If you've spent considerable time working on a letter, the last thing you want is for the final product to look like something that was created with a typewriter. With Genie, the correspondence you send via secure messaging providers can be sent in PDF format to preserve formatting and imagery.
Before you begin
When you send a letter via a secure message service (like Argus, Medical Objects or Healthlink), it's important to understand what's happening behind the scenes. You hit the Send button in Genie, but the third-party messaging software actually picks up the letter and delivers it to the recipient.
To send PDF letters, you'll need to do some setup on the computer where the third-party correspondence software is installed. It's important you know which computer this is before you try to configure Genie to send PDF letters.
Genie version
Sending letters with embedded PDF content requires Genie version 8.8.8 at a minimum. If you're running an earlier version and you need help updating, get in touch with Genie Support for assistance.
Genie Server
If you have your third party carrier (Argus, Healthlink, Medical Objects etc.) installed on your server machine, you will need to ensure that the Genie Server application is running as an application and not as a service. If Genie Server is running as a service, and the third party carrier is installed on the server machine, sending PDF content in letters will not work.
Ghostscript
On a Windows computer, Genie requires an third-party application called Ghostscript to handle PDF content. To send correspondence in PDF format, you'll need to make sure Ghostscript is installed on the same computer where the third-party correspondence software is installed. Mac computers can handle PDF content natively, so Ghostscript isn't a requirement.
PostScript Printer
To send PDF letters in Genie, Windows computers require a PostScript-compatible printer to be installed and available on the computer where the third party carrier software is installed. This isn't a requirement for computers running macOS.
PDF printer applications like CutePDF, PrimoPDF or Microsoft Print to PDF (included with Windows 10) are PostScript-compatible. If your physical printer isn't PostScript-compatible, you can install a PDF printer application.
Please note: For users on Windows 10, the Microsoft Print to PDF application must be installed. This is the primary way Windows 10 handles PDF generation, and removing it will prevent Genie from being able to send letters as PDF at all.
When you send a letter to a doctor in your Address Book (Open > Address Book), you need to make sure their Address Book record has been configured properly. The intended letter recipient must have Include PDF in Letters ticked in the Correspondence tab of their Address Book record.
You can test whether you've configured Genie correctly to send letters with embedded PDF content. This test will only be required for Windows machines as Mac machines will handle PDF generation natively.
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Highlight any patient in the Appointment Book or Patient List and click the red quill
icon to open a new Referral/Reply letter. -
Within the letter writing window, locate the File menu (i.e. not the File menu in the top left-hand corner of the Genie window)
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Hold Shift on your keyboard and navigate to File > Print...
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Genie will prompt you to test either This Computer or the Sever computer. Usually you would select This computer, unless your third party carrier software is installed on the Server computer.
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The subsequent window shows the results of the test. If there are any red cross icons, it indicates that Genie had trouble generating a PDF. If you see any red crosses, contact Genie Support for troubleshooting advice. If the window shows all green ticks, you're ready to send PDF letters.
Provided you've met all the requirements for sending PDF letters and you've successfully tested the PDF function, the process of sending letters in PDF format should be identical to sending any other letter in Genie. You'll need to ensure 'Send via 3rd Party' is ticked as well as 'Ready to Send,' as per the instructions in the Electronic Letters article.