Setting Up Printers

PiMS works with standard Windows printers. Printers can be actual printers or drawers on a printer. A printer can have different printer queue names. For example, if one print should be paused and the printout printed at one time a queue could be set up for that situation and another, pointing to the same printer for the situation where the printer prints immediately.

There are three ways to designate a print destination:

Share Name This is an "old" Windows convention for setting up printers that can be shared by multiple Windows users. The print queue is defined on the workstation--the printer port is defined and a share name established. The major drawback of this approach is that every printer used by PiMS must be defined for every Windows user accessing PiMS.
UNC Print Queue With the introduction of Windows NT/2000/XP, the ability to connect to a network print queue was greatly enhanced.
Once a print queue is defined and the printer port established, the Windows administrator can set the permissions on the print queue for "everyone" allowing any PiMS user to connect to the printer without defining the printer for each user.
The format of a UNC print quue is \\<server name>\<print queue share name>.
Email Address PiMS recognizes an email destination if the destination entered is a standard email address (name@domain).

There are two "reserved" print destinations used by PiMS:

LOST This print destination will be used if the print destination specified in the Print Routing profile is not found. If no LOST print destination has been defined, PiMS will route the print to the HOME destination.
HOME The default destination is the Windows default printer.

Windows NT/2000 Printer Server

PDM recommends that all printers be defined to a Windows NT/2000 printer server. When using a printer server the printer is defined only once. The workstations then share the printer. This is very helpful because the print driver is defined with the printer and any special settings only need to be done once.

The printer that is being used must support graphics. A dot matrix printer will not work for most of PiMS print requests.

Update PiMS Profiles

For each of the prints you plan to use (For a complete list, click here PiMS Printing Codes):

Identify the share name or UNC (\\server\share) name for the printer queue. Windows 9x workstations cannot use an UNC name. Share Name is an old Windows convention for setting up printers that can be shared by multiple users.
Set up the printer on the printer server or on the workstation. The printer and printer driver must support graphics. A dot matrix printer will not work for most of PiMS print requests. The claim form printer (Printer ID begins with "1500" or "UB92") requires the HP Laserjet III print driver to print correctly. The spacing is critical and this print driver has been tested to print the form with precision
If using a share name, you will need to define to the workstation. UNC names do not need to be defined to the workstation.
Assign a PiMS Printer ID for the printer queue.

Printer Routing

Select Printer Routing.
Select Update Printer Routing.
Printer Routing Table Enter the Printer Routing Table to update.
You can also enter a partial routing table table code or partial description. A list of entries starting with the characters you input will be displayed. Select the entry to update.The update printer routing detail screen displays.
Printer ID For PiMS Prints, PDM recommends that you keep the assigned printer ID whenever possible.
Print Format Do not change the print format.
Start and End Times and Days If you need to print to different printers on different days or at different times in the day, adjust the Start and End Times, select All Days or the specific days.
2nd-8th Entries If you need to print multiple copies of the print, you can add up to seven (7) additional prints. Use different Printer ID's, the same Print Format as the first entry, adjust the Start and End Times and Days as necessary.

Printer Destination

The PiMS system prints to a PiMS Printer/Email Destination. This is an online profile that associates the Printer Routing profile's Printer ID to the printer/email destination.

Select Printer Destination.
Select Update Printer Destination.
Device/Group ID Enter a blank.
Printer ID Enter the Printer ID to be updated.
You can also enter a partial value in the Device/Group ID. A list of entries starting with the characters you input will be displayed. Select the entry to update. If this is your initial set up of printers, the Device/Group ID should be blank.
Printer/Email Destination Enter the share name, UNC print queue name (\\server\share) or email address. "HOME" can be used to indicate the user's default printer should be used.
From Email Address Required if sending the print via email. Enter the emaila ddress that PiMS will use to email the print.
Printer Destination for Undeliverable Email Address Enter a Printer ID where undeliverable email should be printed. If nothing is entered in this field, the email will be "thrown away". Be sure to add an entry to this profile for the Printer ID specified here.
Subject Enter a subject for the email
Password If password is specified, PiMS will Zip up the report and set the password on the zip file. The receipient will not be able to open the print without the password. If patient data is shown on the print and to be HIPAA compliant a password must be used.

Override the printer destination based on the workstation