I used this in the event prodedure. It checks to see if outlook is open, if not it will open outlook. The Shell wait is set for 3 second delay to give outlook time to open. Put your docmd after this prodedure.
Call fIsAppRunning("outlook"

If gvarAppRunning = False Then
stappname = "E:\Microsoft Office\Office\Outlook.exe"
Call ShellWait(stappname, 1)
End If
This goes in the module section:
Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
Private Const SW_HIDE = 0
Private Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1
Private Const SW_NORMAL = 1
Private Const SW_SHOWMINIMIZED = 2
Private Const SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED = 3
Private Const SW_MAXIMIZE = 3
Private Const SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE = 4
Private Const SW_SHOW = 5
Private Const SW_MINIMIZE = 6
Private Const SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE = 7
Private Const SW_SHOWNA = 8
Private Const SW_RESTORE = 9
Private Const SW_SHOWDEFAULT = 10
Private Const SW_MAX = 10
Private Declare Function apiFindWindow Lib "user32" Alias _
"FindWindowA" (ByVal strClass As String, _
ByVal lpWindow As String) As Long
Private Declare Function apiSendMessage Lib "user32" Alias _
"SendMessageA" (ByVal Hwnd As Long, ByVal Msg As Long, ByVal _
wParam As Long, lParam As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function apiSetForegroundWindow Lib "user32" Alias _
"SetForegroundWindow" (ByVal Hwnd As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function apiShowWindow Lib "user32" Alias _
"ShowWindow" (ByVal Hwnd As Long, ByVal nCmdShow As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function apiIsIconic Lib "user32" Alias _
"IsIconic" (ByVal Hwnd As Long) As Long
Function fIsAppRunning(ByVal strAppName As String, _
Optional fActivate As Boolean) As Boolean
Dim lngH As Long, strClassName As String
Dim lngx As Long, lngTmp As Long
Const WM_USER = 1024
On Local Error GoTo fIsAppRunning_Err
fIsAppRunning = False
gvarAppRunning = False
Select Case LCase$(strAppName)
Case "excel": strClassName = "XLMain"
Case "word": strClassName = "OpusApp"
Case "access": strClassName = "OMain"
Case "powerpoint95": strClassName = "PP7FrameClass"
Case "powerpoint97": strClassName = "PP97FrameClass"
Case "notepad": strClassName = "NOTEPAD"
Case "paintbrush": strClassName = "pbParent"
Case "wordpad": strClassName = "WordPadClass"
Case "outlook": strClassName = "rctrl_renwnd32"
Case Else: strClassName = ""
End Select
If strClassName = "" Then
lngH = apiFindWindow(vbNullString, strAppName)
Else
lngH = apiFindWindow(strClassName, vbNullString)
End If
If lngH <> 0 Then
apiSendMessage lngH, WM_USER + 18, 0, 0
lngx = apiIsIconic(lngH)
If lngx <> 0 Then
lngTmp = apiShowWindow(lngH, SW_SHOWNORMAL)
End If
If fActivate Then
lngTmp = apiSetForegroundWindow(lngH)
End If
fIsAppRunning = True
gvarAppRunning = True
End If
fIsAppRunning_Exit:
Exit Function
fIsAppRunning_Err:
fIsAppRunning = False
Resume fIsAppRunning_Exit
End Function
Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
'Whenever I shell out to another application,
'Access doesn't seem to wait before executing the next VBA statment.
'How do I make Access wait till I'm done with my other application.
'This code was originally written by Terry Kreft.
'It is not to be altered or distributed,
'except as part of an application.
'You are free to use it in any application,
'provided the copyright notice is left unchanged.
'
'Code Courtesy of
'Terry Kreft
Private Const STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW& = &H1
Private Const NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H20&
Private Const INFINITE = -1&
Private Type STARTUPINFO
cb As Long
lpReserved As String
lpDesktop As String
lpTitle As String
dwX As Long
dwY As Long
dwXSize As Long
dwYSize As Long
dwXCountChars As Long
dwYCountChars As Long
dwFillAttribute As Long
dwFlags As Long
wShowWindow As Integer
cbReserved2 As Integer
lpReserved2 As Long
hStdInput As Long
hStdOutput As Long
hStdError As Long
End Type
Private Type PROCESS_INFORMATION
hProcess As Long
hThread As Long
dwProcessID As Long
dwThreadID As Long
End Type
Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function CreateProcessA Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
lpApplicationName As Long, ByVal lpCommandLine As String, ByVal _
lpProcessAttributes As Long, ByVal lpThreadAttributes As Long, _
ByVal bInheritHandles As Long, ByVal dwCreationFlags As Long, _
ByVal lpEnvironment As Long, ByVal lpCurrentDirectory As Long, _
lpStartupInfo As STARTUPINFO, lpProcessInformation As _
PROCESS_INFORMATION) As Long
Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
hObject As Long) As Long
Public Sub ShellWait(Pathname As String, Optional WindowStyle As Long)
Dim proc As PROCESS_INFORMATION
Dim start As STARTUPINFO
Dim ret As Long
' Initialize the STARTUPINFO structure:
With start
.cb = Len(start)
If Not IsMissing(WindowStyle) Then
.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW
.wShowWindow = WindowStyle
End If
End With
' Start the shelled application:
ret& = CreateProcessA(0&, Pathname, 0&, 0&, 1&, _
NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, 0&, 0&, start, proc)
' Wait for the shelled application to finish:
'ret& = WaitForSingleObject(proc.hProcess, INFINITE)
ret& = WaitForSingleObject(proc.hProcess, 3000)
ret& = CloseHandle(proc.hProcess)
End Sub