Plastic surgeons are always looking for the latest technology to meet the profession’s high demands. Fortunately, manufacturers are continuing to respond with innovative products. Take a look at the variety of practice-management software and digital imaging systems that will help build and maintain a successful practice.

Canfield Imaging Systems

Canfield Imaging Systems introduces Mirror® Imaging Software Version 7.0, which features the Enhance Tool for viewing skin details. With a single standard-light photo, the En­hance Tool allows you to demonstrate pig­­ment, fine lines, and other surface features to the patient. The software also includes ImageSyncTM Loupe, which displays magnifications from two images simultaneously, HIPAA-friendly features, and autoformatting for PowerPoint®.

Mirror advanced imaging tools include tethered capture for select cameras, live overlay for closely matched preoperative and postoperative images, “quick-click” color correction, measurements, annotation, and seamless integration with the VectraTM 3-D imaging system. Mirror aesthetic simulation tools quickly and realistically simulate the results of laser resurfacing, liposuction, and rhinoplasty.

For more information, contact Canfield Imaging Systems, 253 Passaic Ave, Fairfield, NJ 07004-2524; (800) 815-4330; www.canfieldsci.com.

 
Atlas Business Solutions

Customer Appointment Manager® by Atlas Business Solutions is an efficient way to book and manage appointments. It enables staff to spend less time scheduling appointments and more time focusing on patients. Users can quickly find available appointment times and schedule a one-time or a repeating appointment with a few mouse clicks. Users can also view appointments by day, week, or month; set appointment reminders; prevent double-bookings; fill cancellations; and avoid no-shows.

For additional information, contact Atlas Business Solutions, PO Box 9013, Fargo, ND 58106-9013; (800) 874-8801; www.appointmentsoft.com.

 
Brickell Research

Brickell Research introduces Brickell Sync Version 8.0, a patient-synchronization module that adds support for several synchronization plug-ins. The module offers automated exportation of updated patient demographics from Brickell Medical Office 8 to Inform Solutions’ Inform& Enhance®, United Imaging’s MarketWise™, and Frontrange’s GoldMine®. It also  offers support for demographics synchronization with Canfield Scientific’s Mirror® as well as a new HL7®-based plug-in.

For additional information, contact Brickell Research Inc, 1800 SW 27th Ave, Suite 505, Miami, FL 33145; (888) 877-8176; www.brickellresearch.com.

 
Inform Solutions

MDT Inventory, by Inform Solutions Inc, is an easy tracking system designed to manage and analyze the sale of ancillary products and stay on top of replenishing product inventory. The purchase advisory feature prompts users to order products that have fallen below their minimum stock level, shows the date of the last order, and provides vendor information for ordering. The program identifies revenue and profits generated by item, category, or physician. It also identifies the value of inventory; highlights buying trends; logs inventory histories detailing quantities of a particular item sold; and identifies sales tax collected over any given date range.

For additional information, contact Inform Solutions Inc, 4747 Morena Blvd, Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92117; (800) 994-6367; www.informsolutions.com.

 
AAAASF

The American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities Inc introduces an Internet-based program that allows a new facility to initiate the accreditation and peer-review process in minutes. Surgeons designed this cost-efficient and user-friendly program specifically for office-based surgery.

For additional information, contact AAAASF Inc, 5101 Washington St, Suite 2F, Gurnee, IL 60031; (888) 545-5222; www.aaaasf.org.

 
Lynx CosmetiSoft

CosmetiSoft by Lynx CosmetiSoft Inc is a Microsoft Windows®-based practice-management system that features integrated patient-management and marketing tools, complete patient and insurance billing (including contract fee schedules and electronic file submission), product sales and supplies inventory, photo management, and a handheld link for patient schedules and on-call inquiries. Lynx Cosmetisoft also offers a patient document-management system that links and saves any document into a patient’s records.

For more information, contact Lynx CosmetiSoft Inc, 131 Lassen Place, Woodland, CA 95695-2635; (530) 852-0306, ext 2; www.cosmetisoft.com.

 
American Video Card

Amicas Inc offers The Complete Guide to Aesthetic Enhance­ment for consumers. A multimedia CD-ROM, the guide describes more than 40 popular surgical and topical cosmetic procedures in simple language and includes contraindications, preoperative care, postoperative care, and informed consent forms. The company also customizes the CD-ROM by inserting a practice’s own text, photographs, artwork, and logos.

It features holographic photo resolution CD disk printing, solid ink magazine-grade card stock cover graphics, and silver foil tray inserts. The presentation is designed to promote a practice in an entertaining, useful, and consumer-friendly manner. Along with the procedure descriptions, there are email and Web site hookups, animated graphics, and biographies. Physicians can insert messages, testimonials, and biographies.

With the CD-ROM, clients can look at descriptions of procedures and then schedule a procedure via email. To keep the information up to date, Amicas breaks down orders into smaller monthly shipments. So when physicians need to make changes to the content, they can email Amicas 3 days prior to the next scheduled shipment. A demo CD and user guide are available upon request.

For more information, contact American Video Card, 14116 Panay Way, Marina de Rey, CA 90292; (310) 577-1911; 800-449-9880; www.americanvideocard.com

 
NexTech Systems

Practice 2004, by NexTech Systems Inc, is a fully integrated practice-management and marketing program designed for plastic and reconstructive surgeons. In addition, NexSpa, a practice-management and medical spa solution, eliminates the need for secondary software. NexSpa tracks and reports employee commissions, tips, and cash drawers, as well as gift certificate sales and usage.

For additional information, contact NexTech Systems Inc, 40 Sarasota Center Blvd, Suite C, Sarasota, FL 34240; (800) 490-0821; www.nextech.com.

 
United Imaging USA

MarketWise™ 7.0, by United Imaging USA, is a complete photo database and imaging software system for high-resolution digital cameras. With MarketWise you can import any 3- to 18-megapixel image once and use it for both archiving and image manipulation. The program allows you to perform procedure and patient searches, enhance and standardize photos, and increase patient acceptance with tools like skin resurfacing, hair replacement, and volumetric morph for breast enhancement. In addition, because most practices use several workstations, the independent resolution interface is designed to automatically detect each setting and scale the picture size to fit the screen of each workstation.

For more information, contact United Imaging USA, 21201 Oxnard St, Woodland Hills, CA 91367; (800) 999-0159; www.unitedimaging.com.

 
Seattle Software Design

Seattle Software Design offers the AlterImage® Version 3.3 cosmetic surgery simulation program. The program allows you to view “ghosted” images, which allow differences between two images to be perceived easily and then be saved or printed. Version 3.3 enables you to view the dissymmetry of the face; includes tools for East-Asian upper-eyelid surgery simulation; and allows you to define an irregular or rectangular region and then drag, stretch, shrink, rotate, flip, or color-match the region.

For more information, contact Seattle Software Design, 1416 N 54th St, Seattle, WA 98103; (206) 633-7939; www.alterimage.info.

 
3dMD

3dMD introduces 3dMD­patient™ version 3.0 analysis software. The software features: a calculation system that measures surface and caliper distance and surface area, volume calculation, angle measurement, registration with traditional and cone-beam CT, symmetry assessment, preoperative and postoperative comparison, automatic generation of standard sets of 2-D profiles, and automatic animation of 3-D models.

For more information, contact 3dMD, 100 Galleria Pkwy, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30339; (770) 612-8002; www.3dmd.com.

 
Polhemus

Polhemus’ FastSCAN Cobra is a unique handheld 3-D laser scanner that allows users to instantly capture volumetric measurements. The device can also translate  data into a 3-D graphical image on a computer screen. Combined with DeltaView software, FastSCAN records data from multifaceted 3-D surfaces. A simple graphical user interface displays comparative dual windows for easy use. DeltaView also calculates and displays a displacement map, calculates volume differences, and makes surface measurements.

For more information, contact Polhemus, 40 Hercules Dr, PO Box 560, Colchester, VT 05446-0560; (802) 655-3159, ext 326; www.polhemus.com.

 
InSpeck

The Breast and Face Digitizer (BFD), distributed by InSpeck Inc, is a 3-D imaging solution created specifically for plastic surgeons. With just a few mouse clicks, a patient’s face or chest, along with the body’s surface and volume measurements, is captured in preparation for surgery. The BFD includes an easy-to-use optical 3-D imaging system and a user-friendly 3-D software package.

For more information, contact InSpeck Inc, 3530 St Laurent Blvd, Suite 303, Montreal, QC, H2X 2V1 Canada; (514) 284-1101; www.inspeck.com.

 
ResultSet

For a medical software system that offers a complete suite of products to keep all patient information in one convenient location, turn to ResultSet Inc. The easy-to-use system combines digital-image archiving, aesthetic simulation, electronic medical records, billing, practice management, scheduling, automated dictation, and electronic patient records; and features robust search capabilities. Its flexible design allows data to be transferred from an existing software system. Each function can be purchased separately or grouped to fit your practice’s needs.

For additional information, contact ResultSet Inc, 1609 Sherman Ave, Suite 322, Evanston, IL 60201; (866) 269-3519; www.resultset.com.

 
Niamtu Imaging Systems

Niamtu Imaging Systems introduces Imaging System Version 8.0, which enhances image management—from downloading from a digital camera to archiving to image editing. Version 8.0 features 3-D rotational imaging, which allows you to combine a frontal and profile view of the patient into an image that can be rotated in all dimensions. A demonstration program allows you to perform sophisticated “morphing” changes. Version 8.0 also offers improved video-capture techniques to help you make professional videos of surgical procedures for presentations and marketing.

For additional information, contact Niamtu Imaging Systems, 19230 Cherokee Rd, Richmond, VA 23235; (804) 320-2256; www.niamtuimaging.com.

 
MedPro Digital

Keeping track of all of your digital images can be quite daunting. That’s why MedPro Digital, a software company that specializes in management of digital image databases, offers a user-friendly image-management and storage system that, according to the manufacturer, anyone can operate with minimal training. The software automatically categorizes each patient image, using multiple search and retrieve keys, and automates the critical printing and sharing of before-and-after images.  

For additional information, contact MedPro Digital, 14828 W 6th Ave, Unit B-9, Golden, CO 80401; (303) 469-0965; www.medprodigital.com.

 
DB Consultants

DB Consultants Inc offers its bidirectional interface with the CSC Patient Appointments Scheduling System®, which complements AS/PC® for Windows®. AS/PC interfaces seamlessly with SpectraSoft’s Appointments PRO scheduling software and many other documentation software programs.

For additional information, contact DB Consultants Inc, 198 Tabor Rd, PO Box 580, Ottsville, PA 18942; (610) 847-5065;  www.dbconsultants.com.

 
ICS Software

The Sammy Card Scanner, by ICS Software Ltd, reduces paperwork and saves time. The insurance card scanner is a compact device that sits conveniently in the corner of an office’s front desk. By scanning the front and back of a patient’s insurance card, the Sammy Card Scanner photocopies, downloads, and stores the document directly into the patient’s file. A free, no-obligation product demonstration is available.

For more information, contact ICS Soft­ware Ltd, 3508 Hargale Rd, Oceanside, NY 11572; (516) 766-2129; www.icssoftware.net.

 
TeleVox Software

HouseCalls™, by TeleVox Software Inc, is an automated appointments reminder system that enables practitioners to send personalized appointment reminders, preoperative and postoperative reminders, and other messages to patients via phone, fax, and email. TeleVox also offers Vox On-Hold, a message program that allows a practice to market its services and procedures to callers on hold.

For additional information, contact TeleVox Software Inc, 1210 Hillcrest Rd, Mobile, AL 36695; (800) 644-4266; www.televox.com.

 
MDeverywhere

MDeverywhere and SpectraSoft offer Total Solution, a patient-management process that reduces the time a practice spends on registration, scheduling, and billing. Patient registration and scheduling data are entered through Appointments­PRO, which are automatically integrated into MDeverywhere’s Palm and Web-based Every­Charge™, providing paperless and error-free billing.

For additional information, contact MDeverywhere, 26 Central Ave, Hauppauge, NY 11788; (866) 340-5500; www.mdeverywhere.com.