What is required to use any online software in a clinic?

Many clinics still have doubts whether using cloud software is more or less advantageous than using offline software, that is, a system that needs installation. Despite being simpler, it is necessary to observe some details when hiring an online software, especially if you are going to use it in a clinic.

Certainly, the advantages of online software are many, and among them are the reduced cost, security in the storage of your data, and practicality. Because it is so practical, some people have doubts when starting to use their software, but today we will help you to solve these doubts.

Before we continue, we need to know: Do you already use medical software to perform your consultations at the clinic? We invite you to get to know Ninsaúde Apolo, online software that can be used on a tablet, smartphone, or in the traditional way, on computers. Learn more on our website apolo.app.

What equipment is needed?

Currently, it can be said that there is no need to use a robust desktop computer if you have a small office, and in some cases, you don't even have a large clinic, so you can replace this type of machine with portable computers - laptops. However, everything will depend on the number of programs you have installed on your computer, and we will explain why.

As much as online software does not take up storage space, It is important to know that other software used by you may influence the performance of your computer. Therefore, the greater the number of programs used on your machine, the greater the memory. This means that, if you use installed software, they can make your computer slow and crash.

As it is a portable device, the laptop brings a lot of practicality to health professionals, besides the fact that they are great for scheduling appointments, thus being used by secretaries in clinics and offices. Many healthcare professionals are fans of Apple-branded products, whose operating system is macOS. On the other hand, brands like Acer, Samsung, Dell, among others, usually have a Windows operating system.

Regardless of the operating system, your version must be the most current, because if it is out of date, where software may not work correctly.

At the moment, the most current version of Apple's operating system for computers is macOS Catalina 10.15.7. On Windows, the latest version is Windows 10, but it is about to be upgraded to 11.

When it comes to memory RAM, it is also essential to choose the right model so that the machine can support your daily work. RAM is responsible for storing all the information needed to run the software, as well as for the functioning of the operating system itself. If only online software will be used in your clinic or office, a laptop with 4GB of ram is enough to serve your patients.

Another interesting point to note is the storage capacity, which many know as "HD memory". Hard drive space corresponds to the number of items you can install on your computer or common files stored on it.

Currently, many computers usually come from the factory with 1TB (where 1 Terabyte corresponds to 1,000 Gigabytes) and some also have external memory, usually stored on an SSD disk. Therefore, when installing certain programs, this 1TB space is being used little by little.

In the case of online software, the amount of space available on your computer is irrelevant, because as we have already commented, online software does not use internal storage. After all, your access is through an internet browser, and all your data is saved in the cloud.

But remember: other installed programs are being used on this computer, they may interfere with your performance. When it comes to performance, be sure to analyze which processor is inserted in your machine, as a bad processor can result in crashes. For Windows users, the Intel Core i3 processor or higher is recommended.

In light of what we have said so far, we cannot forget the fact that you also have the advantage of being able to access software online through your smartphone or even a tablet. For some, the screen size can be a hindrance, but for others, it can even be an advantage. You can clear your doubts on this subject by reading our article where we comment on How is Ninsaúde Apolo used in the smartphone?.

Which browser to use?

As we mentioned earlier, online software does not require installations. Therefore, to use it, the user must open an internet browser and access the software, in the same way as if you were accessing a news site or a social network. Currently, Google Chrome is one of the best, if not the best browser to access websites and online systems. Even thanks to Google Chrome it is possible to use the Dictate functionality, present in Ninsaúde Apolo, where, through it, the health professional can dictate instead of writing in the patients' medical records.

Opera and Mozilla Firefox browsers are also great and have similar settings to Google Chrome. However, in none of them is it possible to use the Dictate functionality that we mentioned before. The same goes for Microsoft Edge (formerly Internet Explorer), as well as Safari, the latter being the native browser on Apple computers. In this way, if you are a Ninsaúde Apolo user, we recommend that you use the Google Chrome browser, so you can better enjoy all the benefits that the software has to offer.

What some people don't know is that, just like certain software, browsers also need updates. In general, as you use a browser with some frequency, it tends to update itself. But if you are having difficulties using certain browser functions, you can check if it has any pending updates and start it manually. In Google Chrome, for example, you can check for updates by clicking on the three dots on the top right. Then click on "Help" and finally on "About Google Chrome". See the example below:

Another point related to browsers is that they end up storing a lot of information from websites, such as cookies. You've probably visited a website where a message asked you to accept them, right? But what are they, what are they for, and how do cookies interfere with your browser?

Cookies are snippets of code that give a website a kind of short-term memory, allowing some information to be stored according to your browsing preferences. With this, the purpose of storing cookies is to offer a more personalized experience to the user.

However, as you access a large number of websites, cookies are being stored and this may affect the performance of your browser. For this reason, it is recommended that from time to time the user access the browser settings and clean the cookies and cache. Check out how simple it is to clear your browser data below:

Internet: which speed and provider to hire?

A cloud system like Ninsaúde Apolo does not require large internet configurations, but it is necessary to understand that when using online software, you will be hostage to your connection. This means that without the internet you can't work, and your connection is slow, it can disrupt your work.

To find out how many MB of the internet you need to hire, you must take into account the number of people who will be using this internet network, as well as the activities that will be performed in its use. This information is crucial when hiring because some types of activities use more network data, which can slow down the internet. If many people are using the same network, it is interesting to hire a plan that supports all these people connected, as this can also influence the speed of the internet.

In practice, it would work something like this: in an office with only two people (secretary + health professional) using online software, you can easily hire 50MB of the internet to do your work. In a clinic with five people working, the recommendation would be an internet of at least 200MB. If health professionals use telemedicine in this location, this only reinforces the idea that the internet signal must be stable and of good quality. For an even better signal, check if there is fiber optic internet in your area.

A curious fact is that you may not be able to access a website or software online, but at the same time, you notice that other sites work normally. In this case, it is normal for the user to suspect that the site or software has a problem, but the fact is that in some cases the problem may be related to the internet.

This is because the sites are hosted on servers, and these servers can be anywhere on the planet - which could be in your city or across the ocean. For you to be able to use online software or website, when trying to access it, your provider will send the internet signal through the shortest path so that the data arrives at the highest possible speed. If one of these paths has problems, naturally the provider will try to find another one, however, this change of route may cause slowness when accessing that site. This type of problem can have several origins, such as a storm in that region, for example.

Tip: When having this type of problem, try to access the site through another network, such as your smartphone's 4G. If accessing the site works normally, then the problem is not the site. (this also applies to access to online software), but on the routes that your provider is using.

So, did you like our tips? Keep following the blog for more articles like this one, and if you still don't use management software to make your appointments, come and meet Ninsaúde Apolo.