| The one thing they haven't quite figured out yet | | | | have serious limitations. For example. Some of the |
| in the world of medical billing software is how to | | | | most popular DME software packages is built on |
| make a package big enough in terms of capacity | | | | the database known as Btrieve. While a good |
| to handle any size company. In this article, we're | | | | database, it has its limitations. One of them is the |
| going to take a look at the problem and just why | | | | size it can grow to before you start seeing |
| it's a problem, along with some possible solutions. | | | | corruption problems in the database itself. When |
| Years ago, many years ago, if you had a meg of | | | | companies started getting large enough to poke |
| memory in your computer, you could do just | | | | holes in this database, the first solution was to |
| about anything at all. Today, half a gig can just | | | | break the database up into multiple companies. |
| about get your operating system started. As | | | | But this quickly lead to legal problems and other |
| systems and programs get larger, the | | | | issues such as being able to get meaningful |
| requirements for these programs grow. But this | | | | reports from multiple companies. |
| isn't so much the issue here. Certainly today's PCs | | | | Another problem the software packages started |
| have enough memory and disk space to be able | | | | running into was the actual processing of the data |
| to handle starting up an operating system and a | | | | stored in the database once a solid platform was |
| piece of software. The issue has more to do with | | | | found. Many users began to notice that running a |
| the actual software itself and the mega | | | | sales report for a company with 100,000 patients |
| businesses that use it. | | | | was taking a day to run and tying up all the |
| Today, we have corporations involved in the | | | | resources of the server, thus slowing down the |
| medical billing business that are so massive, it isn't | | | | work of everyone else. So new network |
| unusual for them to be billing hundreds of | | | | architectures had to be configured to make it so |
| thousands of patients. Suddenly, a software | | | | that the reports being run would not have any |
| package that used to run on a single PC is no | | | | effect on other users of the system. This was |
| longer able to do the job. So networks are built | | | | easier said than done with a shared database. So |
| with the software running on individual | | | | the next solution was to duplicate the database |
| workstations. The servers running this software | | | | using a RAID system and run the reports off the |
| are massive. The memory and disk space used | | | | other drive. |
| by these servers are light years ahead of what | | | | And these problems are only the tip of the |
| they used to be. And yet, with all of this | | | | iceberg. The unavoidable truth is, as long as |
| processing power, the software itself can only | | | | companies continue to grow and more and more |
| handle so much. Why? | | | | data is needed, these companies will continue to |
| One of the reasons is the platform on which the | | | | outgrow the software that is being used. That's |
| software is built. Unfortunately, most software | | | | why there are constant updates for all these |
| companies build their products on databases that | | | | packages. |