Welcome to SOAPware

Welcome to SOAPware and our Quick Start Guide

The following pages will start with the basics of entering information and then serves as a guide through documenting, printing and customizing.

SOAPware can streamline almost every facet in a clinical practice. As with any new piece of equipment, there is a learning curve involved. We strive to make this as simple as possible and intend to provide the support needed to ensure success with SOAPware. Your journey to a successful implementation will start with the single step of taking the time to review this guide.

The Choice... Ride a Bicycle or Fly an Airplane?

Using SOAPware v4, and most low-cost, "easy to use" electronic record systems is a lot like going from walking to riding a bicycle.

Understanding the scope of implementation is crucial at this point. Many clinicians expect that learning/using SOAPware 2008+, or an EMR capable of "meaningful use," will be more like riding a bicycle. Most clinicians know how to ride a bicycle, and they can hop on just about any bicycle and just ride it. Clinicians also know how to create medical records, so they sometimes expect to be able to just walk up to an advanced, comprehensive EMR and jump right in. They often don’t realize that using more advanced EMR's is more like jumping into an airplane than jumping onto a bicycle (BTW, SOAPware v4.x was more like a sophisticated bicycle). Once clinicians realize they are shifting to a completely different paradigm, this guide has proven to be a useful flight trainer.

Medical care is increasingly reliant on information technology. Entities seeking to improve medical care, and payers, are flying around in airplanes while most doctors are still walking. Some clinicians have advanced to bicycles but few have the necessary planes.

These first pages include an overview of the SOAPware flight-instructions, a step-by-step Getting Started. It's our experience that the most successful clinical practices allocate adequate time for each user to complete this guide before given security access to use SOAPware in any live settings. In addition to this guide, we have many other resources to be discussed. 
This guide to SOAPware assumes that you have basic knowledge of the Windows operating system. Knowing how to use a mouse and a graphical interface is necessary in order to take advantage of the Introductions and Getting Started Guides.

If any of the clinic staff are in need of assistance in learning general Windows skills, we can recommend a number of books. Also, many community colleges and universities offer short courses.

The Getting Started guide assumes that SOAPware is already installed and ready for use. If this is not the situation at your site, see the

SOAPware Installation Guides

before proceeding. 

SOAPware Resources: