In this issue:

FootholdConnect Events
AWARDS Certification
Expo Extended Webinar Series
HIPAA/Security Notes - Tips on Auditing AWARDS Access
What's New in AWARDS
This Month in HMIS
Tip of the Month - The Report Menu!

FootholdConnect Events

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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AWARDS Certification

We are excited to announce the next round of AWARDS Certification is right around the corner! 

The Basic Course (Level 1) will be in the fall (September 26th - September 28th), the Intermediate Course (Level 2) in the winter (January 23rd - January 25th), and the Master Course (Level 3), in the spring (March 27th - March 29th). Each course will be three days long.

The 100 question Qualifying Exam is available here. There is no cost for the Qualifying Exam, and no obligation to enroll in Certification if you take the exam.  The deadline to take the exam is September 13th.

If you have any questions, email [email protected]

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Expo Extended Webinar Series

Couldn't make it to Foothold Expo 2017? Attended the Expo but didn't get to every session you wanted? Foothold is pleased to announce our Expo Extended webinar series, an opportunity to view a number of our sessions from this year's Expo online. Click here to view the webinars available.

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HIPAA/Security Notes - TIps on Auditing AWARDS Access

Are you your agency's HIPAA security officer?  If so, part of your responsibilities are likely enforcing - or aiding those who enforce - the agency's policies around who has access to client information via AWARDS.  As a reminder, there are several key features in AWARDS that can help make this process easier for you and your colleagues; specifically:

• User Login ReportBuilder - Found under Administration > System Setup > Login Maintenance > User Login ReportBuilder. This ReportBuilder is a quick and easy way to see the last date on which each of your AWARDS users logged into the system. See someone on there who hasn't logged in in quite a few months? That's a flag to see if they still need access to the system. Check in with your AWARDS administrator and/or the individual's supervisor to make sure that access is still warranted.  For more information on using this ReportBuilder, click here.
• Employees ReportBuilder - Found under Administration > Human Resources > ReportBuilders > Employees ReportBuilder. As with the User Login ReportBuilder, the Employees ReportBuilder is a great way to keep track of staff in AWARDS and, beyond that, to determine whether or not their records there are up to date. Have new staff been entered into AWARDS? Have old staff been closed out? Generating reports here is a quick way to find the answers to these questions. Based on what you find, clean up may be required within the Staff Information feature.   For more information on using this ReportBuilder, click here.
• Permissions Reports - Found under Administration > System Setup > Permissions Maintenance. A great HIPAA best practice is implementing a standard of minimum necessary access. The permissions functionality in AWARDS can help you maintain this standard. Periodically run (or have supervisors do so) reports on which staff have access to which programs and which advanced features. Does anyone have more access than they need based on their roles and responsibilities? If so, it might mean some updates are needed to their records under permissions data entry.    For more information on using this report, click here.

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What's New in AWARDS

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 ask your local Help Desk or your Foothold Client Services representative. We hope these enhancements improve the way you use AWARDS and provide services! 

Deployment Date: 9/5/17

Account Balances Reports - Excel Links Added

Excel report links have been added to the Transaction History Report menu Account Balances Reports feature. The reports can be accessed in two ways:

- Charts > Entitlements >  Consumer In-House Accounts (turned on by preference)
- Administration > Fiscal Program > Consumer In-House Accounts 

This was a quick, smart suggestion put forward by one our customers, and we appreciate their input! 

For more information on working with Consumer In-House Accounts, as well as reporting on In-House Accounts, click here. 

Backdating Windows - Expanded User Control

Workers with access to System Setup > Business Rules have always had the ability to set Note and Contact Editing Rules. In an effort to make other service records data entry as easily configurable by our users,  we are allowing the Standard and Backdating windows for Reception Desk and Group Activities to be set in this location as well, and have re-labeled it as Service Records Editing Rules. 

The default standard and backdating editing windows for the new Reception Desk and Group Activities options within this feature will default to 30 days and 45 days, respectively.

In addition, you will now be able to specify rules for the standard and backdating windows for Group Notes, distinct from the setting for Progress Notes and Contact Logs. For each program in your database, the Progress Notes/Contacts Log and Group Notes settings will start out defaulting as you have set them in the Note and Contact Editing Rules, but moving forward you can update them independently, setting a different number of allowable days for Group Notes. 

As always, Backdated Contacts Log / Group Notes Data Entry, Backdated Progress Notes Data Entry, and Backdated Reception Desk Log Data Entry  Exception Override Permissions are needed to do data entry that falls within your program’s backdating windows.

Client Search Results - AWARDS ID

Messages sent through the AWARDS Messages module are 100% HIPAA compliant; as a result, you can feel free to include client identifying information as needed.  When communicating to colleagues outside of AWARDS, however, or when communicating with Foothold Technology staff outside of AWARDS, you must exercise caution and maintain required privacy standards by eliminating inclusion of protected health information (PHI).  An easy way to do so is to communicate about clients using their unique AWARDS IDs, as opposed to their names, DOBs, SSNs, etc.

In an effort to assist you in using this communication best practice, we have made a change so that the AWARDS ID search field will automatically display when performing a Client Search in AWARDS (previously this field was only available by request). This will, in turn, display the AWARDS ID column on the Client Lookup Results page.  We are hopeful that this ID information can then be used to communicate securely with others, as well as eliminate potential confusion around users with similar identifying information (e.g. same First and Last name, DOB, etc.).

Client Search Results - Linked Names and Programs in Client Search Results

Client Search Results will now show hyperlinks for both client names and program history records (based on Chart Access).  Previously databases would see either the client’s name or the program history records as hyperlinks, but not both.  This change will not affect what information is visible to a user, but will provide two ways to reach the information.

E-Labs - Address Flexibility

Users will now be able to select any external housing record to be the primary address for E-Labs. (Previously this flexibility was limited to E-Prescribing.)  The option to select Electronic Order Address is displayed during external housing record data entry (via the Housing module or face sheet) if E-Labs and/or E-prescribing is turned on in your database.

HMIS Consent Form Changes

Multi-agency HMIS databases which use Client Consent forms to share information will notice several changes; specifically: 

• The consent forms themselves will look slightly different because they are being converted into FormBuilder forms; however, the consent form will still show up immediately after processing an admission. 
• Clicking on the Consent Form button at the top of the Intake form or Face Sheet will now take you to an index of consent forms.
•   Instead of editing old consent forms, now users can add new Consent Forms or Revocation Forms if a client changes their mind about how much information they would like to share. The most recent consent form or revocation form determines what information a client is sharing with other agencies. 
• Some of the language on the consent forms may have changed slightly. 
• System administrators were given the option to redesign their consent forms, add new dynamic fields such as Date of Birth, add electronic signatures, or add new sharing options if they chose to do so. If you see new options that have never been explained, please contact your local Help Desk team for more information.  

In addition to these changes, a new Consent Expiration Reminder audit message is now available and can be made available to users by assigning them the corresponding permission under Permissions Maintenance.  This audit message will let you know when a client has a consent form that is expiring in case you wish to ask the client to renew their consent.

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This Month in HMIS

Deployment of the 2017 HMIS Data Standards is just one month away.  On Friday, September 29th, and Tuesday, October 3rd we will be hosting webinars to explain all of the changes that are coming on October 1st.  Registration links for these webinars can be found above.  You can attend either one of the webinars to learn about the new features, or you can skip the webinars and watch the recorded video that will be added to Online Help at the end of September.  Detailed information about the changes will also be added to FootholdConnect later this month.

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Tip of the Month - The Report Menu!

Did you know... the Report Menu provides a central point of access for all AWARDS reports, including ReportBuilders!  It can be accessed by clicking Administration from the left-hand menu, and then Report Menu.

For more information on the Report Menu, including which permissions are required to use it and step-by-step instructions on how to use it to locate and view the reports you care about, click here. 

Bonus tip!  This fall we'll be moving the Report Menu to the navigation bar for even quicker and easier access to all of your favorite AWARDS reports.  Keep an eye on future notices in FootholdConnect and the FootNotes newsletter for more details!

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