Improve WinOMS "printing" directly to Adobe PDF format?

[omsnashville]

Is there a way to improve the functionality within of "printing" directly to Adobe PDF format?

We "print" items as a PDF to preserve both paper and image quality, with the bonus that it typically is better for file size, as well. It saves us the step of printing something just to turn around and scan it back into a patient chart. They are also searchable, which is a real time-saver if you are attempting to refine a report. However, it will not usually save on the first attempt, so you must run your "print" request again allow you to save it as a PDF to your desired destination. Many times, it will kick out out of WinOMS entirely. I do not have that problem when printing to PDF from other programs or browsers.

To clarify how commonly it is needed, times when we just need a PDF include:

• "Printing" a Treatment Summary or Treatment Proposal that we are emailing directly to the patient (with HIPAA-compliant permission, of course).
• e-Claims status reports
• Running scheduling reports- some of which are monthly. (I just ran one that was 352 pages in Acrobat... the data we needed was NOT worth actually printing 352 pages, plus I needed the Search function).
• Stage Tracking reports
• Implant Tracking reports
• Deleted Transactions reports (when trying to resolve a discrepancy)
• Patient Profile
• Any of the reports that will not allow you to export to Excel

While I cannot imagine a day we would be truly paperless in all respects, this is one factor that would take us infinitely closer.

Thank you so much!

[cjenkins · Accepted solution]

We would love this as well.  We have found fewer instances of getting kicked out by using CutePDF printer but it's still a multi-step process. Have to save to desktop, then attach to EMR, then delete from desktop.  It would be great if this was streamlined.

[omsnashville]

We have not tried CutePDF- thank you for sharing that suggestion! We will give that a try in the meantime.

[garysalman]

Have you tried this on another PC? 

[matt_ackerman]

I've been doing this for years, but it does require additional PDF writer software like Adobe or CutePDF.  It is not a native feature of WinOMS.  

which version of Adobe are you using?  what happens when you do this from another workstation?  if you use CutePDF do you get the same behavior?  

[omsnashville]

Yes, we have tried it on most of the 100 PCs in our practice (using Adobe Acrobat), although the PDFs needed (receipts vs. reports, etc) varied by workstation. There was no discernible consistency of any combination that did not kick us out of WinOMS.

[matt_ackerman]

omsnashville nice screenshot, by the way.

[cjenkins]

This happens to us on most PCs (honestly never tried it on each and every one).  It depends on what we are trying to print.  It's a pretty sure bet that WinOMS will crash trying to print a statement to PDF using the Adobe PDF printer.  It will go as far as creating and saving the PDF but then WinOMS hangs, my default printer will be changed to the Adobe PDF printer,  I have to force WinOMS to close, then log in again.  But as I mentioned in the other post, it usually works fine when using CutePDF.  We don't experience issues with the Create PDF function for generating printable copies of the EMR notes or consents - that works fine.  It's not an issue when opening a PDF attachment and then printing either.  It happens when choosing the Adobe PDF printer to print reports, patient profile, patient chart, etc., just like in Kristina's screenshot.

[omsnashville]

Acrobat Version 10.1.16

We have not yet tried CutePDF in our practice, but we will test it now and see if it works as well for us as for Christi. :-)

I completely understand this has not been an item of focus for software development- at least not yet. I just wanted to make sure that we were maximizing our current process with the features that are native, while being true to our practice's green certifications.

[omsnashville]

Haha... thank you. I'm teased about being the screenshot queen around here, but heaven knows it's made a world of difference when training our employees how to *correctly* use the software.