Notification
Following investigation into the issue where clinical notes or patient data may not have saved in Bp Premier Spectra and Spectra SP1, an updated version of Bp Premier Spectra SP1 is now available to all practices.
The updated version of Spectra SP1 includes improved error handling when a scenario occurs impacting the connection between a client workstation and the Bp Premier database server, including:
- Notification if a connectivity issue occurs
- A Retry option to re-establish connectivity
- A Close Bp Premier option if connectivity cannot be re-established
- New error logging for audit purposes to identify when a connectivity issue occurs and when the Retry and Close Bp Premier options were selected.
Best Practice Software is thankful for your patience while our team thoroughly investigated this issue.
Am I affected?
If you are unsure whether you are affected by this issue, this Best Practice Software article will help you identify if your Bp Premier Spectra or Spectra SP1 installation is affected by these issues, and any interim actions before you install the Spectra SP1 update.
Spectra was made available for General Availability 15th October 2024.
Spectra SP1 was made available for General Availability 6th February 2025 and withdrawn for download 21st February 2025.
If you are on Bp Premier version Orchid (any service pack), you are not affected by this issue and do not need to take action.
FAQs about the Spectra SP1 update
Why should I download Spectra SP1 update?
An isolated group of our valued customers experienced a few issues after downloading Spectra and Spectra SP1.
As soon as we were made aware, we suspended the download link, asked everyone to stop downloading the software, and immediately deployed a group of experts to create a solution for those impacted.
Following extensive testing, an updated version of Spectra SP1 is now available for download, and we are confident the previous issues have been resolved in this new version.
We encourage all customers to visit the Bp Premier Downloads Page for the Spectra SP1 update download and installation instructions.
For those of you new to Spectra, we built this update to provide enhanced reporting and analytics, automated appointment reminders, streamlined workflows and improved monitoring of cervical screening.
I didn’t install Spectra or SP1. Are we ok?
The issue affected an isolated group among those who installed Spectra and/or Spectra SP1. Any earlier versions of Bp Premier were not impacted.
Customers who haven’t downloaded Spectra are now invited to download the Spectra SP1 update.
New features include enhanced reporting and analytics, automated appointment reminders, streamlined workflows and improved monitoring of cervical screening.
What were the main concerns with the earlier versions of Spectra?
When a scenario occurred impacting the connection between the Bp Premier client workstation and the server, an explicit notification of the lost connection no longer appeared where it had previously, nor was there an option to retry or re-establish the connection.
When the network connection was restored, there may have been instances where Bp Premier appeared to be operating seamlessly, but data entered during the period without connectivity may not have saved. This may have impacted both clinical and non-clinical information.
In some cases (but not all), an error message was displayed, though it did not clearly indicate the nature of the issue occurring.
How many practices were impacted?
At present it appears to be an isolated group among those who downloaded Spectra or Spectra SP1. Groups that we have seen impacted include:
- Customers experiencing network connectivity issues.
- Customers with configurations that may contribute to communication disruptions between client workstations and server machines (such as laptops/desktops with power saving/sleep modes or hibernation).
- Other scenarios where the client workstation cannot contact the server.
Impacted workflows
The table below expands on the outcomes of the main impacted areas of the patient record that Best Practice Software observed during the investigation. When the network connectivity issue occurs, the outcomes listed in the table may occur until the Bp Premier application is closed and re-opened.
Best Practice Software recommends checking other sections of the patient clinical record/s listed in the report and contacting your indemnity and/or legal service provider for guidance on managing any potential impacts.
|
Workflow |
Outcome |
|---|---|
|
Write notes into Today’s Notes |
Visit record is added to Past Visits, however no notes are saved, including the Progress notes that would have been generated |
|
Add or scan Correspondence In |
Document details/description saves and appears in the patient record; however, content is not saved and gives an error the document does not exist when opened. |
|
Move document to Investigations |
Document details/description saves and appears in the patient record; however, content is not saved and gives an error the document does not exist when opened. |
|
Add Clinical Image |
Document details/description saves and appears in the patient record; however, content is not saved and gives an error the document does not exist when opened. |
|
Add Enhanced Primary Care |
Document details/description saves and appears in the patient record; however, content is not saved and gives an error the document does not exist or shows a blank document when opened. |
|
Prescribe a prescription from Current Rx |
Record of the prescribed drug does not appear in Past Prescriptions. |
|
Add immunisation |
The Immunisation record is saved correctly, except for the Batch number which is not saved. Saved immunisations will not appear in the Patient record until the Patient record is closed and reopened. Users may potentially add duplicate immunisation records. |
|
Send to AIR |
Sending to AIR will throw an error: Error code 5 - Invalid array: the minimum number of items in the array must be at least 1 (got only 0). Any immunisations will need to be resent after the connection issue has been resolved and Bp Premier restarted. |
|
Add occupation |
The Occupation record is saved successfully; however, the Primary occupation flag will be removed from all occupations including the one being saved if set. |
|
Add reaction |
The Reaction record is saved, appears in the Patient record and will correctly trigger medication interaction alerts; however, it is not correctly linked to the visit. Due to the incorrect visit linking, the reaction will not appear for selection when uploading an Event Summary to the My Health Record during the visit. |
|
Add DASS21 |
Error messages appear when trying to save. The total score record is saved, however the individual answers will not be recorded. |
|
Upload Advanced Care Planning Document |
An existing document is uploaded correctly, however if a new document is imported, then this will not save to the database and will not be uploaded. |
|
Add document via Bulk Document Import |
Document details/description saves and appears in the relevant section; however, content is not saved and gives an error the document does not exist when opened. If imported to the patients file, then the incomplete record will appear in the relevant section of the patient record. If imported to the inbox, then the incomplete record will appear in the Inbox and Incoming reports. |
|
Import HL7 Result via Bp Service |
Document details/description saves and appears in the Inbox / Incoming reports; however, content is not saved and gives an error the document does not exist when opened. Results import is only impacted if all of the following apply:
|
Next Steps
Best Practice Software recommends that practices who have previously updated to Spectra and Spectra SP1 (Build No. 1.13.1.1068) install the updated version as soon as possible.
Download the updated Spectra SP1 update from the Best Practice Software Downloads page.
Review the Spectra SP1 Release Notes.
This Bp Premier Knowledge Base article explains how to download and run a program update.
NOTE If you are on Bp Premier version Spectra, you will be upgraded to version Spectra Service Pack 1.
Last updated: 16 April 2025
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