Support Hot Topics


by Terri Jirak
Director of Support Services

All Sweet Products

Q: We are looking at purchasing new hardware to be used with our Sweet Products. How can I find out if the hardware I want to purchase meets your requirements?

A: That is a great question. With the changes in technology, we are constantly reviewing and updating our specifications. Here is the latest version of our requirements.  If you still have questions do not hesitate to email or call Support Services.

Sweet-Billing and Sweet-Field Data

Q: How can I make sure that Sweet-Billing has the most current Instruction sets for Medicare and Medicaid?

A: Ortivus has recently implemented a new link in the Support Download Center called “Industry Service Pack.”  This download includes up-to-date forms, electronic claims, run sheets, statements, and other industry-related updates. For the download to be effective, you must be running the latest version of Sweet-Billing.

Sweet-CAD

Q: My county will provide me with map data that they produce. Can I use it?

A: Sweet-CAD will display virtually any type of map data as long as it is in Shape File format and is converted to the same projection as your existing map data. Third party software will be required to manipulate this data. Contact Ortivus Support Services for more information.

Backups
By Sharon Frauenkron and Ann Bodenstiener, Ortivus Technical Support                                      

The concept of having “good backups” of your data sounds simple enough. The goal is to make sure that in the event of a system failure, you have enough information on some type of removable media (usually tape) to allow you to recreate the system with little to no data loss.

The backup software and the media device are easy to come by – the plan is much more difficult. Often, data managers will adopt a “better safe than sorry” approach to the plan, and instead of selectively backing up files – opt to back up everything on the server.

This “backup everything” plan not only causes the system to backup a lot of data on a regular basis that has not changed – it can cause applications that are hosted on the server to crash!

The features vary from one backup software package to another, but in general terms, when backup software is copying the data from a file, it places a ‘lock’ on the file to prevent it from being changed while the file is being copied. If an application tries to write to the file while the backup software has it ‘locked’ a crash can occur.

Through planning, this crash can be avoided by one of a several methods. Some of the options include:

• Don’t use the backup software to backup these critical files (*.mdf and *.ldf). In most cases, these files either exist as part of the application installation package, or may be backed up through a less intrusive process.
• Set your backup job to skip open files.
• Get an ‘open file’ option for the backup software that is supposed to prevent this problem.

All Ortivus products are based on SQL Server. The bulk of the data captured by our applications is stored in SQL Server. The database files for SQL Server (*.mdf and *.ldf) are always in use by SQL Server – even if no one is using the database. Standard backup software is not able to make copies of these files while they are in use. SQL Server has its own backup process that can be used to create backups of your database(s) while in use. The backup software can then safely make copies of the backup file created by the SQL Server backup process.

While Ortivus support can provide information on what should or should not be backed up as it relates to our software, only you or your IT department can make the decisions about how you are going to get your backups.

Backing up Sweet-Billing -- You need a copy of the Backup folder in MSSQL and also a copy of the Shared folder on a daily basis. The shared folder holds your executables, but also any custom forms or reports that you may have. With these two items, once you have SQL installed, Ortivus will be able to assist with getting your database restored.

Backing up Sweet-CAD -- You need a copy of the \Ortivus Folder. And it would be to your advantage to have a copy of the Maps folder and the Data found in program files\AVL-net systems and the Inforad Enterprise NT Service Folder found in program files, even if it is only done periodically.  There are files that are always in use in these folders so to obtain them you will want to use a backup system that either backs up open files or skips them. You will also need to copy the backup folder in MSSQL. When Sweet-CAD is installed, there is a Maintenance plan that needs to be created for Backing up your Sweet-CAD program.