No.  Once a note has been deleted it cannot be restored.

No.  AWARDS is designed so that clients can electronically sign only those documents pertaining to their individual records.  Because multiple clients can be included in group notes, and those notes can be placed in multiple clients' charts, we do not provide the option to have clients electronically sign them.

At the present time only progress notes can be locked after saving.  It is not possible to lock a group note outside of electronically signing it. 

Yes.  The option to include attendees from multiple programs when writing a group note can be turned on upon request.  When that feature is available,  a program selection list and "Include Selected Program" button are included on the group notes composition page.  When a program is selected and the button is clicked, additional attendance checkboxes for the clients on the roster of the selected program appear below the attendee checkboxes for the originally selected program.  (Note that the program selection list will include all programs, with the exception of those that are protected.)   Keep in mind that you must select at least one attendee in the program for which you are writing the note; otherwise, you will receive the error message "No Attendance List Found" and AWARDS will not allow you to move forward with saving the note.

  NOTE: If the "Include Selected Program"  feature is not turned on for your program and you would like to learn more, please contact the Help Desk.

No.  At present there is no way to assign to consumers the specific permissions that would be required in order to complete backdated data entry.

Yes.  There is an optional enhancement that can be turned on at the program type level to enable staff members to select a group co-leader when creating a group activity schedule or writing a group note (for either a scheduled or unscheduled group).  If you'd like this option turned on, please contact the Help Desk.

Yes.  Within the Group Notes feature in report mode, check off the following options on the report settings page:

  Insert Printing Page Break After Every Note (not supported by all browsers)

  Repeat Group Note Text for Each Attendee

  Omit Group Attendance List from Report (optional - will print individual notes without including the full attendees list at the top of the note)

With these options selected all notes will be displayed together on the AWARDS screen, but will be printed individually.

No, group notes are not set up with note type selections as progress notes are.  As a result, you cannot select a note type for any individual addendums added to a group note.

A data variable called Invoice ID (Batch ID) is available in the following Services module ReportBuilders for all agencies that use the BillingBuilder:

- Contacts Log ReportBuilder
- Group Notes ReportBuilder
- Progress Notes ReportBuilder
- Service Contacts ReportBuilder

When the Invoice ID (Batch ID) variable is included in one of these ReportBuilders and populated with data, it indicates that the service has been billed/invoiced (meaning that an invoice has been generated and posted to A/R for that service).  If a service is associated with multiple posted invoices, all invoice IDs are reported in the order of the oldest to the newest invoice.

  NOTE: This data field is only populated for program services that are linked to configured billing types. AWARDS hard coded billing types/program services are not included.

There are two ways to add a client to a scheduled group.  Which of these two ways should be used depends on your goal:

  Add a client as a one time participant in a scheduled group - To add a client to the attendees list for a scheduled group for one-time participation, click Show Full Program Roster to Expand Attendance on the Group Notes Data Entry page.  You will then see a checkbox for everyone on the program's roster and can check off this drop-in attendee.

  Add a client to the list of regular attendees for a scheduled group - To add a client to the list of attendees who is expected to attend every meeting of a scheduled group, use the Services - Group module's Group Schedule Setup feature.  Within that feature use either Group Member Status or Individual Consumer Status to add the client to the group.

The "Backdated Contacts Log  / Group Notes Data Entry" permission assigned using the System Setup module Permissions Maintenance feature is required in order to backdate group notes.

There is no way to change the writer of a group note once it is written, even if you have the related "Surrogate Data Entry - Group Notes" permission.  If the note writer needs to be changed after the note has been written and saved, you must delete the note in question and have the correct writer re-enter it, or re-enter it yourself under the correct writer's name if you have the surrogate permission.

To delete a form included in a group note, you must access the relevant note from data entry mode and click the red "x" icon next to the read-only name of the included form in the note index.  Once an included form has been removed, you can then include a different form if needed, or re-include the same form if you'd like to start from scratch.

  NOTE: The "Delete FormBuilder Form" permission is not required to complete this process as it is when deleting forms from some other AWARDS locations.

To delete an individual addendum that has been written for a group note, open the group note in data entry mode and delete the individual addendum text for the relevant client.  Click SAVE NOTE.  When the group note is then displayed in report mode, the individual addendum for which you deleted the text will no longer be displayed.

Electronic signatures are displayed with group notes when viewed in report mode.  Viewing a group notes report can help you identify whether specific notes have been signed, and whom they have been signed by.

To get a more general, at-a-glance, picture of which notes have been signed, you can use the Group Notes ReportBuilder or Service Contacts ReportBuilder.  Using that reporting tool, select "E-Signed" as one of the included variables.  When the report is then run, it will display "Yes" in the E-Signed column for any notes that have e-signatures, and "No" for those that do not.

A group will be available for linkage to a plan if the following criteria are met:

The Record ID data variable available for inclusion in services-related ReportBuilders includes a unique ID for each record.  As part of that ID there is a preceding letter code that also identifies the type of each services record; specifically:

P = Progress Note
C = Contacts Log Record
S = Supportive Services Checklist
G = Group Note
A = Group Attendance Record

The relationship between group notes and group activities attendance records is as follows:

  If a group activity attendance record is created (using either the Services - Group module's Activities feature, or the Reception Desk module Group Activities feature) the activity record remains editable in data entry mode until a corresponding group note is written.  Once a group note is written, the attendance records contained in the note will sync with the corresponding activity record and lock it from further editing.  In order to edit attendance information for the record, the group note must be updated by the note writer.  If the group note is deleted at any point, the activity attendance record is automatically unlocked and becomes available for editing.

  Once a group activity record is entered with individual clock times noted for participants, when a group note is written for the same group the individual clock times entered on group activity records will carry forward into the note as long as the individual clock times fall within the group note's Start and End times.  If adjustments are made to the group note Start and End times to accommodate early arrivals or late departures, the page will refresh and any early/late individual clock times from the group activity will be displayed on the note's data entry page.

  If a group note is written before a corresponding activity attendance record has been created for the group, an activity attendance record is automatically created and locked when the group note is saved (and can be found using either the Services - Group module's Activities feature, or the Reception Desk module Group Activities feature).  To edit the attendance information for the record, the group note must be updated.  If the group note is deleted at any point, the activity attendance record is also deleted.

If multiple electronic signatures have been applied to a record, the ReportBuilder's Locked by E-Sign Date data variable populates with the date on which the first of those signatures was applied.  It is that date on which the record was locked from further edits.

While the surrogate data entry permission gives a user the ability to access/edit notes as another writer, the user does not take on that writer's permissions.  The user will be limited by their own permissions, even though they are working with the note as someone else.

The name of the ReportBuilder data variable used to report on a group's leader, as well as where the group leader information is pulled from, varies based on whether a group note has been written.  Specifically:

There are several reasons you may be able to sign group notes in some programs and not others:

  Each program must configure its own electronic signature rules.  If a given program has not set those rules, electronic signing is not allowed for that program's notes.

  Because each program sets its own electronic signature rules, they will vary.  As a result, your worker type may be able to sign notes in one program and not another, or the signing window may vary from program to program. 

There are several reasons you may be able to sign some group notes and not others:

  You have already signed the group note.

  The group note date is outside of the signing window specified for your worker type using the System Setup module Business Rules feature.

  Your program may set up to allow only certain worker types to sign group notes.  Your worker type as it relates to different clients may vary, impacting who you can sign notes for. 

There are several reasons you may not be able to sign a group note for one of your supervisees:

  The program in which the note was written has not configured its electronic signature rules, or has not configured them to allow work supervisors to sign.

  The group note date is outside of the signing window specified for your worker type during electronic signature rules configuration in the System Setup > Business Rules feature.

  You have already signed the note in question.

  You are not set up as the note writer's work supervisor under Human Resources > Staff Information.

  The note's date of service is not after the date on which the work supervisor assignment was entered into AWARDS.

There is a default note editing window in place for all users in a program for group notes data entry purposes.  This window, set using the System Setup module, Business Rules, Note Editing Rules feature, is 10 days by default (but can be adjusted as needed for each program).  If a note was written for a date that is outside of the default note editing window it will only be accessible from the Group Notes feature in report mode and cannot be edited without the "Backdated Contacts Log/Group Notes Data Entry" permission.  Keep in mind that there is also a set backdating window for each program, and if the note was written outside of that window adjustments can only be to it if the backdating window is extended using the System Setup module, Business Rules, Note Editing Rules feature.

The roster archives option applies to clients rather than workers; therefore, the Worker drop-down selection list is limited to "All Workers" by design.

The location field under group schedule setup is not tied into the location under group notes.  Rather, it is what informs the location information for the group in the Calendar, while the group note location information itself is separate and is only applied to the group notes.

The "writer" selection list on the group notes report settings page includes those users with a caseload in the selected program, as well as users who have recently written group notes for that program.  If a worker does not meet either of those criteria, he/she will not be available for selection in this drop-down list.

When setting up a scheduled group you specify a start date, and if applicable an end date, for that group.  If the start date has not yet occurred, or if the end date is more than 15 days in the past, the group will not appear in the selection list when writing group notes.

If a group note is written before a corresponding activity record has been created for the group, an activity attendance record is created and locked when the group note is saved (and can be found using either the Services - Group module's Activities feature, or the Reception Desk module Group Activities feature).  To edit the attendance information for the record, the group note must be updated.  If the group note is deleted at any point, the activity attendance record is also deleted.