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