I would not recommend this software and I am actively researching an alternative - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| To medical director. For goodness sake continue with a lower end package requiring less hardware and computing knowhow. Not everyone want to look up the latest rubarb on the desk during the consultation. - Group GP, 20/6/2001 10:44 PM |
| the limitations of the software make expanding functionality difficult but make research easy because of the limited number of fields. A fully normalised database would be better - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
Software used in conjuction with this package
| I use Pracsoft for billing- Solo GP |
| Pracsoft Microsoft Works - Group GP |
| sidekick, quicken not at this stage using a billing package - Group GP |
| I use Pracsoft and Medical director they interface so well I consider them to be modules of one program - Group GP, 06/12 20:30 |
| pracsoft - Solo GP, 10/12 16:01 |
| We use MIMS MediDesk, which currently does not have a direct link with Medical Director. It is very good value for money as a front desk billing program, robust and a good one for entry into computerising your front desk. I like the fact that both companies are bound to be around in years to come, a must for buying a program. - Group GP, 3/1/99 11:22 |
| PracSoft. Windows NT Small Business Server, scanner and CD-ROM burning software. - Group GP, 3/1/99 9:39 |
| I use MYOB for billing - Solo GP, 29/12/98 19:33 |
| Medilink for practice management. Medisense diabetes data record. Internet & email on Dr's desk. LAN to reception & another computer for word processing. Am trying to get voice activation up & going. - Solo GP, 7/1/99 17:07 |
| PracSoft,scanning software - Group GP, 10/1/99 17:21 |
| ATS billing system - Group GP, 28/1/99 14:28 |
| Pracsoft - Solo GP, 30/3/99 1:42 PM |
| Pracsoft and MD - Solo GP, 3/6/99 9:19 AM |
| Mediflex, Ksoft - Group GP, 11/8/99 8:14 PM |
| Rx billing used in conjunction. Dos version - Group GP, 10/12/99 10:21 PM |
| Pracsoft - Group GP, 29/1/00 11:10 PM |
| Pracsoft - Group GP, 27/8/2000 4:34 PM |
| Quickbooks Pro - Specialist Practice, 19/11/2000 12:16 PM |
| CD Room anatomy atlas - Group GP, 20/6/2001 10:44 PM |
| Access 2000 - Group GP, 12/8/2001 12:07 PM |
| Functionality | 7 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Ease of Use | 10 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| Reliability | 10 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 7 |
| Value | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| Overall Score | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
|
Nigel Farrier, nfarrier@southwest.com.au Reggie Ba-Pe Jr., rbape@cqnet.com.au Eric Orgias, eorgias@bigpond.com Peter Tribe, pwt@patash.com.au Rob Trigger, robt@om.com.au Dr Steve Wilson, swilson@dana.wanet.com.au David Guest, dguest@om.com.au Lynne Davies, tintmed@om.com.au R. Drewitt Smith, rimika@lisp.com.au Dr Peter Harvey, pharvey@medeserv.com.au Dr Barry Gilbert, phm.melbourne@bigpond.com dr Tullio Savio, drtulliosavio@bigpond.com.au jenny West, jenwest98@hotmail.com jeff robinson, jeffreyr@d130.aone.net.au David Simonds, dsimond@tpgi.com.au Alan Reitsma, areitsma@clinipath.com.au DR. SUMAN PRAKASH., sprakashs@ozemail.com.au Dr Michael Kozminsky, kozzy@genesismedical.com.au shaughan terry, terrys@intrnetnorth.com.au Michael Crampton, crampton@medeserv.com.au Mark Davies, lmc@gpageelong.com.au David Brookman, david.brookman@newcastle.edu.au |
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