E d i t o r i a l

V E T M A N A G E R IN DBASE-II

Sof tware for ve te r ina ry practices first became available only a few years ago. The first programs written which held any claim to be "complete" were designed for the busy small animal practice. These were mostly written by, or in close cooperation with, veterinarians using one of the basic languages. At that time, it seemed that only the larger practices would need to be computerized. Some sophisticated programs were written and came on the veterinary market. In general, these programs were expensive to write and the purchase prices were high.

Few of us dreamed of the wide acceptance of the use of microcomputers in our society and the low hardware prices that would follow. Today with the price of a business computer including hard disk drive sometimes less than $3000, and some of the older, higher-priced software seeming antiquated, veterinary practitioners are wondering how to use the computer to simplfy life.

Veterinary practice computer needs, in general, are not very much different than any other business. At least the concepts are the same. Information must be stored in a data base. This means the data base programs, such a dBASE-II, can be utilized to do the tasks required in the veterinary practice. Thus, development time and expense for a good program is reduced.

It has been only in the past two yearsthat progammers began to consider the use of dBASE-II in writing veterinary programs. Now several companies have a veterinary program written in dBASE-II. Following is a review of one of the best-- Vetmanager.

Vetmanager has the disadvantages inherent in any dBASE-II program. Use of the program is restricted to one computer at a time, ie, a multiple terminal arrangement is not possible. (Within the next few Volume 4, Number 3

months, the program will be available in a version usable with multiple terminals.) Another disadvantage is the limited size of patient files that is inherent in dBASE-II programs. The solo practitioner may find these not to be objectionable qualities.

Some very strong advantages will probably outweigh problems with single terminal use and limited file size. Vetmanager is your program, once you purchase it. Not yours to sell, of course, but yours to alter as you wish and add new features. With a little study and practice you, or an intelligent employee, can learn to write simple routines in dBASE-II that allow you to utilize material in your data base. Even for those who will not want to learn the dBASE-II language, Vetmanager offers the opportunity to utilize other commercial dBASE-II programs with their data bases.

All information in the Vetmanager program is stored in one of 21 data bases and is stored on the hard disk as a file. Each file is made up of individual records. Each record has certain fields of information. All the fields of every record in a file are identical in format and length. For example, one file in Vetmanager, named"inventory" has 17 fields. These include: stockno (stock number), 3 digits; p r o d n a m e (produc t name) , 15 characters ; supplier, 15 digits, quant, 5 digits; etc.

Wi th l i t t le t ime and e f fo r t the V e t m a n a g e r programmers can expand or change the fields in the various files to fit an individual's needs. Currently they are working on an equine version of the program, which entails changing some of the fields in some of the files. Some users may want to modify the fields of some files to better utilize their data with another dBASE-I1 program. An example of one that will work in conjunction with

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Vetmanager for the equine practitioner is Stud Master (see the description of this program in J. Eq. Vet. Sci. 4:1, 1984).

D O C T O R U P D A T E S

Vetmanager is made up of a number of modules. The first on the list is the "doctor updates" module. This allows you to schedule appointments, callbacks, recheck examinations, etc. This may be one feature that goes unappreciated by the non-computer user. It is handy to have one or more copies of scheduled work at the beginning of each new day.

T R A N S A C T I O N S / U P D A T E S

The second module is the "transactions/update" module. This module is for opening new accounts, updating old accounts, recording daily transactions, updating animal records, listing animal recalls, viewing the status of accounts and printing out various forms. The most commonly used of these would be the daily receipt (or invoice).

Another module is the "batch billing." This generates statements. The program is originally set up for a specific statement format, utilizing a certain printed form (available from the Vetmanager people at a reasonable cost). This part of the program can be easily changed to print out in about any format desired.

A C C O U N T I N G

The "accounting" module has a submenu made up of the following items:

I. Bank Transactions 2. General .Iournal 3. Inventory Management 4. Interest Auto-charge 5. End of Period Routine The bank trausactions include: writing checks, making

deposits, editing/checking entries, listing transactions and reconciling entries. The check writing portion does more than simply write checks. It allows the user to keep track of the checks that are written and keep a running checkbook balance. The check register is integrated with the general ledger enabling the veterinarian to update accounting records automatically at the time checks are written. The program contains a user-friendly means of listing financial transactions, lhe reconcile portion of the program serves as a means of checking 5'our records against the bank's statement.

The general ledger portion of the program is for making non-cash transactions. All transactions involving cash are entered directly in~.o the accounting system through the transaction module. A single journal entry is composed of a debit aud a credit.

The inventory management part of the program helps keep track of such things as inventory on hand, item costs and sales prices, reorder points and quantities, and suppliers. The inventory submodule automatically subtracts inventory charged to a client's account from the inventory in stock record. When this feature is combined 122

with inventory flags at reorder points, it allows the veterinarian to better manage his inventory levels. Records of inventory costs and sales prices enable the veterinarian to set desired profit margins. Inventory records provide comparisons of purchase prices of various inventory items from different suppliers.

The "interest auto-charge" submodule automatically assesses a service charge to accounts which have balances over a certain number of days past due. The veterinarian determines the benchmark for accounts to be charged.

The end of period processing submodule runs trial balances, reclassifies inactive accounts and makes an end of period account closing. Hard copies of the itemized statements are made so that the accounts can be balanced forward.

R E P O R T S

The program comes with more than a dozen types of reports available. More can be added. The most popular are Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Income Analysis, Detailed Journal Listing, Summary Aging of Accounts; Product Cost ~omparison, Retail Price List, Product Reorder List, Demographic Listing, Current Account Status a~l Recall Notices.

E N D OF D A Y

One module is used at the end of the day for printing the daysheet and posting the daily transactions from the temporary daily file to the permanent system records.

A N I M A L H I S T O R Y Q U E R Y

The "query animal history" module allows sorting of information contained in the animal history data base. To perform a sort, the user presses the number of the parameters upon which a sort is wanted. Six of the possible parameters are: species, breed, sex, birthdate, comments and breeding status.

W O R D P R O C E S S I N G

The Vetmanager program allows integration with the popular word processing program, Wordstar. This makes it possible to send a customized letter to a specified group of clients produced from a sort. The program also works with Mailmerge.

D O C U M E N T A T I O N

The Ve tmanager p rog ram comes with a good instruction manual. It is well-written and easy to follow. It should require no more than a few hours of personal instruction from the computer installer, along with the manual, to get a veterinarian started in setting up a system and using it on a daily basis.

It appears that the Vetmanager company will be around long enough to help with software problems that are typical of any program. They are continually updating their program, as is the case with any active company. Purchasers will have the advantages of

EQUINE VETERINARY SCIENCE

subsequent updates for a small fee. The fact that the program is written in dBASE-I 1 and is

not "locked up" is a huge advantage and serves as a guarantee that the system will always be usable. Any programmer should be able to make changes to the software, as needed.

H A R D W A R E

The Vetmanager people want to stay out of the hardware business. However, they can put you in contact with vendors of IBM computers and IBM compatibles. For those wanting to get set up with as little cost as

possible, they recommend the Kaypro-10. This is an 8 bit computer which runs on a CP/M operating system and has a built-in 10 MB hard disk. The Kaypro-10 retails for about $2800. This includes the hard disk, one floppy drive and the monitor. Kaypro is currently selling with some valuable software included such as Wordstar, dBASE-II, Mailmerge, etc. The Kaypro is portable and can be used to get a practice started and then serve later as a home computer.

Vetmanager is available for CP/M operating systems as well as MS-DOS for use on the 16 bit IBM compatibles. It is possible to start with a C P / M system and then easily change over to an MS-DOS system.WEJ

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C O M P U T E R I Z E Y O U R P R A C T I C E F O R A S L I T T L E A S $ 6 5 0 0

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HAVE YOU T H O U G H T ABOUT C O M P U T E R I Z I N G BUT CAN'T JUSTIFY SPENDING $15,000? THEN CONSIDER VETMANAGER!

Vetmanager software is a complete integrated ~oftware program that provides invoicing, billing, aging t~f accounts receivable, reminder notices, inventory management, performs searches for important animal ~nformation, and practice analysis. The software is easy to use and can be adapted to meet the needs of small, mixed or large animal practices. Customization for your equine practice is available.

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The Vetmanager package sells for $3000. Combint that with a Kaypro 10 from your local computer stort' (Retail Price $2800, which.includes a 10 MB. hard disk) Then purchase a good printer for $700 and you have ~, complete system for $6500. Buy now and get dBase I1 Wordstar, and other helpful software free?

Vetmanager can also be operated on other hard disk computers including the IBM XT and compatibles, and the Radio Shack TRS-80.

V E T M A N A G E R S O F T W A R E 2008 North 650 West Provo, Utah 84604 (801) 375-6670

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