Creating New Invoice - Searching Description - Partial Match

[twinlakesvision]

We desperately need partial matching when searching for an item to add to an invoice! This should be a super easy fix!

For example, we sell dry eye masks listed under "OTC DRY EYE MASK", but if someone doesn't know that the description starts with OTC, they won't be able to find it. Typing "mask" or "dry eye" will not bring it up on the invoice. This is a big problem for products we don't sell often or when we have someone new who tries to add Oasys contact lenses for example, but doesn't know you must start the search with VIS. And it's a huge list to scroll through, especially when only 4 items are shows at a time.

Attachments:

[jamiepec]

I agree! Is there a way to expand the column size? We run into the same issue when searching for contact lenses. We have some that are 30 packs and some that are 90 packs but the only way we can clearly tell is either by memorizing the price, or selecting one and then viewing the description to see if its right or not.
Any input on this? I know I can go in and change my coding to make it easier to search but thats not ideal

[KizerOpt]

Jan 18, 2018 11:54:00 GMT -6 jamiepec said:

I agree! Is there a way to expand the column size? We run into the same issue when searching for contact lenses. We have some that are 30 packs and some that are 90 packs but the only way we can clearly tell is either by memorizing the price, or selecting one and then viewing the description to see if its right or not.
Any input on this? I know I can go in and change my coding to make it easier to search but thats not ideal

Since our contacts are in the inventory, when we enter the bill code (v2520), it is set to enter the upc. I Look in Inventory, find Vistakon, then each drop down to match the appropriate contacts, (example - Acuvue Dailies Moist Sphere, 30pk, 90pk or annual supply). That seems to be the easiest for us. I do have a spreadsheet with the UPC codes and prices listed for reference, but looking in inventory has been quicker. My inventory is set up to sell by pack. Don't know if this is any different or better than what anyone else is doing, but it seems to work for us.

Karen 

[mdeyedoc]

While I agree that a partial-matching search on the description would be really nice, it may not be as easy as it sounds. The current invoice table doesn't show any search results. It's just a table sorted on the active column and any entry you make just moves you down the list to the first match in the sort.

I carried over a coding system that my old program used to limit options and link items like lens options. All my Billcodes start with a 2 digit number that sets items into categories. I have 9 main categories (10,20,30...) and then separate into finer categories. I guess you could add the codes as a prefix to your descriptions so you wouldn't have to change your billcodes. It's not great but it gets you in the ballpark if you're trying to find something that's not billed up via the routing slip. One of my biggest annoyances is that the dropdown list is that it only shows 3 items and the first item is at the bottom so you almost always have to scroll to find what you need. That item displaying last in the list seems really dumb to me but I see that in a lot of programs.

10 Professional Services
• 10 Refraction
• 11 New Patient
• 12 Former Patient
• 19 Adj
• 19 Other professional services

20 Testing

30 CL Services
•30 SCL Eval
•35 RGP Eval

40 Contacts
•40 discount
•41 Soft Sph
•42 Soft Toric
•43 Soft MF
•44 Soft dailies
•45 RGP
•49 Adjust
•49 CL Restocking fee

50 frames
•55 Non-Rx Sunglasses
•59 Adjustment for frame


60 Lens Type
•61 SV
•62 BF
•63 TF
•64 PAL
•69 Adjustment for lenses

70 Lens Materials
•71 SV
•72 MF
•74 PAL

80 Options general
•81 Options SV
•82 Options MF
•84 Options PAL

90 Misc
•90 Retail
•91 Medical supplies, Supplements
•95 Optical service/repair
•99 Shipping

Marcia

[friscoeyeassociates]

I agree with Marcia, coding in partial matching is not as easy as it sounds. I think her system above for sorting billing codes into easier to locate numerical prefixes is also an idea worth looking into if this is a real issue for your practice. Even if you don't do numerical prefixes, it would probably even help to at the very least make the descriptions more intuitive so as to make searching for it less cumbersome. For instance, I don't really think the code needs to be described as "OTC Dry Eye Mask" but rather just "Dry Eye Mask". While not a perfect solution, it seems fair to assume that significantly fewer people would find themselves unable to find this code with just a slight adjustment of its description. We recently changed our billing description for the Acuvue Oasys lenses and all of it's astigmatic and presbyiopic derivatives from "AV Oasys.." to a fully spelled out version "Acuvue Oasys.." for this very reason. We found that while training new Front Desk employees they more often just intuitively searched for the full spelling rather than arbitrary abbreviations.

[twinlakesvision]

If you go to the routing slip and click search you are able to search with partial matching (see screenshot) so I don't understand why this can't be done in the invoices section. Invoices are created for every exam in every practice that uses Crystal. Asking users to create workarounds instead of fixing the issue doesn't make sense to me. It's not a make or break issue, but from the replies and likes I'm not the only one that sees a benefit to having this. I've used much worse systems before, but I think there is still room for improvement. At the very least, making the dropdown bigger or creating a popup box where you can see more than 3 items at a time would be better than the current layout.

[friscoeyeassociates]

I think everyone in our position agrees that partial matching would be a big improvement. I think trying to look at it from a developers stand point is where it becomes a bit different. Although the partial matching is available in other areas of the software, it is not as simple as just porting that function over to the invoice tab. It doesn't work that way. Much of the invoices tab would likely need to be re-written from a coding and development perspective to accommodate a change such as that one. You are absolutely correct that every office every where creates invoices on a daily basis, so this is one of the most crucial areas of the software but that actually may be working against it rather than for it in regards to getting a significant upgrade like that. To make a big switch like that will introduce coding errors and bugs that will arise and have the potential to cause major issues for everyone on Crystal's platform. With that in mind the development team at Crystal must weigh the risk vs reward for an upgrade like that, and the fact that a hiccup would be a significant issue for just about every customer of theirs is probably part of what is keeping it as it is. They know it works like this.

Anyways, all of this is not to discourage anyone from asserting the request to change it because I think it is a valid one and I would welcome it. It is more to help people understand why the developers don't just change this tomorrow, and that is likely because it is not as simple as we assume it is. Sure, part of the reason this board exists is to get feedback from users about what could improve, and I along with most people probably agree this is one thing we would like to see changed down the line if possible. The other main reason this board is here though is for users to exchange ideas on best practices, and while partial matching might be ideal, there are some things we can do while it is not available to make our lives easier, which explains some of the prior posts here. I hope they see the feedback and user likes on the original post though because I think it is a change we would all benefit from if it can be done without screwing up any other important billing functions.

[seattleod]

PLEASE PLEASE DO PARTIAL MATCHES!! We have many kinds of dry eye tears and other products!!