Category Archives: News from Support

Wouldn’t it be nice?

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When you are working in Visit Tracker have you ever thought to yourself “wouldn’t it be nice if Visit Tracker could do …… “? We want to hear from you!  We are dedicated to making Visit Tracker YOUR data collection system. Let us know what features would make this system work best for YOU!

When you have an idea or suggestion, first click on the Support tab in Visit Tracker and then click “Submit a Ticket”. You can also click here for the Support page. Select “Suggestion” and let us know what you think!  We will do our best to evaluate all suggestions that come into us.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Blank Forms needed for PAT QEIP

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For those programs that are going through the Quality Endorsement and Improvement Process (QEIP) for PAT, you may be asked to provide examples of blank forms you are using to collect data.  To support you through the process, we have those forms ready for you to print.

Visit our Support page to view and print the blank documents for your QEIP review here.

For more information regarding quality endorsement, you can visit the PAT website.

If there are any additional documents you need, please let us know!  You can email help@data-keeper.com for those requests.

 

 

How to make Site Code changes

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Review the Site Code History at the bottom of the guardian data page. If you see incorrect data, you can edit the history to make changes.

As an example, a family may have “No  Code” listed as the site code with a start date of 6/28/18. The Guardian has an enrollment date of 2/28/18.  The home visitor would like to add a specific site code that began at enrollment.

To make changes to a site code, click the “edit” icon on the right-hand side and this will open the edit screen.

Make the necessary changes to the site code and/or date.

Don’t forget to click Save!

Once changes have been saved, you will see the updates right away in the site code history.

The correct site code has now been entered and the start date matched the enrollment date.

 

An incorrect Site Code can also be deleted if it was entered in error.  Simply click the Trash can icon to delete a site code.

 

2019 Subscription Price Increase

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Effective 4/1/2019, our subscription prices will increase slightly so that we can continue providing the high level of service and support that you count on.

https://data-keeper.com/pricing/

You may prepay your upcoming subscription at the current price if we receive your payment prior to 4/1/19.
If you would like to prepay or have questions about it, click on the following link and complete the form with subject “Prepay”.   

Password Security

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Throughout the day, you may have to log in to many different websites, and Visit Tracker is probably one of them. With so many different logins to maintain, the temptation is to have your computer save your password. This is a HIPAA violation. Visit Tracker stores confidential and private data so it is important that you follow HIPAA compliance.  Visit Tracker will never save your password. This is a setting on your computer and we recommend you turn this setting off.

Password Management

With so many passwords, the problem is trying to remember them all!  A password management program lets you store and organize passwords in a single spot, so a master password gives you access to your password database. You can pay a small monthly fee for a service like Dashlane, 1Password, LastPass, etc., to securely keep your passwords.

It is important to talk to your Supervisor and/or IT Department before you install one of these programs. They may or may not allow this, or they may have a preferred program. Do your research and use these programs wisely.

Creating Passwords

Your data will be more secure with passwords that are unique and strong. But what exactly makes a password strong? This list of Dos and Don’ts will help you create a strong password to keep your data safe.

Do:

  • Do use 10-15 characters for each password. The longer, the better.
  • Do consider using a phrase or sentence you can easily remember your password including numbers and special characters.
  • Do use special characters in atypical places. For instance, use a number in the middle of a word rather than before or after it.
  • Do consider length more than complexity. Studies show that a 15-character password with special characters is more secure than a short one of all unique characters like 5&Hq%.

Don’t:

  • Don’t use easily guessed passwords like family members’ names or birthdates.
  • Don’t use single words found in the dictionary such as watermelon or even watermelonseeds as standalone passwords.
  • Don’t reuse passwords at multiple sites.
  • Don’t share your passwords with anyone. If you have to, immediately change your password as soon as someone else has used it.
  • Don’t use passwords based on adjacent keys on the keyboard, like asdfjkl;

 

Stay HIPAA Compliant, Friends!

Set Up Options (Main Admin)

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As the main administrator, it is your responsibility to set up your Visit Tracker. Under the Set Up tab, you will find different links on the left. Be sure to explore each link thoroughly.

Profile – This is where you will find your program name, program address, and your contact information.  If you need to change the program name or address, do that here.  You will also find the “Current Year Start Date“. This will be the default start date for your reports.  Updating this date will help save time, and also ensure accuracy when you are running reports.

File Upload – This is something fairly new to Visit Tracker.  This link will allow for uploading any hard copy files.  Programs moving to “paperless” files will find this useful!  To learn more about file uploads, please see this tutorial: https://help.data-keeper.com/knowledgebase.php?article=42

Invoices – This is where you will find your current open invoice, as well as past paid invoices. About 60 days before your subscription is due, an invoice will be created. When you log in, there will be a notification that you have an open invoice. From here, you can print or email your invoice using the icons on the right.

Add’l Admin – If you need to add an admin to your account, you will do that here.  Full access Helper Admin and Read Only Admin can be added here.  To see the different user types, look here: https://help.data-keeper.com/knowledgebase.php?article=48&suggest=1

Preferences – Under the Preferences link is where you will find most of your set up options for Visit Tracker.  When you first open the link, you will find some default options. The following sections are drop-down menus. The “Home Page – Up Coming Events” will allow you some control over what you and your users will see on the Welcome screen. The “Child Fields to Display” and “Guardian Fields to Display” will allow you to show or not show fields on the Child or Guardian data page. On the “Demographic Fields to Display“, you can select to show any additional high needs characteristics that your program would like to track.  Please note that by showing these high needs characteristics, they will not count toward PAT stressors.  Only the characteristics in the first box are counted for PAT. This is also where you would turn on MIECHV tracking if you are a MIECHV funded program. Finally, the “Family/Guardian Assessments to Display” will allow you to show only the assessments that your program gives. These are the Assessments listed under the “Assessments” link under the guardian.

Exit Reasons –  Here, you can create, edit or, in some cases, delete exit reasons.  If delete is not an option, this is because there is a guardian with that exit reason. You can select to not show the exit reason if you no longer want home visitors selecting that reason. If you edit a reason, this does change all guardians that have this exit reason listed, so be careful about changing the status.  If it’s just a wording change, such as changing “Moved” to “Moved from Service Area”, that would be ok. You can also add new exit reasons if your program needs them.

Screen Types – These are the Developmental screenings that will show under the Child Screening section.  If your program gives any screenings other than the PAT National recommended screenings, you can add them here.  You can also select to not show any screenings that may have been previously entered.  If you do enter another screening type, this will not change the scoring section of the screening.

Ethnic Categories – No changes can be made on this screen.  It will give you the Federal Race categories.

Site Codes – Site Codes are used for programs that need to run a report for different funding sources, school districts, etc.  You can enter your site codes here, and then under each report, there is a filter option to run by Site Code. If you use the site code field, you will want to be sure that each guardian has a site code selected on the Guardian Data page.

PVR Templates – PVR Templates can be used to help home visitors save some time when entering a PVR. The template will allow you to enter a few fields that will then populate for the home visitor when that template is selected.  For example, when a screening visit is conducted, there may be some standard handouts that are given.  You could create a “Screening Visit” template.  ** More options for templates are coming soon!

User Fields – You can the option of adding an additional 4 fields to the guardian data page and 4 fields to the child data page if there is additional data that you collect and there isn’t a place to record it in Visit Tracker.  The user fields will show on the guardian/child page as you enter them here. These fields can be filled in with numbers or letters. Be sure your home visitors know what you want to be entered.  Is it a date, or a “yes” “no” answer, or text? An example of a user field might be “Is there smoke detectors in the home?”. This can be answered with a yes or no answer. Another example might be “Home Elementary School”, and the name of the school can be entered.  These fields will show on the Family List Report, Child List Report and the Guardian or Child data exports.

Referral Sources – Referral Sources would be the list of agencies, people or places that refer families to your program. Referral Sources can be found on the Guardian and/or Child data pages.  This is a field that can be turned on or off under the Preferences link.

Mass Exit – This will allow you to exit children in mass. Mass exit will exit children according to their date of birth.  This is most often used at the end of the program year to exit all children that have aged out.

Data Sharing – If your State Lead has a State account, you will need to accept that you allow data to be shared with the person/program requesting permission.

Are you headed to Phoenix for the PAT Conference?

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So are we!  Jen will be in Phoenix, so please stop by and say “Hello”! This is a great time to ask questions face-to-face. She will also have some exciting upcoming features to share with you.

Please keep in mind that since Jen will be at the conference, no one will answering the phones for the week.  Please either email help@data-keeper.com or submit a ticket from the Support tab in Visit Tracker.

Have a great week!

Visit Tracker Invoices, Purchase Orders and Payments

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The main administrator for the Visit Tracker account has access to the Visit Tracker invoice.  Invoices will no longer be emailed, so please be sure to check if you have an open invoice.  When an admin logins into Visit Tracker, there will be a warning at the top of the page letting you know there is an open invoice.

Please note price changes that will go into effect July 1, 2018.  Please visit our pricing page:  https://data-keeper.com/pricing/

If your school district/organization creates Purchase Orders for payment, the admin can enter those PO numbers directly onto the invoice.  There is no need to email, fax or send this PO’s directly to us.

To enter a PO, first go to the Set Up tab, and then the Invoices link on the left (only the main admin will have access to Invoices).

Once you are on the Invoices page, the top invoice will be the most recent.  You can click on the Edit icon (the pencil) on the right to edit the invoice or enter a PO number.  From this screen, you can also email your invoice (the envelope icon) or you can print it (the printer icon).

On the edit invoice screen, there is a field to enter the PO number and date.  Be sure to save at the bottom of the page. Once the invoice has been saved, it will be updated immediately and can be printed or emailed.

Please understand that a PO is not payment, and the account will continue to show an open invoice until we have received the check. If you have a purchase order on file and you know the payment will not reach us by the due date, please email help@data-keeper.com and we will be happy to provide you with a grace period.

If you have additional questions about Visit Tracker pricing, you can visit our pricing page at: https://data-keeper.com/pricing/ or email help@data-keeper.com

User Types and Definitions

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There are 4 different user types in Visit Tracker; Main Admin, Full Access Additional Admin, Read Only Admin and Home Visitor.

  1. Main Admin – There can only be one Main Administrator for each Visit Tracker account.  The main admin is the only person that will have access to the Set Up options under the Set Up tab, and is the only person that can add or deactivate other users.  The main admin has access to all guardian and child data in the account, and has access to all Reports, including Data Exports. The main admin does not count as a billable user toward the total user count.
  2. Full Access Additional Admin (Helper Admin) – Additional Admin users are set up by the main admin under the Set Up tab.  The Additional Admin has access to all data and also has access to all Reports, including the Data Exports.  Additional Admin are not able to add or deactivate home visitors, but is able to reassign caseloads.  There are no Set Up options for Additional Admin.                                                                    
  3. Read-Only Additional Admin – Read Only Admin are set up by the main admin under the Set Up tab. A Read Only Admin is not able to make any changes to the account.  The Read Only Admin has access to all family data and Reports, including Data Exports. Read Only admin do not count toward the billable user count.  This is a great option of principals or superintendents, Executive Directors, etc, that would like to check in and run reports, but doesn’t need to make any changes.                                                                                      
  4. Home Visitor  – Home Visitors are set up by the main admin under the Home Visitor tab. A Home Visitor only has access to the families assigned to that home visitor.  There are a large number of reports that the home visitor is able to access, but some National and State reports are not available to home visitors.
  • Things to note:
    • If a Home Visitor is also a supervisor and needs to have admin access, that person will need to be added as a home visitor, but also as an additional admin.  This person will have 2 different logins: one as an admin, and one as a home visitor. From the admin login, the home visitor can do all their necessary work, so often they will no longer need to use the home visitor login.
    • If a home visitor has 2 logins (as a home visitor and admin), the home visitor login can be “Disabled” (button on the home visitor information page) so that this login does not count toward the billable user count. This will not change anything, it just means the person will need to only use the admin login, the home visitor login will be unavailable.
    •  Visit Tracker User Count will count all enabled home visitor logins, and full access additional admin.  Any home visitor that is “Disabled” is not counted in the total user count. If you have created “fake” home visitors (some programs may have “Screening Only” or “Waiting List”), these can be disabled so the logins don’t count toward your total user count.

Enrollment Status Definitions

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Recent changes to enrollment status have brought up some questions regarding the use and definitions of the different status.

Active:  Families receiving home visits. Private contacts can only be added for Active guardians with Active children.

Inactive/On Hold:  As defined by PAT: ” A family can be placed on “Hold” if they intend to return to the program within six months. Reasons for being placed on hold include: migrant work, illness, extended leave from the area, and military deployment. If the hold period extends longer than six months, then the parent educator should implement the program’s procedures for outreach to families who have lost contact.”

When a family has been placed “On Hold”, the time they are on hold will be subtracted from the equations of time the family received services.

Exit: As defined by PAT:  “When a family is no longer receiving PAT services, their status is changed to “Exited.” The exit date and reason should be recorded within 30 days. The exit date for a planned exit is the last day of service. For an unplanned exit, it is the last attempted contact with the family (whether in person, phone, e-mail, text, or letter). Families can exit a program for a variety of reasons. For example, they may move. There could be a change in the family situation leading them to be unable to continue services. Contact with the family may be lost. The enrolled child might age out of the program.”

Exit reasons can be set up in the Set Up tab by the main administrator.

Waitlist:  Waitlist should only be used for families who are actually waiting for services. Some National and State reports are starting to ask about program waitlists.  To get accurate data, you will want to be sure that only the families that are on a true waitlist, have the waitlist status.

Recruit and Mailing Only: There is a little more flexibility for these 2 status.  Some programs will use these for “Screening Only” or “Groups Only”. You can select to show both of these status on the group attendance list. You can not add private contacts if a guardian is Recruit or Mailing Only, but if a guardian was active, and then moved to one of these status, they will still be counted on your end of year reports.

*MO programs: Recruit and Mailing Only guardians/children will be counted on your MO Invoice report if they had a visit or screening in the program year.

To update/change the status of a guardian or child, you can read more about that here: https://help.data-keeper.com/knowledgebase.php?article=39

If you have additional questions regarding status, please give us a call or email!