Collect and bill via Pay Pal - another way to decrease receivables and generate payments, easy for the patient to use and set up an account as well...

This is another alternative physicians might want to take a look at to collect money.  If the patient doesn't have a credit card to pay, this is a great alternative and you don't need a website to participate.  Outlook integration makes the process real easy....and basic services are free.  I use PayPay myself and it works very well.  If a cash patient as an example did not have cash in hand, they could easily sit down with a "patient accessible PC" and pay before leaving the office...BD

Anyone with an email address can use PayPal to send and receive money online.

Send payment requests online, even if you don't have a website.

Use our simple Request Money option to email a basic payment request in seconds.

Get paid using the tools you already have.

Let your customers pay you immediately – insert a payment button into any Outlook email you want to send to them.

• No monthly fees
• No setup fees
• No cancellation fees

Source: Payment Services - Compare - PayPal

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Ambien Prescription Prices

I did take a look at the current Target and WalMart listings and it has not made either list as of today...BD

As the Health Blog eases into weekend planning, we decided to check in on the latest retail prices for generic Ambien, the sleeping pill from Sanofi-Aventis that recently lost patent protection.

More than a dozen copycat versions of the medicine, known generically as zolpidem tartrate, got FDA approval earlier this month. And the pills are now available in pharmacies across the country.

Maybe just repeating “zolpidem tartrate” to yourself will get you to Dreamland. Or maybe you’ll be thwarted by a fear of carnivorous clowns (idea for Simpsons-inspired art goes to In Vivo Blog).

So if you need some sleep help, a 30-day supply of the 5 milligram generic Ambien tablets will set you back as follows:

RxUSA.com $13.26
Drugstore.com $15.39
CVS.com $80.99
Walgreens.com $114.99


Hat tip:  http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/

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Under Ease - Underwear with a charcoal filter

You can really buy these! Charcoal filtering undies...what will they think of next. This in reality can really be a good thing for many...BD

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The Digital Desk

This is well worth the watch from Microsoft. It is now going beyond the keyboard for a more natural work desk approach - no keyboard here. Inking and touch screens as we have now in portable tablets and UMPCs in time will be making their way to the desktop as well. This is the evolution of the desktop pc on steroids...BD



Hat tip:
Engadget

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Coffee can be good for you, experts say

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking coffee can help ward off type 2 diabetes and may even help prevent certain cancers, according to panelists discussing the benefits -- and risks -- of the beverage at a scientific meeting.

Source: Coffee can be good for you, experts say - Yahoo! News

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Kidstoned Chewable Valium..

This is one for the funny farm here...someone has a wild sense of humor..BD


Video: Kidstoned Chewable Valium

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Epocrates Drug Search

We have now added a link to quickly search the Epocrates web site for drug information. The site returns a multitude of information, even pill pictures and information suitable for patient education hand outs. The search page also has filtering available on the right hand side, for example if you are looking for pediatric dosing, you can use the filtering to jump to the point of interest. The link will be constant on each page and will be up at the top left hand side for easy access. While on the site here, perhaps this can be an added feature to save having to navigate to additional pages!

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Two (or more) for one with prescription drugs

 

 The Rev. Eddie Martin was willing to take two drugs, a diuretic and a calcium channel blocker, to get his blood pressure down. But when his doctor decided to add a third pill, a cholesterol-lowering medication, to Martin's daily medicine regimen, the reverend balked.
"I just hate taking pills," Martin says, "and what's more, with each extra drug, that's another co-pay I've got to shell out."
Then, the Woodland, Ohio, resident heard a TV ad for Caduet, which combines the blood-pressure-lowering drug Norvasc with the cholesterol-reducing medicine Lipitor, Martin's doctor agreed that Caduet could take care of his patient's blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering needs and prescribed the drug, leaving the reverend's drug count at a total of two per day.
"Now, I'm getting the drugs I need without extra pills or extra cost," Martin says.

That doesn't mean the drugs are the best choice for everyone. If a patient is already taking Norvasc and Lipitor — and having two insurance copays — taking the drugs as a single Caduet pill will reduce the number of pills he or she has to take, and, for many people, will bring the two copays down to one, Fisler says.

Several factors are behind the recent push to introduce new combination products.

Companies facing patent expirations and lowered revenues from generic competition can reap at least some of the cash back by patenting a combination drug. For example, the patent for Norvasc, one of the two drugs in Caduet, expires this year, and the patent for the other drug, Lipitor, expires in 2010. Pfizer, which makes both Norvasc and Lipitor, has already seen annual sales of Lipitor drop by billions because of competition from generic versions of Merck's cholesterol medication Zocor, which lost its patent this year. Annual sales for Norvasc, approved in 1992, are currently $5 billion.

Source: Two (or more) for one with prescription drugs - Los Angeles Times

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HP Awards More Than $7 Million in Education Grants to Schools in the U.S. and Puerto Rico

 Tablets are only going to get better and more prevalent...BD

United States and Puerto Rico more than $7 million in mobile technology, cash and professional development.

The grants, part of the 2007 HP Technology for Teaching grant program, are designed to improve student achievement through the innovative uses of technology in the classroom while encouraging student interest in careers in technology, engineering, math and science, including environmental science. During the 2007-2008 academic year, grant projects will affect nearly 42,000 students.

Source: HP Press Release: HP Awards More Than $7 Million in Education Grants to Schools in the U.S. and Puerto Rico

Hat Tip:  JK on the run

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Mobility on the Rise with MDs - Physician working on CME credits while on the run...

This is my own story here on physicians using mobility.  I was at a retail electronics store this weekend promoting Intel processors when a consumer came up and asked me a couple questions.  He had his PDA out and was working on a project of some sort I could tell.  He also had his son with him and the son was in the market for a new computer.  He asked that I talk with him son while he finished his project. 

I was able to briefly see the screen of the PDa and wouldn't you know the physician was finishing up a CME (continuing medical education) course and had Epocrates (who offers this on the PDA) on the screen.  I recognized the screen as I too subscribe to Epocrates for my own knowledge and to demo for physicians. 

I talked with his son while he finished the project.  Afterwards I was nosy enough to ask a couple questions.  The physician stated he uses their courses all the time to keep current and although they are not his only source, it sure helps on keeping his credentials up to date quickly, so I guess it goes to show you never know where you might see productivity in action! 

Once completed, all 3 of us began talking about processors and then once more, he was working with the PDA, this time to take notes on another subject, what they came in the store to talk about, computers. 

In a prior post I included some screenshots of Epocrates on a PDA and you can use the link below to view and find out more about Epocrates and the mobile CME courses they offer.

Epocrates screenshots and information

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National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative

The National e-Prescribing initiative will also target patients with this free for physician service.   Now there is no reason not to use e-Prescribing.  There is a permanent link on this site to this website for information and access at any time.  This is sponsored by some of the largest folks in the IT business today and is at no cost for the physician.  If you are not using an EMR that is already established with e-Prescribing, take a look and see what can be had for free.  Shortly, the patients will be looking as the marketing campaign expands...BD

We’re all patients – which places us all at risk of medical error. Prescription medication errors injure 1.5 million Americans and claim more than 7,000 lives each year.
Medication errors are not only a danger to us as patients but also a major contributor to the high cost of healthcare that we all bear. The goal of NEPSI is to reduce medication errors and healthcare costs by making electronic prescribing (eRx) accessible and desirable to every physician and medication prescriber in America.
eRx places the patient at the center of the equation by reducing the need for people to convey and manage their own prescription information. All patients need to do with eRx is pick up their prescriptions!
eRx benefits patients by creating a highly secure and private means to transfer prescription information:
Improves patient safety and quality of care
Eliminates handwriting, which can lead to prescription errors
Checks and alerts for drug interactions, dosage levels and patient-specific factors including prior adverse reaction.

Ask your physician to register for eRx today!
Coming soon: Find physicians using eRx NOW™ in your area.

Source: Patients - National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative

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All not lost if cell phone falls in toilet

This makes a real good case for using a Smart Phone or PDA phone with Windows Mobile.  Why rely on the wireless carrier or the sim card to hold your information.  In the business world today it makes sense to not to rely on someone else to back up your information.  With Windows Mobile, all this is synchronized with MS Office Outlook.  Not only do you have a back up, but by purchasing unlimited tethering data plans, you can also use many of the phones as a data connection to connect to the Internet with a Tablet PC when you are on the move.  This is a great service and for those not needing a full service Internet card with their mobile units, this fits the bill!   Sim cards are ok, but what happens if you lose the sim card?  Something to think about...BD

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Lenny Salmon was text-messaging in a bar's restroom when he fumbled his cell phone into a toilet.

Along with trashing the $300 phone, he also lost hundreds of telephone numbers. On his new replacement phone, he's restored only about 12.

For some, it's not much of an issue. Users of "smart phones," such as Treos and BlackBerries, typically "sync" their phone content — phone numbers, e-mails, calendar items and other information — directly to their personal computer for storage.

Even those with less sophisticated phones can store their phone data on their PC, by way of software-based products such as Snap-Sync and DataPilot.

Source: CapeCodTimes.com - All not lost if cell phone falls in toilet

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CVS seeks to open clinics in its stores

Minute Clinic update... 

Retail medical clinics are taking off nationally, with about 400 in drugstores, discount chains, and supermarkets in other states. If Massachusetts officials approve the plan, the CVS medical clinics would be the first store-based clinics in the state .

Company executives said they would open the first clinic in a CVS at 474 Washington St. in Weymouth; they would not disclose the other planned locations.

MinuteClinic now has 145 locations in CVS pharmacies, Targets, and other stores in 18 states. He said the company analyzed demographics and access to care in the Boston market before developing its plan. The region has a large number of families with two working parents, which may indicate a strong need for quick care, Howe said. The retail clinics also can provide extra business for CVS when patients fill prescriptions in the stores and buy other merchandise.

Source: CVS seeks to open clinics in its stores - The Boston Globe

Hat Tip Dr. Kevin

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Free electronic medical record system comes with strings attached ...

One of my areas of concerns with advertising being on a medical record is space, real estate..forget all the rest of the concerns for a moment and think about additional patient information that could be viewed on a chart, when instead this area will be used for advertising?  I wrote my own EMR and space is always an issue and concern in getting the maximum amount of information on the main page so the question here is, will the ads take up space whereby additional patient information could be viewed?  BD 

Realizing that many practices are unable to install an electronic medical record system due to their cost, Practice Fusion, a San Francisco-based company, is offering a Web-based system at a price it would seem no one can refuse -- free.

But free comes with a price. The system would put advertising on the medical record. And nonidentified data from the patient records would be packaged and sold for marketing purposes.

Critics say Practice Fusion's business model is taking advantage of patient-doctor trust by commercializing patient information. But others say this model might be a way to get EMRs into physicians' offices.

Source: AMNews: May 7, 2007. Free electronic medical record system comes with strings attached ... American Medical News

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Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Settles Class-Action Lawsuit Filed By 900,000 Physicians

It appears Blue Cross is involved in quite a few law suits today....BD

Twenty-three Blue Cross Blue Shield Association plans nationwide on Friday announced the settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed by about 900,000 physicians over allegations that the plans improperly reduced their reimbursements, the Wall Street Journal reports. In the lawsuit, the physicians and their medical societies alleged that BCBS plans delayed or denied reimbursements for medical services and improperly rejected claims for necessary medical services.

Under the settlement, the BCBS plans will contribute $128 million to a fund to which physicians can submit previously disputed claims and pay as much as $49 million in legal fees. In addition, BCBS plans agreed to establish new external review boards to address disputed claims, make their fee schedules and reimbursement explanations more transparent, standardize definitions and review procedures used to determine whether services are medically necessary. The settlement requires approval from U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno in Miami (Fuhrmans, Wall Street Journal, 4/28).

Source: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Settles Class-Action Lawsuit Filed By 900,000 Physicians

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Benefits of Alzheimer's...

1. You never have to watch reruns on television.

2. You are always meeting new people.

3. You don't have to remember the whines and complaints of your spouse.

4. You can hide your own Easter eggs.

5. Mysteries are always interesting.

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FDA Approves Lantus SoloStar(R) - A New Prefilled Disposable Insulin Pen For Use With LANTUS(R) In People With Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes

 

Sanofi-aventis announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Lantus SoloStar(R), a new prefilled disposable insulin pen for once-daily 24- hour insulin LANTUS(R) (insulin glargine) for the treatment of hyperglycemia in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
The introduction of Lantus SoloStar(R) offers a convenient option for administering once-daily 24-hour LANTUS(R), the number one prescribed insulin in the world. LANTUS(R) in the Lantus SoloStar(R) pen provides diabetes patients with an alternative to the traditional needle and syringe for insulin therapy. Lantus SoloStar(R) is the only disposable insulin pen that allows patients to administer doses from 1 up to 80 units, in one injection.

Source: FDA Approves Lantus SoloStar(R) - A New Prefilled Disposable Insulin Pen For Use With LANTUS(R) In People With Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes

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Florida HMO Ordered to Pay $1.5 Million to Doctors

Blue Cross and Blue Shield news...health care at risk for the sake of saving some money...BD

 

MIAMI, FL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/01/07 --
Under the Florida HMO Act, when an HMO member is admitted to any Florida hospital, all pathology tests ordered by a physician must be covered by the HMO, including technical and professional clinical pathology laboratory services. The costs of such tests are divided into two components: technical, which includes the hospital's labs and equipment; and professional, which includes the services of the physician supervising and interpreting the tests.

In 1999 Florida's largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (Health Options HMO), made a statewide business decision to stop paying all hospital pathologists for the professional component of clinical pathology medical services. Their decision would save them $4.1 million per year. In 2005, after years of unsuccessfully attempting to collect their fees from Health Options, Florida Pathology Services filed suit in Miami Dade County 11th Circuit Court on behalf of Palmetto General Hospital and Coral Gables Hospital, citing the Florida HMO Act and the American Medical Association (AMA) guidelines as their source for restitution.

On April 16, 2007, the weeklong "landmark" case began. "This case is really about quality healthcare," said Ervin A. Gonzalez, attorney for the Plaintiffs. "The doctors need to get paid for supervising and interpreting lab results. If they don't get paid, the healthcare system will begin seeing an increase in negligence and a decrease in physicians who are willing to work in Florida. The patient will ultimately be the one that loses."

"This is the first case of its kind and is a landmark case," said Gonzalez. "The judge's decision that payment was required by laws will impact all cases in Florida and other states with similar cases." Gonzalez is currently representing 11 other hospital pathology groups around the state -- all individually scheduled for trial in 2007 before Judge Wilson.

Source: Florida HMO Ordered to Pay $1.5 Million to Doctors @ SYS-CON Media

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In a Reversal, U.S. Says Medicare Won’t Cover Stents for Neck Arteries

 

Responding to criticism from surgeons, the government has dropped its previously announced plans to expand Medicare coverage for the use of stents to prop open neck arteries to prevent strokes.

Instead, Medicare will stick with definitions that restrict eligibility for such stents to fewer than 10 percent of the 150,000 to 200,000 Americans who annually undergo surgery to clear blockages that restrict blood flow to the brain and raise stroke risks.

Source: In a Reversal, U.S. Says Medicare Won’t Cover Stents for Neck Arteries - New York Times

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Growing Interest in Personal Health Records Boosts Emergent Market

This market continues to grow and expand...with so many methodologies, usb drive, paper, card, you name it and then there's the availability online.  This is a good thing for us, as patients, to somehow have available in the case of an emergency...BD 

"With the current focus on personal health records within the healthcare industry, employers, health insurers, and healthcare providers are increasingly interested in making these products potentially available to their respective constituencies as an essential part of their competitive strategies," says Frost and Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Matthew Guldin. "Vendors that only offered their products directly to customers are now looking at providing them through alternative distribution channels as well."

Source: Frost & Sullivan :: Growing Interest in Personal Health Records Boosts Emergent Market

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What's New in Medicare Preventive Benefits

Courtesy of Medscape and available in spreadsheet format, this is a brief summary of new and some existing preventive benefits from Medicare... BD (may require logon account)

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/555104_Tables#T1

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First-Time Generic Approvals: Corzide, Cipro XR, Cortef

Good news for antibiotics...I know first hand a couple of these have been pretty expensive...BD

April 20, 2007 — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved first-time generic formulations for nadolol plus bendroflumethiazide 40-mg/5-mg and 80-mg/5-mg tablets in the management of hypertension, ciprofloxacin 500- and 1000-mg extended-release tablets for the treatment of urinary tract infection, and hydrocortisone 5- and 10-mg tablets for the management of approved indications.

Source: First-Time Generic Approvals: Corzide, Cipro XR, Cortef

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Health Management Profit Falls 25 Percent

 

U.S. hospital companies begin reporting quarterly results this week, and investors are hoping for an easing in unpaid medical bills, which depressed profit growth throughout 2006.

At Health Management, unpaid medical debt, including write-offs for indigent care and discounts for the uninsured, rose to 20.6 percent of revenue, compared with 19.5 percent a year earlier.

Source: Health Management Profit Falls 25 Percent

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The FPM Toolbox - American Academy of Family Physicians

This site has many free tools for reference.  There might be more than you can use, but many of them are free of charge.  There's some good coding information here too.   These are links to only 3 samples here as the list is pretty big and long and even includes some good patient hand out information as well.  There are additional specific encounter forms and there are only 2 common samples here.  Good site for some free and very useful tools. 

For those still on paper here's an encounter form in pdf format:

http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20031000/emvisitprogressnote.pdf

One for house calls...

http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20000600/housecallsprogressnote.pdf

A spreadsheet to help you identify which reimbursement rates should be negotiated with payers and a corresponding revenue-analysis spreadsheet to help you assess your profits if a payer accepts your target rate

http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20041000/31cany.html#box_a

 

Source:  http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/journals/fpm/fpmtoolbox.html

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Implantable Defibrillator Wires Prone to Failure - Health and Medical Information produced by doctors

 MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- The wires through which implanted defibrillators deliver the electric jolts that keep hearts beating normally aren't as reliable as many might think, a German cardiovascular research center reports.

Even though the composition of those wires was changed in 1997 to improve reliability, both the newer and older versions of these defibrillators show an annual rate of defect of almost 20 percent a decade after implantation, finds a study in the May 1 issue of Circulation. Given that these devices are used to treat arrhythmias, dangerously irregular heartbeats that can lead to cardiac arrest, the researchers note that such a significant failure rate poses a public health threat.

"It's a very serious problem, because if the leads [wires] have defects, they have to be changed or the device cannot terminate fibrillation," said study author Dr. Thomas Kleeman, a clinical electrophysiologist at Herzzentrum Ludwigshafen. "Surgery to change them is not so easy," he added.

It is a problem that must be faced by Americans who are walking around with defibrillators inside them, some 68,000 people in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

Source: Implantable Defibrillator Wires Prone to Failure - Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com

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Product Best Known As An Anthrax Killer Now Available In Hardware Stores

 

A product based on a technology originally developed at Sandia National Laboratories is now available on the shelves of hardware stores across the country.
The product is Mold Control 500, distributed by Scott's Liquid Gold of Denver and now available in Home Depot, Wal-Mart, True Value, Ace Hardware, and other home improvement stores. For around $30 a box, Scott's Liquid Gold Mold Control 500 treats mildew- and mold-contaminated surface areas in the home, according to the package.

Source: Product Best Known As An Anthrax Killer Now Available In Hardware Stores

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ICERx - help your patients before disaster strikes

In Case of Emergency Prescriptions...New site that allows doctors, pharmacists and patients to enroll.   According to the site, information is only released in case of an emergency.  All 3 parties can enroll.   The data base being used is from Sure Scripts, the same data base that is used for online "free" prescribing for physicians.  BD

ICERx is a new secure on-line service that allows licensed doctors and pharmacists anywhere in the United States to help you get information about your prescription medicines. This secure online service will help your doctors and pharmacists know which drugs you have been prescribed, their doses, whether you have refills available, which doctor prescribed them, and which pharmacies have information about your prescription. If you are an evacuee from an area affected by a disaster and you need to renew your prescriptions or get a new one, please let any doctor or pharmacist know that ICERx is available for their use.

Help your patients before a disaster strikes
Registration begins June 1, 2007
For more information 1.888.ICERX.50

Source:  http://www.icerx.org/

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Free Drug Samples? Bad Idea, Some Say

Samples have been a great help to me...other than keeping the closet updated, there doesn't seem to be an issue in my opinon...BD

Published: May 1, 2007

Everyone loves freebies, and patients are no exception. So drug company sales representatives try to keep sample cabinets in medical offices well stocked with the latest medications, for doctors to dispense as the need arises.

Patients like going home with free samples because it saves them a trip to the drugstore and a co-pay, and doctors are happy to oblige, because samples help patients get started on treatment right away.

But now some leading academic medical centers are restricting the use of samples, and a smattering of physician practices are shutting down the sample cabinet. These critics say doctors should be choosing the most appropriate medication for a patient based on the best scientific evidence available — not just grabbing something from the office stash that happens to fit the bill.

“Doctors who are shutting the door to sales reps are cutting themselves off from a lot of valuable information,” said Scott Lassman, senior assistant general counsel for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade association. “Sales reps can explain when it’s right to use a drug, when it’s not right to use the drug, which patients might benefit and which patients it might not work for.” /p>

Source: Free Drug Samples? Bad Idea, Some Say - New York Times

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FDA Searches Offices of Pet Food Maker

 

SATURDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials on Friday searched the facilities of a pet food manufacturer and one of its suppliers in the continuing probe of contaminated dog and cat food products, the Associated Press reported.

The officials searched an Emporia, Kan., pet food plant operated by Menu Foods and the Las Vegas offices of ChemNutra Inc., the news service said, citing information supplied by the companies.

Menu Foods made many of the more than 100 brands of pet food recalled since March 16 because of contamination by the chemical melamine. ChemNutra supplied Menu Foods with wheat gluten, one of two ingredients imported from China and tainted by melamine used in the recalled pet products. Both companies said they were cooperating with the investigation, the AP said.

Source: FDA Searches Offices of Pet Food Maker, Supplier - Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com

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What's Behind All the Bad Press for Health Insurers?

 

"I think people are paying attention more now than they ever have," Flanagan says. "We're getting closer to what might be considered a public outcry."

Christopher Ohman -- president and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans, a trade organization representing most of the major insurers in the state -- agrees but says he hears a different kind of outcry.
"I think we're reaching the boiling point with rising costs of health care. People are angry," Ohman says. Insurers "are the ones who are the messenger of those rising costs, and I think we're seeing some shots being taken at the messenger."
Consumer advocates see it somewhat differently.

"Not only is a big part of the rising costs of health care directly related to insurers and insurers' profits, the whole notion that insurers can legally deny coverage to people at the very time when they most need it is ludicrous," says Anthony Wright, director of Health Access California.

Source: What's Behind All the Bad Press for Health Insurers? - California Healthline

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Mobile Keyboards for Windows Mobile Phones and UMPCs

These mobile devices keep getting more interesting all the time.  I have used a keyboard similar and it does take a little getting used to, but they do work.

• The lightweight and flexible keyboard designed for mobile computing devices uses

• Bluetooth connectivity, is 100% fabric, water-repellent, and comes with a mobile phone/PDA stand.

• With a pair of AAA battery allows you up to 10 hours of usage.

Just Mobile, Mobile Your Keyboard!

The keyboard can roll up and fit in a handy stuff sack whenever you aren't using it.

Source: Mobis

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PC World - Use and Misuse of Spreadsheets

This is a good article giving some overall expertise on when to use spreadsheets.  I agree with most of what is said here and I still in my day to day travels run across small and large organizations still using both Word and Excel spreadsheets as their data banks.  As the article states there are alternatives that even make the job much easier than manually manipulating data in Word and Excel.  Don't get me wrong here, Word and Excel are excellent tools for use at letter templates, reworking and calculating data, but not for the ultimate storage of your data.  Training really comes in handy to assist those in making decisions in reference to the proper software to use.  Most of the time, once the education process has begun with the end users and alternatives are introduced, individuals can and do see how much harder they are working and the additional time consumption required to use Word and Excel spreadsheets as their primary data sources.  One other small factor too is that storing all these documents takes up so much additional room versus a good data base program that is usually easier and more convenient for all to use.  BD

But while spreadsheets are still extremely useful, they aren't the universal answer to a business's financial management problems. Furthermore, better data controls can help you can make more effective use of spreadsheets.

Today, many small businesses rely heavily on Microsoft Excel for most or all of their financial needs, from budgeting to tracking customer accounts receivable and calculating employee payroll. I have a soft spot in my heart for the venerable spreadsheet, but it's simply not the best tool to handle all the number-crunching that a business requires.

The widespread inappropriate use of spreadsheets in business reminds me of the tale of the poorly trained carpenter who was shown how to use a hammer to drive nails. Since he was familiar with the hammer, he used it for all his woodworking--even for breaking a board in two. Most people would agree that a saw is a more appropriate tool for that job. Similarly, while a spreadsheet is well-suited for some financial applications, it's a poor choice for others.

Source: PC World - Use and Misuse of Spreadsheets

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