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Frequently Asked Questions

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I get the message ‘you can’t run PPM till you locate…….’ when clicking on the PPM icon

This is usually because the program file has been corrupted. Either run the latest upgrade file, which will replace the program file with a new one, or contact the support desk who will talk you through this.

Do not attempt to re-install the software as it is probably not necessary to do so and data may be lost as a result

I get a message incorrect user name or password when trying to log in to PPM

This is often caused by Caps lock being enabled on the Keyboard, as password is case sensitive and should always be in lower case

When I click open consultant I get a message ‘The file c:\program files\private practice manager\.... cannot be found

On a networked system this may be because the server machine (that is the one on which the data is stored) is not switched on, or the machine on which you have the message cannot communicate with the server

It is worth checking if the machine with the message displayed can access files on the server outside of PPM to eliminate network problems.

On a stand alone machine, or a networked machine on which the data is stored, it is because the data file has been corrupted. You should contact the support desk to get the file repaired.

I have re-installed office or installed a newer version of office and now ppm does not work

This occurs because PPM shares some files with Microsoft Office.

To rectify the problem a repair or re-install of PPM will be need to be done

You should ensure that you have an up to date backup of PPM before attempting this work.

Failing that, making a copy of the whole ppm directory to a different location would be advisable

Calling the support desk may well be the best option

I cannot access the backup screen

This is often because the program file has been corrupted. Either run the latest upgrade file, which will replace the program file with a new one, or contact the support desk who will talk you through this.

Do not attempt to re-install the software as it is probably not necessary to do so and data may be lost as a result

When I attempt a backup I get an error message saying that the backup may be corrupt

This is normally because something within PPM has been left open. This may be a copy of PPM on another networked machine or a letter or the diary. Ensure that all other copies of PPM are closed along with any letters and the diary.

Also check that the backup is being made to a drive that is capable of accepting the backup (e.g. Not to a CD drive locked flash drive or network drive to which access is restricted)

If the backup still reports an error restart the machine and try again.

If the backup still fails call the support desk as a matter of urgency

On the patient screen I get incorrect spellings of some towns appearing in the town box

This is because an incorrect entry has been made in the past has been entered in error in the past and now auto-completes when typed

Before attempting the solution you are advised to back up your data

Click in the Town box and find the misspelled town.

Press the control and H keys on you keyboard to open the find and replace box

Enter the misspelled name in the ‘find what’ box and the correct name the ‘replace with’ box

Click ‘replace all’

Now right click on the Town box and say yes to recreate the list

On the patient screen I get postcodes appearing in the county box

This is because a postcode has been entered in error in the past and is now associated with the Town and auto-completes to the county box.

Before attempting the solution you are advised to back up your data

Click in the County box and find the post code.

Press the control and H keys on you keyboard to open the find and replace box

Enter the postcode in the ‘find what’ box and leave the ‘replace with’ box blank

Click ‘replace all’

Now right click on the County box and say yes to recreate the list

The insurance company does not appear on an invoice

Check that the billing type has been set to patient with cover in the billing information

The provider number does not appear on an invoice

Check that the insurance company record has the provider number entered

How can I email an invoice?

Display the invoice on the screen, click the email icon on the toolbar, select the format as snapshot format.

Your Outlook or Outlook Express message screen should open with the snapshot of the invoice attached.

If you use web-based email you could print the invoice to a pdf conversion package such as CutePDFWriter and attach the file manually to you email. (Use <ctrl> P when in the invoice screen to select the PDF printer)

I want to write off an outstanding balance but the invoice does not appear on the write off screen

This is normally because an overpayment has been logged against that invoice. The overpayment amount should be allocated before the write off can be done

When I retrieve an existing document the date on it is today’s date

If you have set up a template to insert the current date using the Microsoft office insert date function, and have enabled update automatically then whenever you retrieve a letter from the archive the date would change to the current date.

If you do not enable update automatically, the date on which the template was created will appear on all letters. This is a Microsoft Word limitation.

We recommend that you use the Today’s date merge field from the insert merge field list to insert the current date on letters and documents. This is a PPM field that does not update automatically when the document is retrieved at a later date

When raising an invoice I get the message ‘record locked by another user’

(This is caused by the computer being unable to communicate with the printer and therefore being unable to determine how to display the invoice)

Go to Setup and Maintenance then System Setup.

Click the Check the Invoice Number Assign Table

If an error is reported follow the prompts to create a new table

Close to the selector screen

Click Maintain data files and then double click on the consultant

Click the compact button

Open the Consultant and the invoicing should now work.

I get a simple calculator appearing on my screen

Pressing a plus, minus, multiply or divide symbol when in a fee box will open a simple calculator to carry out the chosen mathematical function on the fee.

Pressing the <=> key on the keyboard will close the calculator

Alternatively click in the grey area to the left of the white entry box and press <Ctrl> and F4 together

When I try to print a bank payment slip I get a message there are no receipts to bank

This is usually because the bank details have not been set up correctly

Go to Setup and Maintenance and then into Bank Accounts.

Check that the record has a Bank Name, Account Name, Sort Code and Account Number

When I run a bank reconciliation report I get a message ‘there are no banked payments to show’

This is because an opening balance has not been entered in the bank account record

Check through Setup and Maintenance, Bank Accounts button that an opening balance and opening balance date have been entered in each bank account

Note that entries dated prior to 01/01/2002 will not appear on a Bank Reconciliation report as the facility did not exist in the program prior to that date

When I look at the list of invoices in the View/reprint and Modify Invoice screens there are no invoices older than one year

Invoices less than one year old are loaded when View/Reprint an Invoice and Modify an Invoice lists are displayed. Click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to list all invoices

I want to modify an invoice but it does not appear in the Modify invoice screen

If the invoice is missing from the Modify an invoice list this will be because a payment has been made against it. If you wish to modify the invoice you must first delete the payment made against it by deleting the receipt.

I have an invoice which appears in the View reprint an invoice screen but not in the Payments screen or Patient Financial History screen

If an invoice appears in view reprint an invoice screen but not in the Patient Financial history you may have a corrupt patient record.

Use the fix Patient Record button on the System Setup screen and then create a new invoice.

You can then delete the old invoice from the modify an invoice screen

(You must back up your data before attempting this and if it fails to resolve the problem either contact the support desk or restore your data before doing any further work)

I have an invoice which appears in the patient financial history as unpaid but does not appear on the payments screen

This is probably because the invoice has been handed over. Check the handover/Release invoices screen on the invoicing and credit control menu

When I print an invoice the footer is very small and in the left hand corner

This will normally occur after an upgrade and is because the system has reverted to the default invoice type

Go to Set up and Maintenance then Invoice layout and select large footer invoice

When I print an invoice the header is cut off at the bottom

This will normally occur after an upgrade and is because the system has reverted to the default invoice type

Go to Set up and Maintenance then Invoice layout and select either Standard A4 or large Header A4 invoice

A patient has an overdue account and is due a reminder but no reminder is generated for them

This may be because the patient has be set to hold reminders Check the patient screen or run a Held Reminders report from the Reminder Due report screen on the Invoicing and credit Control Menu

I am having problems when doing new letters or medical report documents

If any of the following happen when opening a new letter or document letter, you should go to Setup and Maintenance - User Templates - Letter Templates - Select the required document from the list and click Modify.

Information appears on the letter that is not required	Remove the text and merge fields that are not required
Information appears in the wrong format e.g. initials rather than forenames	Delete the merge field for the information not required. Using the insert merge field button select the required field and insert it by clicking on it
The wrong GP/Specialist etc. appears on a document	Check that the document has merge fields referring to the correct party
I have entered a third Specialist but no letter appears in the list	Specialist 3 Letter is not a preloaded letter template. Create a user defined template called Specialist 3 and insert the Specialist 3 merge fields and other required information
The margins are wrong	Correct the margins on the template being careful only to select the parts you wish to change so as not to move the address header
The font is correct when the letter opens but text that I type in appears in a different font	Highlight the blank lines where you would normally type and select the correct font for those lines
The ‘cc to’ entry is not on the left of the page	Remove any tabs from the lines below the signature
Error 0 when creating a new letter	Can occur on new machines where Office has not been licensed with Microsoft Can also occur where Microsoft Word has not closed properly when closing a document In this case exit PPM close down and restart the machine
Invalid Merge Field when opening a letter	Check that the template only has merge fields selected from the insert merge filed list for that template
There may not be a valid copy of word on your machine	Can occur when an evaluation copy of office 2007 is opened on a machine that already has an earlier version of office installed Can also occur if the registry entries for office are changed by an upgrade of office To rectify open a Word document outside of PPM and use the detect and repair function from the help menu

Remember to save the changes to the template when closing it

When I print reports in landscape mode the right side of the report is missing

This is normally caused by incorrect settings on the printer.

Check that all paper setting on the printer are set to A4

I am having problems with the diary

Error message ‘cannot find diary day start’ when clicking on Diary Graphical Version button

Check that all machines connected to the network are switched on

Appointment entered in graphical diary does not appear on chosen list

Check correct date selection
Check to see if the list has several pages
Find the appointment and check that a valid appointment type has been entered
Ensure that you have not left the cursor in any of the boxes where the details of the appointment are entered

Appointment details obscured by colour of appointment slot

Change resource colour coding to a lighter colour