Enhancements to the single window interface make patient information easily and quickly accessible from MacPractice’s EMR, Patients and Schedule abilities, according to MacPractice President Mark Hollis. For example, the patient’s attachments, which may include lab results, correspondence and other documents, can now be accessed from the patient’s Electronic Medical Record. Photos and x-rays stored in MacPractice Imaging or MacPractice DR (Digital Radiography) may be viewed, as can word processing documents and templates created in MacPractice Note. All clinical items may be viewed in the billing ledger as well.

While MacPractice users still have the ability to open as many windows as they like, and they can navigate from one MacPractice ability -- such as Patients, Schedule, Note, Attachments, Imaging, Rx to another by simply clicking in the Toolbar -- they now also have a simple, effective alternative navigation technique allowing them to see content in the other Abilities for the patient right from where they are, says Hollis.

The most requested feature for MacPractice EMR from primary care physicians has been to see all of the clinical information stored throughout MacPractice from within MacPractice EMR, and that has been addressed with this enhancement, he adds. What's more, the recent update to MacPractice includes a new purchased option: Lab Ability. With the Lab Ability, MacPractice users can track orders, results, a doctor’s review of results and communications with patients. They can also print requisitions from the Lab Tracker if that has been arranged with their preferred Lab.

For dentists, MacPractice has added presets for SuniRay digital sensors, which promises to saves hours of initial set-up time, according to Hollis. X-ray orientation and image quality setting defaults have been added, and background color for x-ray layouts is now user-definable. MacPractice has also updated its drivers for Planmeca’s new Pro sensors and panorama and cephalometric equipment. Also for dentists, clinical notes may now be associated with teeth in MacPractice’s Perio and Restorative Chart.

MacPractice takes advantage of the enhanced stability of MySQL 5.0.75 and offers a free recommended upgrade for all users of MacPractice 3.6.x. MacPractice 3.6.10.11 is Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") and 10.6 ("Snow Leopard" and "Snow Leopard Server") compatible.