This section provides an overview of how the schedule operates with respect to billable events and the importance of its integration with the notes and billing in OnTarget Clinical.

Scheduled events can be set as either "billable" or "non-billable". If the event is specific to a client and a service, it will be billable.  If the event has nothing do with a client or service, such as staff trainings, administrative time, or even unavailable staff time, it will be considered non-billable.

Scheduled billable events are always tied to a client and one of their respective authorized services.  There are several benefits of linking the schedule to an authorized service.  First, schedules can only be entered that are within the authorized date ranges.  Once an authorization ends, scheduled items cannot be entered past the end date until a new authorization is entered.  Second, every time a billable event is scheduled, units are deducted from the authorization. The units are pulled from their respective parameters, such as weekly, monthly or total authorized, based on how they were entered at the authorization screen. This gives the user control with respect to how the units are provided over the course of the authorization period.  For these reasons, the schedule is a great tool for managing service delivery as this will ensure that when the service is provided, there is coverage from the authorization without the risk of over-billing.

This section illustrates how the system handles units on the schedule.

By going to the "Generate Report" dashlet on the Dashboard Desktop and choosing "client services", users can see how many units have been used through a particular date entered.  

These results can be further filtered by cost center, client, service, and/or supervisor.  After clicking on the "generate report" button, a list of authorized services, the start/end date, and the total authorized units will populate. "In Process" shows all units that are tied up in the system for a particular service authorization, but have not yet been billed.  Scheduled units are considered in process.  This means that the units are already accounted for and need to be factored in to what is remaining.  The end goal in the units workflow is that the units move from "In Process" to "Billed".  Units move to billed as soon as invoices have been created. 

When all of the units for a particular service have been exhausted, rules can be enforced in the system that will provide warning messages for exceeding the authorized units amount.  When this rule is enforced, a pop-up message will notify the scheduler that there are no more units left against the auth to schedule.  The "Allow Override" checkbox dictates whether a user (linked to a particular role) can override the message and continue scheduling or if they cannot override, preventing them from getting the schedule entered.  This is covered in more detail in the "Scheduling Security Workflow" section of the user guide.

This section provides an overview of the options available and the best practices for managing schedules.

Option one:  events linked to a note:

This option enforces that staff always create their note from a scheduled event.  Otherwise, staff are allowed to manually enter notes from the Notes Desktop and the units used to schedule the event remain in the "In Process" count and never move to "Billed".  This results in an inaccurate count of the units remaining and possibly generates invalid warning messages for exceeding units. 

Scheduling events is also useful, as the data entered populates to the note.  System administrators have control over whether or not the scheduled info can be changed once it is pulled into the note.  This is the highest point of control the system offers to ensure that service delivery stays within the authorized unit amount.  By restricting any changes to time on the note, billing always equals what is scheduled.  Using the schedule to tightly control and maximize service delivery in this way should prevent any over-bill situations.  This also ensures that the units sync between the schedule and the note.  This setting is under ConfigureàEdit Company Settings.

Option two:  scheduled events imported into billing: 

This option allows scheduled events to be imported into Billing as a means for generating billing.   Schedules or notes can be imported into the billing module.  The point of control for enabling schedule import to timesheets is under ConfigureàEdit Company Settings.   

If notes have been implemented, then the proper flow is to create a schedule, link it to a note, and then import the note to billing.

 If notes have not been implemented, billing can be generated from scheduled events.  With this, events must be acutely managed to reflect what was actually provided so that the billing is submitted accurately.  When imported into billing, units move from "In Process" to "Billed" to provide the remaining unit count.

Option three:  released units re-purposed: 

With this option, scheduled events that did not occur can have encumbered units released, so they can be re-purposed for another day.  This can be done by reclassifying the service. This is usually beneficial for tracking purposes so that no-show’s or cancellations can be reported upon.  Service codes that reflect reason codes need to be setup and attached to the client.  The billable code could then be changed to one of the reason codes, which would free up the units.

Option four:  deleting events from the schedule:

The final option is to delete an event off of the schedule if it did not occur.  This is another means for freeing up the associated units.

Upon saving scheduled events, the system validates against the authorization and the client and  employee records to ensure that nothing is out of compliance.  If a client has an expired consent, the employee has expired certifications or the time is overlapping with other schedules, then a list of warning messages will be presented. This provides another means of ensuring that when the service is provided, all service requirements are in place.

This section provides an overview of some of the special features available within the Scheduling Desktop.

Scheduled events can be linked to a "status".  The status is a way of color-coding events so that like events can be grouped in a meaningful way.  Below is an example of a list of statuses.  

Ex.

Users can search and view all events with a particular status by choosing "display only this status".  Alternately, users can click on particular statuses to hide them from the calendar view  (indicated by banded status). 

For example, to view all Intake appointments, select to see all events that are linked to that status.  Note:  the status list is pre-configured by going to Configure–>List Configuration–>Scheduling–>Time Scheduled Status.

When opening up a scheduled event, users have the option to click on the "Open Client" button.   This provides a link to the client record in the Clients Desktop.

Users also have the option to click on the "Add Task" button.  With this, users can assign the task to an individual; for example to remind them of the appointment.  This task then shows up on the assignee’s dashboard, and they may receive an email notification if they have that feature enabled.

Users can view previous notes for the client, previous vital statistic information, and all active meds by expanding each corresponding section.

Users can also export the calendar for a report of the scheduled events. This grid report can be printed or exported to another document type.