A1-Law / WCFMS Case Management Newsletter August 2001

As you may already know......
A1-Law applies to the Windows Case Management System
WCFMS applies to the DOS Case Manager System

Important Notice
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CAAA Convention
It’s Jan 24 - 27, 2002 at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines Resort in San Diego. I’ll be exhibiting there as I have for the past 16 years. Hope to see you there.

In This Issue
Problems with Email Support, Remote Access Programs & PC Anywhere, The Discussion Forum, Phone Support Questions and Answers. Want to know more.....Read on….

Problems with Email Support
If you send me an Email and I have not replied within 48 hours please send a cc to Appell@AppellSoftware.com. Better yet, feel free to post your question on the discussion forum so that others can offer their input and suggestions and everyone can learn from everyone else.

Remote Access Programs / PC Anywhere
Better support can be obtained if you upgrade to PC Anywhere with DSL. Check with your consultant about firewalls and security issues. Most important of all, there is no substitute for a good backup. Have you done your backup this week?

The Discussion Forum
As mentioned above, the more that use the discussion forum, the greater the benefit to everyone. I check it regularly and would like to see questions posted there so that everyone can learn from everyone else.

Phone Support Questions and Answers
This month we will review some real questions that offices sent via Email and the answers provided (names changed for anonymity). Because these questions were submitted via Email, they may be in all caps although we prefer Email questions to be submitted in upper and lower case. Also, there are many questions here and some may interest you while others may not.

Find the ones that interest you and learn from them so that you can better utilize the system. You may even find a question that you submitted. These questions will also gives you an idea of how others are utilizing the program. Once again though, next time you are on our web site at www.AppellSoftware.com, check out our discussion forum.

Please keep in mind that if you are a beta tester of our Version 4.00 and your question was regarding this version, you will not see your question here since it does not apply to everyone as of yet.

Question:

Answer:
<<command = getparty,1>><<command = code trim(card.social_sec)>>

Also, the equivalent form letter input command for WCFMS DOS is:
\Command = input,Enter information

Question:
THE ADDRESS FOR THE W.C. APPEALS BOARD DOES NOT PRINT. I USED THE COMMAND
TO INSERT IT BUT IT DOES NOT PRINT THE BOARD'S ADDRESS. THE COMMAND I USED
WAS <<command = GetParty,WCAB,COURT>>.

Answer:
This is correct. However, do you have the board listed in the Parties sheet
of the client card? Make sure the board is already in the rolodex. From
the Parties sheet, click the + button and select search by Firm/Company. Then search for WCAB or Worker (for workers compensation appeals board). I'm not sure how you have it entered for the firm name - ie: WCAB, maybe W.C.A.B. It should then show you a list and you can just double click the one you want to attach it to the Party sheet.

Question:
NEXT, WHEN I USE THE COMMAND TO LET THE USER INPUT INFORMATION, IT DOES NOT STOP TO LET ME PUT IN THAT INFORMATION. INSTEAD IT PRINTS OUT THE NUMBER OF THE FORM LETTER AND ALSO WHEN I WANT IT TO PRINT OUR FILE NUMBER IT PRINTS THE NUMBER OF THE FORM LETTER INSTEAD. THE COMMAND I USED WAS

<<command = input,Enter information>>.

Answer:
This command is correct and it should work just fine. If it is not stopping
to allow you to enter information, I would say to simply type the command
again. The other option would be to click the question mark button in the
lower right corner which will bring up a set of form letter commands. You
can then select the INPUT command.

Question:
NEXT, I CREATED OUR LETTERHEAD IN A FORM LETTER BUT NEED TO CHANGE THE SPACING FROM 1" TO 1/2". HOW DO I DO THAT?

Answer:
Highlight the section of text and click the P button in the lower right
corner for paragraph dialog. You can then set the spacing as you would with any other word processor.

Answer:
Click on Tools, System (and enter the master password). Then double click Configure Staff Defaults and click Add to add another person so that they can have a login name and password.
We have a new secretary whose initials are ZZZ and, even though I can give her a task, or whatever, ZZZ doesn't show up on the drop down list.

Answer:
Right. The idea here was for LARGE law offices I wanted to give them the flexibility to put whoever they want in the dropdown rather than everyone. In this way, if there are 20 users but 95% of the time you only use say 3 or 4 users' initials, you can use the dropdown for them. Otherwise, you can type in the person's initials with the keyboard.

To add a user's initials to the dropdown, click on Tools, System, Configure System Defaults. Click Popups and you should see an entry for Staff Initials. Just add ZZZ to the list (be sure to separate all of the initials with a comma.

Question:
When I try to run any of the three programs under the tab
program,(calculator, notepad, or the medlegal wc program I get error
messages, for example:

Error Running Program
Program No. 1
start in c:\program files\mlcopy
Target Run/NC:\programfiles/mlcopy\mlcopy.exe

Could this be because our A1Law program is on our server which is E: or
F: and, if so, how do we reprogram the target for these programs?

Answer:
You have to tell A1-Law where to look for these programs so that you can access them directly from the program. First, click on Tools, System, Configure System Defaults. Next click Program Menu. Then, as an example, you could enter in the following as an example:

3 APPLICATIONS

1 NAME = Med-Legal WCCalc Program
1 LOCATION = C:\Program Files\MLCopy
1 PROGRAM = RUN /N C:\Program Files\MLCopy\MLCopy.exe

2 NAME = Windows Calculator
2 PROGRAM = RUN /N C:\WINDOWS\CALC.EXE

3 NAME = Windows Notepad
3 PROGRAM = RUN /N C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE

You must then click the Save button, quit A1-Law and then go back into A1-Law for the changes to take effect. Notice in the above example, the first program also needs to access a folder so we have the Location parameter as well. Notepad and the Windows Calculator can be run from any folder so it doesn't matter. At the windows desktop, you can Right Click on an icon and click Properties, Shortcut (or Program tab) and then you can cut and paste from the target location or just type in in for the PROGRAM =

The fact that A1-Law is running on your server is irrelevant if you specify a drive. For example:

3 PROGRAM = RUN /N C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE
tells A1-Law to look on the C drive in the Windows folder so it doesn't matter that A1-Law is running on the server. However, just because NOTEPAD.EXE is in the windows folder on my machine, does not mean it is in the windows folder on your machine. You will have to Right Click on the notepad Icon to find out where it is located. Or you can of course click Start, Find, Files or Folders and search for it.

Let me know if you have any questions about this. Also, if you have PC Anywhere with DSL I can log in directly and show you how this is done if you have any questions.

Question:
A couple months ago, we bought a second printer for the reception area.
It's an HP Laserjet 2200D and we cannot get it to work properly. Everything
else prints fine, but when we try to print an A1-Law document of MORE than ONE page, we get the LAST page only! (ZZZ has tried everything he can think of -- as have we -- but the same issue reoccurs.)

Answer:
Tell ZZZ to assist you in installing the standard HP LaserJet Series II driver with the HP 2200D printer (instead of the HP 2200D driver) and everything should work fine. The drivers are compatible but there are some wierd issues with the 2200D Driver. You can also check the HP website for any bug fixes for their printer driver.

Question:
The county has multple insurance adjusters, every time one user makes a change in a case he is on all the previous adjusters names get overwritten in the rolodex. Is there a work around for this or do they need multiple entries with different names?

Answer:
Yes there is a workaround. The workaround is to enter in the Adjuster at the INJURIES sheet of the client card. Attach the INSURANCE company (not the adjuster) to the PARTIES sheet of the client card. This method I'm suggesting will also keep the rolodex from getting cluttered considering the adjusters tend to move around a lot.

Question:
When I complete the information on the application for adjudication of
claim and then go to the form, only the name and address is completed on
the form. all the other info is not transferred.

Answer:
After you complete the information for the application, do not go to forms to print it. The Application is the only form like this and it is special in that it is like an "intake" form. To, print the application, right after you fill it out, at the Injuries Sheet of the Client card, just click the Printer Icon on the toolbar and then you will be able to print the application with all the information.

Question:
Can your program do Mailing Lables??

Answer:
Click on Search for a Case. Check Primary Names Only (to do labels only for clients and not for insurance companies or employer's or attorneys). Click Search and it will pull up ALL of your clients in the Found Cases Window. Next, click the printer icon on the toolbar and select either 2 column (20 sheet), 3 column labels (30 sheet) or 2 column (14 sheet).

Question:
First time I've run into this. I have a situation where a client got
hurt working for a "ZZZZ Towing" ("ZT"), eventually returned to work
(altho the claim isn't yet resolved), but began working for "ZZZZZ
Auto Repair" ("ZAR"), who it turns out has a different carrier than does
ZT. Apparently when we entered ZAR as a party it automatically changed
ZT to ZAR, as they both have the same address. I just noticed this and
tried to change the first entry back to ZT but it also changed to second
entry to ZT. To sum it up, the program doesn't seem to accept different
parties at the same address. How do I handle this?

Answer:
Ah, you have discovered the Relational Link to Firms. Suppose you have 12 defense attorneys and the ALL work for Doe & Doe Law Offices. Now, Doe & Doe moves down the street to another address. You certainly don't want to have to change ALL 12 attorneys rolodex cards for the Doe & Doe firm. Similarly, if Doe & Doe adds a partner to now become Doe & Doe and Smith, you don't want to have to change the firm name for all 12 attorneys. So, we link (or Attach) the firmname and address to all 12 rolodex cards.

You have probably inadvertantly attached the Firmname (in this case the name of the employer) to BOTH rolodex cards. That's why when you change the employer name or address, it changes for both cards. So, let's say you want to DETACH the employer name on the first card. Go to the first card and click the EDIT button. Next, at the end of the Firm name, you will see a button that has the letter A on it. If you put the mouse cursor over this button, it will say Attach/Detach a Name. Click the button to DETACH the address from this card (it does not delete or detach the address from the other card or cards that are using this address. Once you click the A button, you will see a red X to Detach the firm. Click the Red X button to Detach the firm (the employer's name and address) from this card. Now, you can add a different employer's name and address.

Next Month
More questions and answers.

And now for my usual sign-off.......
Until next time, have a great month.