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In this issue:
User's Conference - Save the Date!
FootholdConnect Events
What's New in AWARDS
This Month in HMIS
Tip of the Month - So Many Options! Six Tips for Navigating the ReportBuilder Options Page
Foothold News & Blog
User's Conference - Save the Date!
The 12th Annual Foothold User's Conference is scheduled for Thursday, July 11, 2019. Tickets will be available starting in January. If you have any questions about the User's Conference, please email [email protected].
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For more information on upcoming FootholdConnect events, please go to FootholdConnect on the AWARDS Home screen's navigation bar, or visit the Upcoming Events page of the Foothold Technology web site. And don't forget... If you've missed any recent FootholdConnect events, you can access the recordings for those in Online Help here!
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As we have done in previous months, we are continuing to make available a new set of useful features and functions to users of AWARDS. As always, this round of upgrades is provided free of charge to all AWARDS users and is described below. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Help Desk. We hope these enhancements improve the way you use AWARDS and provide services!
Deployment Date: 12/12/18
Agency and Client File Cabinets - ZIP Files Now Accepted!
The Agency and Client File Cabinets now accept .zip files. This will enable users to compress large documents or files and upload them to the file cabinet of their choice using .zip format.
BillingBuilder - Reception Desk Records Locked After Invoiced
Reception Desk records that have been used to generate invoices - regardless if they have been posted to A/R - will now be locked and edits will not be allowed. This change will help ensure reception desk documentation is not altered after it has been invoiced. If a reception desk record needs to be changed, it can be unlocked by either deleting the associated invoice(s) or by users with the Unlock Reception Desk Records permission assigned under Permissions Maintenance. A new data variable, Invoice ID (Batch ID), has also been added to the Reception Desk ReportBuilder. This data option is used to report all invoice IDs generated from the reception desk / attendance record, regardless if it has been posted to A/R or not.
Certified Edition - Training Film Now Available!
We're excited to announce the availability of the AWARDS Certified Edition Training Film. This recording demonstrates the functionality that was developed to meet the requirements of becoming a Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT), now called AWARDS Certified Edition. The Certified Edition of AWARDS has three main use cases: interoperability, reporting on quality measures, and reporting on objectives to the Medicaid Meaningful Use incentive program. This will be a great resource to help agencies adopt and refresh on this functionality. To access the recording, click here.
Entitlements - "Pending Calculation" Notation on Authorization Records
A new Pending Calculation notation will now be visible in the Entitlements module on the Total Remaining, Total Provided (per cascading period), and Total Remaining (per cascading period) fields in authorization records (when applicable). This notation indicates that documentation has recently been entered but these fields do not yet reflect this new documentation. The notation will also be visible in the Certified Entitlements Report and any ReportBuilders that include authorization fields for records that do not reflect the most recent documentation entered. If you need to get an updated figure you can open the authorization record in data entry mode and update it to force the recalculation.
FormBuilder - New Service Referrals Dynamic Section Option
Service Referrals is now available as a dynamic section when creating FormBuilder forms, enabling users to enter outgoing referrals directly within any custom-built form. As with other dynamic sections, users configuring forms can modify the section fields that display on the form. Also, like other dynamic sections, Service Referrals will display embedded in the form when in read-only mode, and the Update section button will bring users to the Service Referrals feature where updates can be made. (This button is available when Display Section Button is checked off during form configuration, as it is by default. If Display Section Button is NOT checked off, the dynamic section is displayed on the form in read-only mode only, without a button to take the user to the client's Service Referrals page.)
FormBuilder/PlanBuilder - Changes Now Updated in Saved Reports
Previously, if you changed the label of a FormBuilder field and the field was used in a saved ReportBuilder or ExportBuilder report format, or if it was pulled into another FormBuilder form dynamically, you needed to manually update the saved report format or form and select the new field label. With this new enhancement, those changes will be made automatically to the saved report or form for you.
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The Longitudinal Survey Analysis (LSA) report is in full swing. HUD gave Continuums of Care an extension of two weeks due to problems with the report, so the report is now due on Friday, December 14th. HUD has continued to make changes to their code and to the HDX website where the report is submitted. Almost all of the major submission errors have been fixed at this point and now most communities are working on reviewing the content of this report. HUD is very much aware that this year's submission will not be perfect - far from it.
One of the struggles that many communities have is with inventory data. In AWARDS the inventory data comes straight from the System Setup module Residence Units feature. As long as you fill in the residence unit information correctly for every program, you should be okay. For programs that upload data from an outside system we deployed a project on November 18th which will start saving the inventory.csv file that is imported so that you will not have to create residence units for uploading projects. You can verify that inventory information looks good by doing an HMIS Export on any of projects and checking the Inventory.csv file that is included in the export.
For more information on the LSA report, please check out HUD's LSA Resource Page found at https://www.hudexchange.info/homelessness-assistance/lsa/
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Tip of the Month - So Many Options! Six Tips for Navigating the ReportBuilder Options Page
Every ReportBuilder includes an Options page where all of the data options associated with that ReportBuilder are displayed. For many ReportBuilders, especially the Demographics ReportBuilder, there may be a virtual sea of options to choose from, since many of these come from the consumer face sheet, as well as other modules such as Intake/Admission, Medical, Education/Employment, and Services. And since many options may have similar labels, it can sometimes be difficult to know which one to include.
Below are 6 tips that will help you better understand how the Options page is designed, making it easier to know which options to choose.
1. Data options are listed alphabetically left to right in each section.
When you're looking for a data option, you'll want to scan across the page to find it. To locate options more quickly, we recommend using your browser’s search feature by pressing <Ctrl+F> and entering a full or partial search term. For example, you can enter a full term like "Medication" or a partial term like "Medic" which would return results for "Medication,""Medications," "Medical," and "Medicaid."
2. Data options may not be labeled the way you expect.
For example, if you're looking for a client's birthday, it's not going to start with a "B," it's going to be labeled "Date of Birth." If you're looking for a client's address, it won't be listed under "A" for "Address," but rather under "S" for "Street Address." That's where the partial search in your browser comes in very handy.
3. Data options can be reported on in different ways.
For example, some ReportBuilders have 3 or more options for reporting on the client's age. The Demographics ReportBuilder includes "Age," "Age on [first date of the report]," and "Age on [last date of the report]." If you're running this report for the last year, "Age" (which is the client's age as of today) and "Age on [last date of the report]" is going to be the same; however, if you were to run this report for a 3-month period earlier in the year, these 3 variables may be different. If you run the report and you're seeing unexpected results, it could be related to the data option you selected.
4. Data options can be reportable in a single column or multiple columns.
For example, "Name (First Last)" or "Name (Last First)" will display the data to be reported in one column. If you select "First Name" and "Last Name," then that data will display in two columns. This gives you more flexibility for filtering and sorting report contents and customizing the look of the report.
5. Data options with asterisks are potentially a multi-value field.
An asterisk (*) next to any data option label means there could be more than one value in that field, and they display as comma-separated values in the report. For example, the "Entitlements" field could return a result that looks like "Medicaid, SSI, PA, and Blue Cross."
Bonus Tip! When filtering on multi-value fields, use the "Contains" filter rather than "Equals" if you're not seeing the results you expect. This will broaden the number of results included.
6. Look for data options with mouseovers.
Not every data option has a mouseover, but some do, particularly if it might not be clear what data is being pulled in. For example, in the Service Coordination/Contacts section of the Demographics ReportBuilder, "Last Service Contact Date" and "Last Contact Date" pull in different data, which is explained in a mouseover for each option.
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Check out the latest in Foothold news and recent entries from the Foothold blog!
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https://demodb.footholdtechnology.com/help/?12236
