Mark,

>>>this is the error i was getting
Cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 'bool' <

I don't know why you'd get that error, unless you had were using a single "=" when you should have been using "==", like this:

if (PatientTextBox.Text = "")

instead of

if (PatientTextBox.Text == "")

But, in your example, you were using a "!=", so I didn't see anything wrong with it.

~~Bonnie