Would like some opinions on the feasibilty and the ease of implementing the following.

 

I have an optometry practice in which I store patient data demographics, medical info and transactions in Filemaker.  When a patient makes an appointment, I would like to send them a link to where they can go to our website and fill in their address, insurance info, medical history, etc.  I would like the website form to have any data we already have to be pre-filled in the form.

Is it possible to do this in Filemaker? I think WebDirect would be the feature that would be used.

 

I don't think giving them direct access to their record is a good idea.  I think it would be duplicated for the form so they can see only the data we want updated. Also, any changes they make could be "approved" by my staff before it is made final in the actual record. We could email a custom link to the patient so they could click on it to see only their data.

 

Our setup: Filemaker Server 12 on a Mac Mini Server.  The server is web enabled and we have a dedicated IP address and https encryption at our disposal.

 

How difficult is this to do? Thank you!

It will be extremely difficult using FMS 12 - WebDirect is only supported in FMS 13.

 

You will need to be extremely careful with your firewall settings and also with user access rights - you are dealing with personal information here.

 

Otherwise, sounds quite plausible.

I didn't realize WebDirect was only in 13 vs 12.  Obviously I will have to consider the upgrade first.  Other than that it is good to hear it is quite doable.

Thanks for your input.

 

Joe

Since you explicitly mention medical info, double and triple check the HIPAA regulations and how they apply to you and your data.  You will have to be extremely diligent about security and making sure no-one can ever accidentally land on another record, or find a way to get the data out.  HTTPS encryption alone is not going to be enough.