We've started experimenting with the ODBC connector available now from HanDBase.  We also stumbled across a free EMR written in Access.  It needs some work, but the authors have already done some of the most difficult work.  And the ODBC connector seems so far to work quite well linking HanDBase tables into Access so that you can run queries, reports, etc. on the HanDBase data.  It's beginning to look like like we'll be able to create subsets of data from the EMR that the physician can download to his or her PDA via the ODBC connector.
 
I've also started experimenting with an IR device for hotsyncing the PDA, which gets around the problem of multiple cradle types.  So far, the IR device is a bit tricky to use, but I've sent a message to the manufacturer to see if we can get a fix.  What happens is that the IR device has a built in app that wakes up when it sees an IR device, effectively getting in the way of the HotSync app.  You have to tap IR hotsync, wait a beat, and then hold it up to the IR adapter so that HotSync can beat the built in app to the punch in grabbing the USB port.
 
Another brand of IR adapter might not have this problem.  I'm using the XTNDAccess USB adapter.  We'll see.
 
We've also been experimenting with Network Sync.  The idea here was for the users to be able to sync from any machine and send their data to a server, so they wouldn't have to walk to a central machine to do the hotsync.  So far this has been a dismal failure.  I can get it to work, but I've had to do a lot of tinkering, and it isn't reliable.
 
I downloaded some conduit development kits, an IDE, and about a ton of info on creating conduits for the HotSync manager.  If I can figure out how to do this, this would be the final solution.   We'll see.
 
I'll be gone the next two weeks on vacation.  I may get some time to play with the IDE while I'm off.  (Nahhh.)
 
Later
 
Jim