Miscellaneous

Archiving old data

We are considering incorporating an archiving function into Access Anaesthetics so that old accounts that are no longer needed can be stored in a separate file. There are several advantages of NOT doing this - all accounts are always available for long term practice activity comparisons, you can always find every patient you're looking for, there is less computer housekeeping to worry about, etc, etc. At present we have not decided whether to do this, since the only disadvantage of not doing this seems to be that the data file will increase in size. We'll gladly listen to your comments and suggestions on this issue.

Data security

Your data is stored in a single file, AAUser.mdb which you may rename, copy and move as described above. Because it is a standard Microsoft Access database file, anyone with a copy of Access will be able to view the data. It was a deliberate decision to store data in this format to give the user a greater measure of long-term security over their data. This is because the Access mdb format is widely accepted and can easily be converted into other data formats if required.

However, if you want to keep out prying eyes, you should ensure the physical security of your computers and password protect access to them. Although the password function described above provides a measure of security, a determined person could still bypass this. It is up to the individual client to assess the medico-legal implications of their data security policies.