• Vet-XML is an open industry standard
  computer format that allows veterinary related
  data to be shared between
  different computer systems. The standard is sponsored by SPVS and
  further details are available at www.vetxml.org. The interchange
  of information is facilitated by a gateway provided by VetEnvoy.
  
  The standard covers a variety of services and over time these all will be integrated into the Black Dog system. SMS messaging is now available and electronic submission of insurance claims to companies such as PetPlan is currently under development.

• The open order screen now provides immediate feedback as to the net cost of items ordered on a per item and per supplier basis.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• The system automatically creates a to do item Restart black dog server. The due date and time for this is a configurable period following system startup and is reset whenever the system is restarted. This can be postponed (not recommended) and the for whose attention field changed but the item cannot otherwise be modified.

• Clinical notes are now automatically saved by the system. This means that even if a power cut causes sudden and unexpected system shutdown, any clinical notes that had not yet been manually saved will not have been lost entirely. The autosave period is configurable but by default is set to every 2 minutes. Note it is advised that clinical notes should be not be manually saved until fully complete to prevent a clinical history from becoming unnecessarily fragmented.

• The current license details are summarised on the Server Control screen in the Program Management group.

• A Document Import screen has been added. This provides an alternative facility for attaching files, e.g. scanned documents, to client or contact details as well providing a configurable mechanism for the regular import of documents such as lab reports – see the system manual for further information.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• The Pet List can now be filtered by client postcode – this is intended to help with reports of lost animals.

• Added formal licensing – the Black Dog server only runs if a valid license is available. Note a given license, which applies to a unique PC, specifies an expiry date and a maximum number of clients that are permitted to connect to the server. The system automatically checks daily over the internet whether a new license (with a later expiry date) is available and if so this replaces the existing license. Note installations require a license both for the primary server and (if used) the emergency server – all such licenses are subjected to the daily check.

• Configuration option added which allows the check on the open invoice to be omitted when processing payments.

• Added automated software upgrade mechansism. The system automatically checks during the night for any new updates (for the Black Dog system only) – any available are downloaded but not installed.
  The server when closing checks whether there are any outstanding downloaded upgrades and if so prompts the user to install. Thus no changes are made without user knowledge.

• Added support for multiple images in a single ‘document’.

• Client templates now support new fields <DEFAULT_SMS> and <EMAIL>.

• The drug Dispensing Notes field (on the Dispensing and Clinical Notes tab of the drug details screen) has always been displayed when a label is being created. Additionally it is now displayed for non-dispensed drugs via a message box whenever the drug is added to an open invoice.

• System now prohibits the deletion of a pet with any clinical history.

• The scan mode (colour, greyscale, text) can now be set with unspecified as the default.

• A TO DO list facility has been added. This is intended to be used to note tasks that need to be carried out at or by certain time and date. Usage should be reasonably intuitive although the recurrence options may benefit from some explanation: when an item is marked as done the recurrence field controls whether a new to do item is automatically created or not. If a new item is created then the new item can be either a repeat of the old one or can be based on a to do template which allows a sequence of tasks to be created e.g. the first item in a sequence could be receptionist to check receipt of lab report, followed by vet to summarise received lab report on the pet’s clinical history, and finally vet to phone client with results.
  
  The status bar (bottom of window) indicates whether there are any overdue items, and on the TO DO screen itself (accessed by either double-clicking the relevant section of the status bar or locate within Office and Practice Admin) overdue items are coloured red, and those due in the near future orange.

• Pictures opened within the Black Dog system itself can now be printed directly.

• The message facility can now be secured: a permission level can be set for being able to read all messages (which by default is set to zero – all users can read all messages) – if the user enters their password and has sufficient permission level then the message screen will behave exactly as now (so for example system administrators will be able to read all messages).
  Otherwise the to filter box will be set to the user’s short name (as now by default) AND disabled so that it cannot be changed by the user.

• System prompts the user when DNR (do not restock) drugs are invoiced (unless known to be in stock).

• Empty takings periods can now be deleted – these arise when a takings period is mistakenly ended twice. To delete the second empty period, open the cashing up screen for the period, allow edits, and click the delete button. The system will not allow deletion of any period containing any transactions, petty cash entries or in fact any non-trivial information at all.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• The pet transfer facility now replicates any existing clinical history for the pet.

• The facility that allows copying an existing note or document has been extended to allow
  copying between clients or between contacts – in fact from any notes & documents screen to any other. To use right-click the note/document to be copied, select copy and as new entry .. and then follow the on-screen instructions. This is particularily useful when wanting to write a letter to a client using an existing letter to another client as a starting point: copy the existing letter to the required client, and then open the letter and make changes as needed.

• For installations using restricted notes & documents the protection against unauthorised access has been enhanced – previously restricted notes & documents were simply hidden from view from unauthorised users within the Black Dog system but had to be placed in a directory accessible with the logged-in user credentials; the system now allows the directory to be made inaccessible to the logged-in user and the Black Dog system can prompt for an alternative username and password to allow access. Please contact Black Dog Software if wishing to make use of this facility as by default it is disabled.

• The modify options for items in an open invoice have been extended to allow modification of unit price and dispensing fee. This facility is not recommended and is disabled by default – please contact Black Dog Software if wishing to enable it.

• When crediting (i.e. negating) an invoice item in an open invoice that includes a dispensing fee the system now prompts the user to ask whether the dispensing fee should be deleted from the credit. This allows crediting of the price of tablets without crediting the client the price of dispensing – especially useful if only crediting part of dispensed pack.

• For sites that customarily bank received cheques and cash on a daily basis which means that a Black Dog banking period typically corresponds to a single takings period, a facility has been added to make the creation of banking periods very much easier. To use right-click the takings period and choose Bank ... Note this is disabled by default so please contact Black Dog Software if wanting to make use of it.

• Bank account reconciliation dates can now be set for the present day rather than just in the past.

• Appointment and operation descriptions are now appended with all users’ initials who have made changes to the appointment/operation and not just the initials of the original creator.

• If one or more estimates exist for a client, then the system prompts when booking an operation for that client to help remind the user that the operation should be linked to the relevant estimate (if there is one).

• The system now supports NVS online ordering including immediate out of stocks information and next day download of batch and invoice information.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• A facility has been added to the global invoice items screen allowing easy on-screen totalling of the price of all currently displayed invoice items.

• Clinical note creation can be set to manual-only – this is expected to be useful to sites that are still using record cards but are wanting to experiment with on-screen notes.

• A performance issue affecting the loading of a client’s notes and documents has been identified and resolved.

• The ability to categorise clinical notes as either routine or non-routine
  is now optional and disabled by default.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• The insurance claim screen was incorrectly displaying the total for items ticked for addition. This is now fixed.

• PAYE pay slips were printing with incorrect NI contribution details – this was not an error in the underlying PAYE calculations but simply an error when printing resulting from the government’s introduction of upper accural points. This is now fixed.

• Drug row stock colouring is now suppressed if not using stock control.

• An additional screen action export for mail merge has been added to the reminder list screen – this is particularily useful for producing files for sending to companies such as Fort Dodge to allow them to send out booster reminders on behalf of the practice. Note the facility can be configured to output address information either in the Black Dog default of HouseName, HouseNumber, Road, etc. or as Address1, Address2, Address3, Address4. Likewise, client name information can be output as either Title, Forename, Surname or as a single ClientName. By default any inactive reminders (coloured grey) are not exported and multiple reminders for the same client (possibly for different pets) are combined into a single output line – the PetName is then set to a combination of the pet names for the individual reminders.

• When processing a client payment, if the change is non-zero then the background colour of the
  change box is set to yellow to highlight this.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• Added support for clinical notes for client accounts that do not allow individual pets – these accounts are typically used for counter sales or for handling work done for organisations such as the RSPCA.
• Internal image facilites now extended to handle different horizontal and vertical resolutions as well as multi-image files (both typical features of the TIFF file format).
• Postage prices updated to April 09 prices.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• Support for Open Office extended to include spread sheet facilities – users
  can now opt to use either Microsoft Office or Open Office (the latter being free of charge).
  Note whilst it is suggested to keep to the same throughout a single site to ensure a consistent user experience, there is no actual technical need to do so.
• Bug fix: if a client attempted to connect to the server before the server had completed its start up then this could cause the server to hang.
• Support for minimum stock levels and stock control mode added to re-import facility for drugs.
• Support added for PAYE tax year commencing 6/4/09. This includes the additional requirement to record earnings at the upper accrual point (UAP).
• Now possible to export VAT details to a spreadsheet for multiple VAT periods (so this can be done
  for an entire accounting year).
• Profit and loss report can now optionally include itemisation of all expenditure grouped by category and listed for each period covered by the report.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• Printed insurance claims now order invoice items by date and time.
• The system now includes a facility for displaying and reviewing associated documents that are images (e.g. jpg files). This allows the user to easily rotate, reflect, scale and scroll the image and is intended to be easier and quicker to use than more complex image editing software. If editing facilities are required then the image can still be opened using alternative software via the Open With.. facility (see following).
• An Open With.. facility has been added to the right-click option menu
  for any documents (whether listed on a client’s notes and documents, contact details, or office documents screens). This allows the user to choose to open the associated file using any currently installed software and in particular allows the user to open an image in a dedicted image-editing application rather than use the default in-built display-only option.
• Bug fixed affecting image acquisistion using Microsoft WIA drivers: some scanners returned a bitmap rather than the requested jpeg format file, and in consequence the Black Dog system now checks the format and converts usign jpeg compression if required.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.

• Screen actions allowing the printing of a letter or form from a template can now be configured so that the document is only printed once per client. This allows a letter to be printed from the pet list screen for a range of pets (for example for a geriatric health screen mailshot) but avoids printing multiple letters for the same client.
• The pet list screen now affords screen action facility allowing easy printing of address labels, letters etc. for a range of pets.
• The system now prevents the accidental deletion of a contact used as a supplier for a recorded expenditure payment.
• The system guards against accidental deletion of an insurance claim by prompting the user for confirmation.
• The appearance of completed appointments is configurable – suggestions are to use either italic or strikeout for the text.
• A client’s phone number can be optionally set as the default SMS number for that client. Note this is not currently used anywhere in the system but has been added to allow future support for automatic SMS messaging to clients.
• Bug fixed which caused an error when an attempt was made to create a second new insurance claim for a client without having saved the previous one.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.