Records For Living Community

When I enter blood test results I need to use a self entered series of values and the program is very slow. With a 3.2 GHZ computer and 1 gig of RAM I wouldn't expect 15 or 20 entries to bog it down so. Is there a way to enter tests that doesn;t slow it down? Also by having to re-enter each parameter of the test each time I think I would have been better off to just go out in ACCESS  and build a database for the test data.

Thank you for your feedback!

First, a point of clarification.  HealthFrame's "tests" come in two flavors: single measurements (e.g. Weight) or panels - with multiple measurements (e.g. Blood Pressure Panel).  In the case of panels, HealthFrame supports a number of common panels, which greatly reduce the need to add 'custom' measurements.  For instance, the "Complete Blood Count" panel contains 19 measurements (please see image below). 

In general, HealthFrame is optimized for the common case where a test contains a handful of measurements.  If you have specific needs that require a large number of measurements, you can consider breaking them up into multiple 'tests', for instance.

We believe that supporting user-defined panels is a desirable extension for future releases of HealthFrame.

In the meantime, a few questions:

1. When you say '15 or 20 entries', do you mean measurements in a single test type?
2. Have you checked that HealthFrame didn't already have a panel pre-defined for your needs?  (To check, please click on the drop down icon to the right of the 'Type' edit field and select "Only Common" from the top left list).  If a panel already exists, then you won't need to re-enter the measurement type definitions.  It is also possible that a panel exists that covers some subset of the measurements you need.

Second, HealthFrame supports importing using a number of different mechanisms, for instance:

1. HealthFrame imports (and merges) Continuity of Care Records
2. HealthFrame supports OpenHealth Service (OHS) Plug-ins which can be used to import data from formats such as comma-separated files, for instance.

Finally, as for the suggestion that you might just use an ACCESS-based database, it probably depends on your needs and programming expertise.  By way of comparison, many programs exist that support personal finance management.  Some users tend to prefer those solutions, while others might use a database, others yet might use paper.  It all depends on what the user's comfort level is with development tools and their interest in developing on their own the types of services that HealthFrame make possible.  These services of course include but are not limited to reporting.

Please let us know if we can be of further service.  For instance:

1. Is there a particular panel you would suggest we add?
2. Would you like to see us consider development of an OHS plug-in?  (You will see in the Community Forum a number of examples where our users periodically suggest the implementation of additional services.  Once developed, they are published in http://www.recordsforliving.com/OpenHealthServices/ServiceDirectory.aspx)

Thanks,
Support Team
Records For Living, Inc

By slow I was not talking about the speed of entering the custome data. It is that after yu open a test with a lrge number of openings you wait for a minute or more between keystrokes to change any of the information listed.

To answer your questions:

1 - 15 to 20 was refering to how many different tests were run on blood, as an example. Blood counts and Lipids can be, and I am splitting off but the minerals and other parameters are more difficult.

2 - Yes, I have checked the listed panels.

 

Thank you for your time and consideration and let me know when user definable test panels are available.

 

Dan

Dan,

Thanks for the clarification.  We've tried to reproduce the problem you describe but have had no luck with it.

Would it be possible to set up a GoToMeeting conference call where you could show one of our tech support people the problem you're experiencing?  It might help us identify the source of the problem more easily.

If so, please send email to support@RecordsForLiving.com with your time availability.

Thanks again,
Support Team

We have recently had a HealthFrame user (Gregory) who contacted the Support Team with a similar complaint.  We were able to set up a web conference call with Gregory using GoToMeeting and we were (finally) able to reproduce the problem that had caused Dan problems.

In a nutshell, there is a limitation in the current release of HealthFrame with regards to the number of measurements that can be tracked by a single test before causing performance problems.  Roughly speaking - and depending on your machine's configuration - if you have more than 25 measurements in a single test, HealthFrame will refresh that particular test page very slowly - making it hard to edit, scroll, etc.

When talking to Gregory, we also learned that part of the problem was caused by different interpretations of how tests, measurements and panels had been designed to be used in HealthFrame.

Here's how our folks had intended to use these concepts:

A (laboratory) test is a procedure in which a patient's bodily sample (specimen) is analyzed to obtain results to certain measurements.  A panel is composed of individual measurements that are related in some way, such as medical condition being diagnosed, specimen type, etc. 

A test includes results to one or more measurement types.  Examples of tests with a single measurement include the glucose tolerance and weight tests.  Panels include two or more  measurements that are frequently combined.  Examples of panels include blood lipids and blood pressure panels.

Given that understanding, most tests actually have a relatively small number of measurements.  Note it is possible to have multiple tests on the same day and as part of the same visit.  In such case, simply create multiple tests and add links from the related information section in the appropriate visit.  Also, as a guideline, it is easier (and faster) to create a single test instance per panel, instead of trying to combine multiple panels in a single test.

Our development team is aware of this issue and the problem should be fixed for our next major release.

Thank you all for your help identifying this problem,
Support Team