MediSoft and Remote Connection 3

[gwinn7]

Has anyone setup the product Medisoft to function over a dial-up connection?

The Medisoft application must be able to communicate using TCP/IP in order to access the Advantage Server Database Engine on the server. Medisoft support claims not to support this configuration, but I believe it should be possible.

We were able to get the dial-up connection to work fine, BUT we were unsuccessful in getting the application to communicate to the Server even though the server can be pinged from the client.

Any ideas? Done this before?

I am nearing the point of going with VNC or PC Anywhere solution.

Gary
gwinn7
A+, Network+

 

[dontek]

I have the same issue. I can connect via a VPN connection to the server, but when I start Medisoft, I get a cannot find data path error. I have gone through all the client issues, now looking at the server side

 

[charipuki]

I am trying to achieve the same objective. Have you guys made any progress.

My set up:

DSL provider: Bell South
Router: Cayman 3220H
VPN appliance: Symantec 100

Issues thus far: When I converted my LAN from Static to Dynamic IP addressing, my W2k machines will not open Medisoft.

I have disable ports for the firewall and everything and still having issues.

Please let me know if you were able to pull this off.

Thanks.

 

[charipuki]

Guys,

I have completed my VPN connection and am able to run Medisoft for both offices.

But unfortunately, it is very sloooooo

http://wwwwww!!

If you need help or have any suggestions, please let me know.

 

[dontek]

Hi
Only progress I have made is to allow the remote user to Remote Desktop in to one machine to use the application. However, no progress on the VPN solution.
How did you manage? I even upgraded Medisoft and the Advantage Database.

 

[charipuki]

I didn't think anyone read this thread anymore.

Hardware background:

I am using a Netgear FVS318 Firewall/VPN Applicance.

I sounds like you have the VPN connection up and running, so I will not go into any detail on the tunnel setup.

I am running Client-server setup at both offices, Win 2k Servers with mix of Win2k pro and Win 98 clients.

If you are using Win 2k Servers at each office, you need to set up 2Way Transitive trusts between the two office (domains) servers.

Make sure your domain controllers/servers do not have the same name. This will cause issues.

If you are at office A and you want to access Office B data, you need to hold the F7 key and click the medisoft icon. I will prompt you for a data path, browse to Office B's medisoft server and click ok. It will take a while, but it will eventually prompt you for a password.

Like I said it is real slow. The VPN connection is about 1.7 MB over the internet while a LAN Connection is about 10 MB so there is about a 10x reduction in speed. Using Office Hours (by the method mentioned above) isn't too bad, but using the main program after you query the database is painful. I worked around it by adding PC Anywhere on several computers and used my LAN IP addresses in the Remote set up to access through the tunnel.

I have been scouring the web for ways to improve the speed, but I think I am hosed unless I get a T1 or something like that.

For the time being it is sufficient for

 

[healthtech]

I have attempting medisoft and VPN for a while. Recently I got the VPN component working using sonicwall appliances, but medisoft still refuses to cooperate. Is there some tweaking involved in medisoft or advantage to have it recognize a WAN connection? Can someone guide me through it if there is such a process? Thanks a lot guys

 

[charipuki]

Did you open TCP port 1723 and UDP port 47 in your firewall??

If did and it still does not work, please provide a little more detail on the problem you are experiencing.

 

[gwinn7]

Wow. I am very surprised at the response on this thread. Anyhow, I ended up going with VNC over a slow dial-up, but my client was not satisified with the results (DUH!).

After some research and discussion, I believe everyone attempting to VPN into a Medisoft server should be warned...

IF ACCESSING MEDISOFT INVOLVES SETTING UP A VIRTUAL CONNECTION OVER THE INTERNET YOU ARE LIKELY IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW! Please refer to the HIPAA Act that was recently passed! You and your client could get in serious trouble.

The HIPAA Act was passed to protect personal privacy concerning many aspects, specifically medical information. I strongly advise if you don't believe me to contact an attorney on this subject as you could be liable for lawsuit or criminal charges (ie HUGE FINES!).

This is not to scare you, but to warn you from harms way.

For more information, check out

http://www.cms.gov

Take care,
Gary
gwinn7e
A+, N+, I+

 

[charipuki]

gwinn,

Thanks for the input. I will research your statement "IF ACCESSING MEDISOFT INVOLVES SETTING UP A VIRTUAL CONNECTION OVER THE INTERNET YOU ARE LIKELY IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW! " If this is true, then many large hospitals that transmit information back and forth to other hospitals and satellite facilities maybe in trouble (unless they have a leased line).

I am sure if there is some level of encryption of connection, it should be sufficient. The HIPAA requirements I have read thus far deal mostly with the following:

informing the patient of your privacy policy.
obtain consent to send out PHI
document the distribution of PHI
obtaining agreement with business partners

If a doctor's office get's hacked, are they repsonsible if they take reasonable safeguards?? That is the main concern of HIPAA that office's are taking reasonable safeguards of PHI.

I am eager to hear others interpretation of HIPAA requirements.

 

[charipuki]

Also,

What about insurance websites that allow users to verify patient eligibility and generate referrals over the internet??

If your statement is true, then these major insurance companies are in major violation.

 

[charipuki]

One last thing,

I would not use a VPN connection to access a Medisoft Data base directly. (i.e. Run applicaton on local terminal and point to the remote server in the data path).

This connection is extremely slow and will cause the ADS database to timeout on some functions (i.e. generating claims, patient statements, etc.)

The quering of the database is extremely slow and inefficient. I would recommend running PCAnywhere once you have the VPN up and running to run Medisoft. The VPN should be to centralize several office functions such as billing and scheduling.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[charipuki]

One one more thing,

What about offices that use wireless handheld devices that access patient information?? This is more dangerous than the internet because anyone with a receiver will be able to see the data??

 

[charipuki]

Try this link.

http://www.hipaainfo.us/VPNandHIPAA.html

 

[healthtech]

Thanks for giving me the idea of opening the ports on my firewall (charipuki). After doing that the error i am receiving from medisoft is this :

Data Files not found.
Unable to find the Advanatage Database Server or unable to find a bindery on the network.

I mapped a network drive to the medisoft folder on the server. So when i browsed and clicked the correct path...that is what the error im getting.

Another question which I have is that i saw that you recommended that after establishing a VPN connection, PC Anywhere should be used as opposed to a copy of medisoft on the client side. I would think this would go slower because of the overhead of PC Anywhere. Currently I have been using Terminal Services and VPN (windows 2000 server offers this service), which if you are not familiar works like a PC anywhere, but multiple users on different workstations can connect. Essentially i want to speed the connection up by using a straight connection, bypassing terminal services.

Please comment on your thoughts concerning this
Thanks for your help!!!

 

[gwinn7]

I am Gwinn7's wife, I work at the office he was setting up the connection for. HIPAA deals with many different facets of privacy. One of the main aspects is the issue of cyber-safety. The VPN connection can put PHI at risk since it is a dial in connection. I am the HIPAA officer in our office, however I wouldn't even try to start counseling on the matter (hospitals and some doctors offices are paying tens of thousands of dollars to consultants since the risk for fines runs into the hundreds of thousands.) My only suggestion would be to consult with a HIPAA specialist, CMS(Medicare) or the OIG(Office of the Inspector General) before you encourage your clients to use this type of connection after April 14, 2003.

Good Luck!

Mrs. Gwinn7

 

[charipuki]

Healthtech,

Thanks for the terminal services idea. My brother in law, who is a computer guru also recommended terminal services. I have to bring myself up to speed on the implementation of terminals services.

Now if I understand what you are asking, you want to install Medisoft on your local terminal and set the data path of your application to your remote server. What type of connection do you have for the internet DSL or Dial up? Either one of these will be extremely slow when compared to a LAN connection (1 MB/s (DSL) vs. 10-100 MB/s (LAN)) and will become very frustrating to the end-user.

Also for your data path in Medisoft, do not map the drive to a drive letter and set it in your data path of the client, use the browse function and browse to your medisoft server.

Are you connecting two LAN's or just a remote terminal??

As far as HIPAA is concerned, I agree cyber-safety is a crucial issue and extensive homework must be conducted, however, I believe with the appropriate encryption, authentication, log maintenance and firewall protection (as outlined in the link above) you should be well within HIPAA requirements.

 

[charipuki]

healthtech,

I like your terminal services idea!! I am definitely going to look into this and see how I can implement.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[packpack]

Hello Charipuki, Healthtech and Gwinn7,

I am also today trying to access medisoft via VPN ( thru Sonicwall firewall ) from my main office at client place.

As Healthtech told, he is usiing VPN via sonicwall.

Right now I have NOT open two port on sonicwall ( 1723 TCP and 47 UDP ), So while I open medisoft client , it is giving me error "Data not found", even after I give path of my server/medidata folder. I can access that folder in windows explorer on client machine but medisoft is not taking that path. Might be it will work, once I open ports in firewall.

If you guys have any suggesions, please advice.

Thanks

PACKPACK

 

[packpack]

Hi All,

I am not geeting success in connecting via VPN or terminal services of WIN2K.

First I am trying VPN. VPN connection is okay ( means I can ping my internal ADS server via private IP Address ). While clicking Medisoft icon on desktop on clinet machine, it is asking me to specify server path for database dictionary file - MWDBLIST.ADT. So I am pointing out UNP path ( \\192.168.0.55\medidata ) but it is giving me error " you dont have permission to path". Then I tries to map drive of medidata folder on client machine and try to point MWDBLIST.ADT file but it is giving me error " there are no share folders available .Please share your default data directory". I tried to share folder medidata on mapped drive. But I can't see any share option on that folder. Though I have already share that folder and on my office network, database is being accessed by 3 clients ( on same network ).

Then I tried terminal services. It is opening medisoft but while I select the practice name, it is giving me error " Unable to write c:\program file\medisoft\Bin\LastCon.cfg".

Can some one give me better idea?

By the way, my client machine is WIN 2000 and server on which Advantage database is also WIN 2000 server.

Thanks