Immigration Visa Medical Information System
IVMIS is a software tool designed to help Panel Physicians in all aspects of medical examinations for immigration visas.
IVMIS is created according to Technical Instructions published by the CDC and is designed to handle all steps of medical screening done by Panel Physicians for U.S. immigration visas. From appointment management to data archiving all possible steps of the medical examination process is covered.
Appointment Management
The appointment manager is an integrated part of IVMIS and is the starting point of the software assisted process. The appointment manager is a great way to reduce the work load of the secretariat staff and reduce communication errors. The system provides a web based interface for patients to make self appointments online. The appointment manager can be linked to your existing website (we can also help you to create a website). The appointment manager contains all the necessary instructions for patients on how to make appointments.
- The system guides the patients to appropriate dates according to his/her appointment with the embassy taking the age of the patient into consideration.
- Working hours can be changed and holidays can be marked for the system to prevent patients from making appointments on those days.
- The daily number of appointments can be limited to prevent over overcrowding of the clinic.
- Some information about the patients are collected before they come to the clinic. This information can be directly used on the DS forms later when the patient arrives in to the clinic.
- The appointment manager provides a way to confirm appointments. The secretariat staff or the panel physician can log on to the system to confirm appointment for the patients. The confirmations are sent by email with the necessary information (modifiable) for the patient about the examination day.
Patient Admission
During patient admission for medical examination, after the identification procedures, the patient data (name, passport number, etc.) is entered into the system. If the patient has taken online appointments, the data entered during appointment making can be automatically transfered into the record.
If the patient is renewing the medical examination, thus has an existing record, the system warns the receptionist of possible matching previous patients. The system allows multiple medical examinations to be recorded under a patients file, so previous examinations of a patient is always kept and can be referred to by the panel physician.
During admission the system determines the required tests by age and status and the patient can be referred to appropriate laboratories.
Medical Examination
During the medical examination the physician can either use his/her personal computer or use a tablet computer to enter the examination data to the system (the tablet interface is being developed at the moment). The interface provided to the physician is similar to paper (DS) forms but is highly enhanced. As the form is being filled the system checks and warns inconsistent or erroneous entries and assists in filling in some of the remarks.
Form Printing
After the medical examination is completed DS forms (DS-2054, DS-3025, etc.) are ready to be printed. The data entered using the system is automatically printed onto exact forms published by the Department of State.
Data Archiving
Any data entered into the system is kept for archiving purposes and the exact forms created can be recreated any time. The data can also be used for statistical purposes. Information such as the number of Class A, B and No Class patients can be retrieved instantly.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
IVMIS is provided to the use of Panel Physicians as a software service. The system resides in the cloud, enabling panel physicians to securely connect to the system using an Internet connection from anywhere in the world. Some of the advantages of using IVMIS as a software service can be listed as below:
- The software is updated as the Technical Instructions are updated. Updates are free of charge and there is no need to individually install updates on local computers.
- No need for server hardware and related maintenance. The system is kept on redundant hardware in major data centers located around the world (London, UK., Tokyo, JP., and Newark, NJ/US.)
- No need for backups. All backups are kept by us.
- No upfront investment in software. You pay as you go and as much as you use the system.
- You can opt-out of using the system anytime. We will provide you with all the data entered during your enrollment and all the forms in an electronic format.
Requirements, Pricing and Evaluation
The system requires;
- At least two middle class computers capable of running a recent web browser (one for the secretary and one for the panel physician). A 2-3 year old computer will be sufficient.
- A printer, depending on the number of patients you are handling, a laser duplex printer (capable of printing onto both sides of the paper) can be preferred for faster output.
- A reliable broadband internet connection.