Letters
The data in My Vision Express can also be used in conjunction with any word processing software such as Microsoft Word to create custom letters. This lets you customize the letters, labels, postcards etc. in the word processing software and use the data from My Vision Express. The letters you create can be saved in PDF, DOC, HTML, RTF, and TXT file formats. To view Video Tutorial on Microsoft Word Mail-merge features visit their website at http://office.microsoft.com/training/Training.aspx?AssetID=RC011205671033&CTT=6&Origin=RC011205671033 or check their documentation.
• Perform mail merge with Microsoft Word Document:
1. Follow the menu item sequence … File | Letters.
• Letters Tab
2. Under Letters Tab, click the Add Button to specify a name for the letter. Under Type specify Order, Prescription or Patient. Type field denotes the place of the application from where the data will be searched. It could be from Order, Prescription or Patient information. Specifying Type changes the data fields that are available to be inserted into the letter and also the criteria for finding eligible patient records.
• Search Tab
3. In the Search Tab, specify the criteria to build a list of patients to who the letter is addressed. Click the Search Button to get the list. In the results grid you will see all the patients that meet your search criteria.
4. If you need to print letters or labels for specific patients, you can enter their patient numbers by clicking the Custom List Button. Now select the Custom Radial Button and the patients from the Custom Patient List Screen that fit your search criteria will become available.
5. Click Save As Button to save the records to your computer. Specify Text with Headers as Save As Type and specify a filename. Click Save.
6. Open Microsoft Word and open the document that contains the letter.
7. Follow item menu sequence … Tools | Letters and Mailings | Mail Merge Wizard.
8. Specify the document type as Letter. You can also generate Labels, Envelopes, and E-mail messages by selecting the appropriate document type. Click Next.
9. Specify Use current document as starting document. Click Next.
10. Under Select Recipients, specify use as existing list. Click Browse and select the data file saved in step 4.
11. The Mail Merge Recipients Screen displays the recipients to who the letter will be sent. You can further filter the recipients list. Click OK.
12. Mail Merge toolbar should be available. If it is not visible then display it by selecting Tools | Letters and Mailings | Show Mail Merge Toolbar.
13. To insert data fields in the selected location in the document, click Insert Merge Fields on the toolbar.
14. Once satisfied with the document click Complete the Merge in the Wizard to create individual letters for each recipient.
15. You can save this document and use it again next time you perform mail merge.
• To create a Letter within My Vision Express:
16. Follow the menu item sequence … File | Letters.
• Letters Tab
17. Under Letters Tab, click Add Button to specify a name for the letter. Under Type specify Order, Prescription or Patient. Type field denotes the place of the application from where the data will be searched. It could be from Order, Prescription or Patient information. Specifying Type changes the data fields that are available to be inserted into the letter and also the criteria for finding eligible patient records.
• Letter Detail Tab
18. Under Letter Detail Tab, in the rich text document control write the text for the letter. Optionally, you can import an existing RTF document by clicking Insert File.
19. If required, add any merge fields by selecting the appropriate merge field from the Merge drop-down list then click Insert. This adds the merge field to the document. When you decide to merge this letter these fields will be replaced by actual data from the database. All copies of a data field display the same data in the document letter.
20. Apply any formatting that you need using the formatting toolbar or by pop-up menu by right-clicking on the document.
21. If you have completed the editing of the document click Save on the menu toolbar to save the template document.
22. When the Letter Type is PATIENT, you have an option of either selecting the Custom or Scheduled Patient List Option. When Scheduled Option is selected it builds the list based on the selected Letter, recall schedule setup under Recall Reasons and patient recall date. When the list is Custom the user can specify their own list creation search criteria and build the list.
23. Print Button: Prints the letters addressed to patients if you already searched and got a list of patients, otherwise it print the template of the letter.
24. Print Preview Button: displays a reduced view of one row of data as it would be printed. The user can alternatively press CTRL+F2 to switch preview mode on and off. In Print Preview, you can test different margin settings and scroll through the pages of the document. You cannot scroll to view other rows of data.
25. Previous Row Button: Displays the previous record.
26. Next Row Button: Displays the next record.
27. Previous Page Button: Displays the previous page of the same record. The letter should be more than one page in order to move to different pages.
28. Next Page Button: Displays the next page of the same record. The letter should be more than one page in order to move to different pages.
29. Insert File Button: You can import RTF or text files generated by any word processing software into My Vision Express and use the merge fields to output custom letters.
30. Save As Button: You can save the output or the template with merge fields to disk that can be edited by any word processing software. The letters you create can be saved in PDF, DOC, HTML, RTF, and TXT file formats.
31. Double-click on the ruler bar or type CTRL+SHIFT+S. The user can specify formatting for selected text, Paragraphs and Pictures. You cannot apply formatting to individual characters or words within the data field. When the user selects the data input field, the entire field is selected.
32. You can customize the appearance of the letter control using the pop-up menu available by right clicking on the control. From the pop-up menu, you can:
Perform editing tasks (cut, copy, paste, and clear).
You can insert images or text from clipboard using paste command.
Insert a file into the letter.
Display and modify the properties.
• Search Tab
33. In the Search Tab, specify the criteria to build a list of patients to who this letter is addressed. Click Search to get the list. In the results grid you will see all the patients that meet your search criteria.
34. Labels Button: to print labels for the same result click on the Labels Button. This will bring up the patient labels that meet your search criteria.
35. Click Print to print the letters customized to each of the patient in the patient list.
36. After you are completed, click on Close from menu toolbar and make sure to NOT SAVE your changes. If you click Save the Input Merge Fields will be lost and replaced by actual data so the next time you want to use that letter to print out other list of patients those merge fields will not exist.
Note: The search results only bring distinct patient list with the latest order. If the patient had multiple orders within the specified search criteria only the latest one is returned.
See Also: