Issues with R4 upgrade 7.0.2

[katetaylor]

We have recently completed the upgrade to the new release of R4 – I work on the reception desk so am a frequent/full time user of R4.  With every upgrade of every computer system, its users will always face them with a little fear and trepidation of the unknown!  However, after a few days, we usually have to swallow our pride and admit that the initial annoyances and niggles about the change have dissipated and been taken over by nothing less than excitement for new found tweaks, bonus buttons and useful enhancements! 

Sadly, the initial niggles and annoyances won’t go away this time!  So, with apologies for being negative, here goes:

1. The new (black and white) icons make it difficult to differentiate them. Please bring back colour……… does black and white traffic lights really make any sense?!
2. The removal of definition between booked and unbooked spaces in the planner has taken away the ability to have a ‘quick, overall, snap shot view’ of the week/s ahead. Please bring back the option to add arrows to booked appointments.
3. Is the new parking lot just another way of cutting and pasting appointments? Or have we missed something?  (The cut and paste facility we rarely use as it is does not show in the ‘audit trail’ of a patient’s appointments.)
4. Removal of colour from the patient banner – personally I preferred the previous more obvious block colour.

To try and sum up, it feels like the new planner view is less intuitive to use therefore slowing access and management of patient and appointment information. 

We hope you will take the above into account along with others’ experiences for future development.

[Julie]

 I agree with you entirely on all 4 points.  the black icons are a particular bug bear as there is no way your brain can differentiate between the different icons without having to look long and hard.

The ability to alter appointments to arrows or shapes is a massive issue for us as a practice.  we used to be able to differentiate between plan patients and pay as you go patients but now all we get is a single block of colour...... this in itself is a nightmare as there is a fault and the appointment length does not show for some of the booked appointments (i am told this will be corrected by version 9).

it seems R4 clinical plus has gone backwards rather than forwards and as a user for the last 15 or so years i can see where you are coming from.  it is not user friendly.

i posted about this a few weeks back but didnt get a response from Carestream.  i am hoping that now you have complained too, maybe we will be taken seriously ?

kind regards

Julie

[liamrushton]

As we roll out CS R4+ V7.0, we are aware of the feedback on the changes, specifically in relation to the colour change of the icons. We recognise that this change is quite different for our users and have noted your feedback.

We are always looking to add to our list of reference sites, to run new ideas and designs past, and if appropriate beta test these changes for us. If you are interested in becoming part of our brain trust please send an email to nina.gilbert@csdental.com”

[Julie]

Liam, are there going to be changes implemented to correct these things ? We had them before so i am assuming that to make the software easier and more user friendly this will be in the pipeline ?

Julie

[katetaylor]

Hi Liam,

Thank you for your response.  It is good to hear the issues raised by myself and other users have been noted.  Hopefully this means we will see the return of coloured icons and differentiation of appointments on the planner in near future.  

I would be interested to find our more about the brain trust - I will send an email as you suggest 

Many thanks 
Kate

[reception]

We agree entirely with the above four points already made and wish we had never installed the update.

Is there any option to un install this ?

 Other than the Parking Lot option which we feel is a complete waste of time can your please tell us the reason for this very unfriendly user update. 

A busy practice needs an eye friendly appearance to move around quickly and efficiently and whilst we except any change requires a period of adjustment this is clearly no longer visually friendly.

We would also like you to note that the colour saturation of the palate in the appointment colours option makes it very difficult to read the patients names and is very harsh on the eye.

As you may tell from this we are a very unhappy reception team and hope you will take notice of the comments.