SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS (User's Manual, pgs. 661-662)

Version 4.1 adds some new features which help to keep your data more secure. We recommend that you implement these new features. These features are only active if you have activated passwords (System\Security\Options\Activate Passwords\Yes).

The Security Auto-Logoff interval, when set to a number other than 0, causes the Screen Saver to appear if the user has not used the program in that number of seconds. For example, if you set it to 60 seconds, if a user fails to use the program for 60 seconds, the Screen Saver automatically appears. The user must now enter his password in order to resume using the program.

Users should be encouraged to activate the Screen Saver manually whenever they walk away from the computer (using Tools\Screen Saver). However, if they forget to do so and leave the computer unattended, an unauthorized person could walk up to the computer and start using it. By activating the Security Auto-Logoff feature, you reduce the chance of this happening. An unauthorized person can only start using the computer if he happens to appear before the Auto-Logoff interval has elapsed. You therefore want to set this interval to a fairly short time span, to minimize the chance that someone unauthorized will happen upon the computer while it is still accessible. On the other hand, if you set the interval too short, a valid user who happens to pause to contemplate and fails to use the program during that interval will have the inconvenience of re-entering his password before being able to resume using the program. You may have to experiment with different intervals to find the one you find most acceptable.

We recommend that you change all users' passwords on the same date, although the program doesn't insist on this. It is just easier to do them all at once than to have to change them at various times during the month.

To change a user's password, press System\Security\Assign. Select the user's name and press Ok. Enter a new password in the Password box and press Ok. Note that starting in version 4.0, the screen also reports to you if the password is up-to-date or if it has expired and needs to be changed.

Note that the program doesn't permit you to re-enter the same password. You are forced to change it to a new one. (If you could just re-enter the same password, it would defeat the whole purpose of this feature).

You can copy all of the Options from one user to one or more other users by pressing System\Export Options. This feature is useful when you first install the program, or if a new user joins your practice, and you want to copy the Options you have carefully set up for one user to the other users or the new user. Simply pick the user whose Options you wish to use as the source in the left hand panel, then put check marks in front of the users whom you want to have these same Options in the right hand panel; then press Ok. Remember that this REPLACES all of the Options for the users in the right hand panel with the user chosen in the left hand panel (other than Security settings), so be sure those users do in fact want their Options changed.

We are putting the finishing touches on version 4.1. This version automatically warns you if the patient is requesting a prescription refill sooner or later than one would expect if the patient were taking the prescribed number of pills per day and had used up the number of refills authorized the last time the prescription was filled. Watch next month's Newsletter for a full report.

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