Agency Office Glossary

Owned by Chris vanderHeide
Last updated: Jan 10, 2018
12 min read

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Add New Office

Add a new Office into the system. HomeTrak Companion supports operating multiple offices within a single database. HomeTrak’s licensing is on a per-office basis, therefore this option is restricted and can only be accessed by HomeTrak Support staff.

Edit Office

Edit your Agency Office's profile.

Delete Office

Delete an Office from the system. An Office can only be deleted if there is nothing attached to it. If there are Call Types, Rates, Authorizations or People attached to an Office, it cannot be deleted.

Edit Company

Edit your Company's profile.

Corporate Reporting Setup

Setup franchise corporate reporting options here. If your office is a franchisee of a larger company and the corporate company uses HomeTrak Companion’s franchise reporting tools, the exports of client and billing information to the corporate office are configured here. 

NOTE: These reporting requirements are normally dictated by the franchise corporation and should not be changed by the individual franchisees. This section is restricted and can only be accessed by HomeTrak Support staff.

If your office is an independent or private company, or the corporate franchise does not use HomeTrak’s reporting tools, this section does not apply to your company or office.

Scheduling

Call Types (Services)

Call Types represent the different types of services your company offers. They are a crucial component of HomeTrak Companion, tying much of the system together. They are used in the following areas:

  1. In the Agency Office Module you will add relevant Call Types to your Office.

    If you have only one Office, any Call Type you add in User Defined Information will be automatically added as a Call Type in your Agency Office Module. If you have more than one Office, you must complete this task for each Office.
  2. You will select a Call Type for each Call Type-specific Billing and Payroll Rate added in the Agency Office Module, the Client Module, the Caregiver Module or the Payer Module.
  3. You will select a Call Type for each Authorization added to a Client in the Client Module.
  4. You will choose an Authorization (which is connected to a Call Type) when adding a Schedule.
  5. During the Payroll and Billing process, the system will apply the correct Rate(s) based upon the Call Type.

To use HomeTrak Companion, your master list of Call Types must be set up in the User Defined Information Module, then added to the list of Call Types used by your office. To create a Billing Rate or Pay Rate for a Call Type, the Call Type must exist in the Agency Office’s list of Call Types. For more information, see How do I add a new Service (Call Type)?

Call Type Status:

Active: The default status for Call Types.

Unavailable: Assign this status to Call Types that are used exclusively in Office Authorizations. Creating a Schedule with a Call Type that has an Unavailable status will remove the Caregiver in that schedule from any conflicting schedules.

Retired: Assign this status to Call Types you no longer wish to use. (Call Types cannot be deleted from the program if a Rate has been created for it.)

Calendar Code: (Optional) An abbreviation shown on Schedules in the calendars when displaying the “bubble” style format.  The Calendar Code indicates the Call Type associated with the Schedule. Turn this feature on in the Calendar Modules: Calendar View, Panel Options, Show/Hide Call Type Calendar Code.

Taxes: If your company is required to charge state or federal taxes on services, your Tax Types must be added to each applicable Call Type. (Tax Types are set up in the User Defined Information Module, Finance tab.)

Exclude From Overtime: Individual Call Types may be selected to be excluded from overtime calculations. Call Types that are excluded from overtime will not have overtime calculated in billing or payroll, nor will their hours contribute to weekly or daily totals when calculating overtime on other schedules.

QuickBooks Interface Items: If you export Billing or Payroll to QuickBooks, you must link each Call Type with the associated service item in QuickBooks.

Quick Add Events

Set up pre-defined patterns of events that can be used to add multiple tasks or appointments into the system at once for a person.

EXAMPLE: Use a pattern to create a standard set of follow-up tasks and assessment appointments for a new Client.

Event Pattern

A collection of events (tasks and appointments) to be added together.

Setup Individual Events

Configure the templates for the individual events to add.

Choose the type (Task or Appointment) and category of the event as well as a default person to perform and default time and length.

The event can also be given a default offset from a baseline date (specified when adding events using the pattern) in order to create multiple events in a specific sequence.

EXAMPLE: An initial visit and a follow up a week after.

Quick Add Notices

Set up pre-defined patterns of reminder Notices that you can add to Tasks, Appointments and other events. Notice Patterns allow you to create sets of Notices for multiple people for common tasks. A Notice Pattern specifies a template for adding multiple notices at once and selecting a Notice Pattern on an event will automatically create all of the Notices from the Pattern, instead of requiring the user to manually set up each individual notice.

EXAMPLE: If there are three people you want to notify every time an appointment of a certain type is added, you can create a Pattern that includes the template for all three notices.

Notice Pattern

Set up Notice Patterns to apply to events. A Notice Pattern consists of a group of template notices.

Setup Individual Notices

Configure the individual notice templates to include in the pattern(s). Each template notice specifies the type of notice (email or on-screen), when to send it, and an optional default person. If no default person is specified, a notice is created for every person on the event except the Client or Primary Person.

Documentation

Custom Forms

Here you can configure which information is included on the web forms including attaching the specific questions to the Client and Caregiver forms. (The list of questions and their options are configured in the User Defined Information Module.)

You can also specify a notification email which will receive a notification when a new application has been submitted.

For more information on configuring the application pages, see Client or Caregiver Web Application Setup.

This feature is only available if you are using HomeTrak’s cloud hosted solution.

Secondary Addresses

Additional addresses for your Agency Office.

Achievements

Achievements are business performance statistics that you can track on various subjects within the program. Define the Achievements you wish to track, and add a target range, if desired. If you use a target range, any actual results outside of the range will be flagged as “Above Average” or “Below Average”. Calculated Achievement results are viewable in the Management Reports Module.

Office Boundary

Use ZIP/Postal Codes to define the boundaries of the territory served by your office. Clients who are outside of the office’s territory boundaries will be highlighted here.

This feature is primarily used by franchisee offices that are authorized by the corporate franchise to service a particular area.

Required Dates

Use Required Dates to keep track of items that must be completed for or by a person or organization.

EXAMPLES: Orientations, evaluations, first aid certification dates, license expiration dates, etc.

The list of Required Date categories is maintained in the User Defined Information Module. The categories you create will represent the different requirements your company tracks, as well as their importance and when or whether they expire. Required Dates are specified as either Mandatory or Optional.  If a Caregiver has an incomplete or expired Mandatory required date on their profile, you will receive warnings if you try to schedule that caregiver.

Required Date categories can be set to three types:

  • No Expiry: These requirements are entered with the date they are completed. They do not expire.
  • Actual Date: These requirements are entered with the date they are completed. They will automatically expire after a length of time that is specified for the requirement.
  • Expiration Date: These requirements are entered with the date they actually expire, rather than the date the certification or requirement was completed.

Office Notes

Use this tool to enter internal notes for office use and information only.

E-TimeCard

External Options

External access options.

Telephony

Configure the Telephony settings are configured for your Office. If you use Telephony to track Caregivers’ hours, these options must be configured. (Telephony is an optional feature of HomeTrak Companion.)

This option is restricted and can only be accessed by HomeTrak Support staff. If you do not currently use the Telephony option and wish to enable it, contact HomeTrak’s sales department.

Mobile Clock In Setup

Set up options related to enabling Caregivers to clock in to their schedules using the HomeTrak Companion Mobile app and GPS features of their Android or iOS device.

Telecom - IVR Settings

Set up options related to HomeTrak's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.

Allow caregivers to use the IVR system to accept Pending Schedules or clock in to their schedules.

Schedule Alerts

Use the Schedule Alerts tool to specify when the system should send out schedule reminder messages and alert messages. Reminder and alert message master lists are created in the User Defined Information Module. These master lists are pre-populated with items considered most useful for setting up alerts. To receive alerts about schedules where a caregiver has not shown up, you need to use Telephony to track your caregivers’ hours; Schedule Alerting can also be used without Telephony to send reminder messages for schedules that are about to occur.

The system can send out reminder messages for Schedules if your server is set up for email capabilities and the Telephony service is running.

If you have SMS Texting features enabled, you may wish to use the Event Reminders feature to send reminder messages to the person in the event.

Telephony reminders are only sent to the specific person(s) selected in the Schedule Alerts setup.

Finance

Interfaces

HomeTrak Companion supports integration with several common billing and payroll software packages. This section contains the configuration options for setting up exports of Billing and Payroll data to these external packages. Your chosen interface setup must be correctly configured and your Clients, Payers and/or Caregivers must have their External IDs specified before exporting Billing or Payroll data.

Quickbooks Setup

Configure settings for connecting to and integrating with QuickBooks. This section allows you to choose which Billing and Payroll information is exported to QuickBooks and how the information is populated in QuickBooks.

To connect to QuickBooks from HomeTrak Companion, QuickBooks must be running with the correct Company File open. The name of the machine where QuickBooks is running must be specified here as the QuickBooks host and the QuickBooks Connector must be running on the machine from which you are connecting to QuickBooks. (The Connector is started from the Application Menu of the Main Module.) 

To complete the configuration setup for QuickBooks to Companion, you must be signed in as the QuickBooks administrator and have QuickBooks running in Single-User mode.

Paychex Setup

Configure settings for connecting and exporting Payroll to PayChex.

ADP Pay eXpert / Paycor

Configure settings for connecting and exporting Payroll to ADP Pay eXpert or Paycor.

ADP Easy Pay

Configure settings for connecting and exporting Payroll to ADP EasyPay.

EZClaim

Configure settings for connecting and exporting Billing to EZClaim.

New Caregiver Default Payroll Options

The Payroll Options you set here become the defaults that are used for new Caregivers when they are added to the system. These settings are applied to a new Caregiver's personal Payroll Options. You can change Payroll Options for any Caregiver in the Caregiver Module, Payroll Options. 

Any options that you add or edit here will NOT affect existing Caregivers in your system. They will only apply to NEW Caregivers added from this point forward.

New Client/Payer Default Billing Options

The Billing Options you set here become the defaults that are used for new Clients or Payers when they are added to the system. These settings are applied to a new Client’s or Payer’s personal Billing Options. You can change Billing Options for any Client in the Client Module, Billing Options. Billing Options for any Payers are changed in the Payer Module, Billing Options. 

Any options that you add or edit here will NOT affect existing Clients or Payers in your system. They will only apply to NEW Clients or Payers added from this point forward.

Office Level Payroll Rates

Set up your default Pay Rates for Caregivers here. If Pay Rates exist in a specific Caregiver’s record, the Caregiver Rate(s) will override these Office Level Payroll Rate(s), when Payroll is calculated for the Caregiver. If there is no matching Rate in the specific Caregiver’s record when calculating Payroll, the system will use the Office Level Payroll Rate(s) entered here.

Payroll Rates can be generic (with only the Rate Type specified) or Call Type specific. Optional: You may choose to specify different Pay Rates depending on which Client the Caregiver is working with. A client-specific Pay Rate must also have a Call Type specified. When Payroll is calculated, the most specific rate available is chosen (i.e. Client-specific first, then Call Type-specific, then Rate Type-Specific).

The effective dates of a Pay Rate are also defined. The effectiveness is inclusive of the start and end dates. If multiple matching Pay Rates with overlapping effective dates are found when calculating Payroll for a Schedule, the Rate with the tightest effective date range is used.

Office Level Billing Rates

Set up your default Billing Rates for Clients and Payers here. If Bill Rates also exist for the Payer, the Payer Rate(s) will override these Office Level Billing Rate(s), when Billing is calculated for that Payer. If there is no matching Rate for the Payer when calculating Billing, to the system will use the Office Level Billing Rate(s) entered here.  However, if the Payer for the Authorization is an Organization (and not the Client), the software will NOT use the Agency Office Rates – the Payer Organization must have its own Billing Rates.

Billing Rates must be specific to a Call Type. Optional: You may choose to use different Billing Rates depending on which Caregiver is working with the Client. A Caregiver-specific Billing Rate must also have a Call Type specified. When Billing is calculated, the most specific rate available is chosen (i.e. Caregiver-specific first, then Call Type-specific, then Rate Type-specific).

The effective dates of a Billing Rate are also defined. The effectiveness is inclusive of the start and end dates. If multiple matching Billing Rates with overlapping effective dates are found when calculating Billing for a Schedule, the Rate with the tightest effective date range is used.

Office Authorizations

Office Authorizations allow you to create Authorizations for “non-visit” Schedules, where the Caregiver is not actually working with any Client (such as Office Work or Training). When creating a non-visit Schedule, select the Office as the “Client” for the Schedule, then select from the Office Authorizations.

Office Authorizations differ from Client Authorizations in one key aspect. To select a Call Type for a Client Authorization, there must be a Billing Rate for the Call Type on the Payer (or the Agency Office, if the Client is their own Payer). For Office Authorizations, the Call Type list is based on Call Types that have either a Billing or Pay Rate in the Agency Office Module (since most Schedules created from Office Authorizations would be Pay-only).

Customized Invoice

Configure an optional customized invoice layout, used by the Customized Invoice button in the Billing Module. If no customized invoice layout is created, the system defaults to the standard invoice layout.

Holidays

Add, edit, view and delete Holidays for your Office(s).  (Before adding office-specific Holiday dates here, you must pre-establish your list of Holiday categories in the User Defined Information Module.)

Create office-specific Holidays and setup their pay and bill factors here. These pay and bill factors will apply during payroll and billing, if the Client and Caregiver are set up to be billed/paid the holiday rate. In the Holidays screen you can see all of the Holidays that have been added, grouped according to whether they are associated with the Current Year or dated in the Past or Future. 

Because the dates of some holidays change on a yearly basis, you must adjust the Holiday dates every year. If a Holiday occurs on the same day every year, you must change the year of the Office Holiday for it to be valid the next calendar year.

With Support's Advice

Date and Time

Configure defaults relating to the display of dates and times, times for the creation of Schedules and other events, lengths of Recurrences and Authorizations, and effective ranges of Billing and Pay Rates, etc.

Settings

This section contains configuration options relating to Schedules, calendar emailing and company-wide Billing and Payroll options. You can configure how schedules break over midnight or weekends, how travel time, mileage and overtime are calculated, which external billing and payroll package interfaces are used. You can also select optional default Attributes to be automatically applied when a Schedule is created.

Schedule Settings

General options related to the calculation of schedule hours, travel time and mileage.

Billing Settings

Office-wide options related to the calculation and processing of Billing and generation of Invoices.

Payroll Settings

Office-wide options related to the calculation and processing of Payroll.

Default Schedule Attributes

Choose optional Schedule Attributes to be added by default to newly created schedules.

Calendar Export

General options related to emailing and printing Calendars from Companion.

Burdens

Burdens are extra costs incurred by your office. Payroll burden costs may be specified as a percentage of your payroll costs representing additional costs to your office such as caregiver taxes or benefits. Burdens are calculated within the revenue analysis pivot grids in the Management Reports Module.

Overrides

Miscellaneous optional system overrides.

Name Formats

Choose your preferred display format for the names of new people entered in Companion.  The default is <LastName>, <FirstName>.

System Overrides

Miscellaneous additional options not related to the above categories.

Default Images

(Optional) Choose a different icon to be the default profile image based on the type of person added to Companion. Changing profile images here will override the generic default image.

Email Setup

Configure your email settings here. If you wish to send calendars or other emails through Companion, or use the Schedule Alerting features, this information must be set up with valid email address and server information.

Users Security

For local (non-cloud) database installations. Cloud users should set up Identity accounts from a person's profile in the Relationship Management Module.

Set up and maintain your users in the system. Each username must be tied to an Office Staff member. You can reset users’ passwords and Security Roles here. Security Roles control which portions of the system a user can access, and they are configured in User Defined Information. If you do not select a Security Role for a user, they will have full access to all parts of the system.

Bulk Add Cloud Security Accounts

Send out bulk invites to Caregivers to set up Identity accounts to log in to the mobile apps.

Applications

A generic configuration setup for interfacing HomeTrak Companion to other external software packages in addition to the above billing and payroll packages.

HTML Export Setup

Set up a schedule for HomeTrak Companion to automatically export demographic and calendar information to HTML (web page) documents. This feature is designed to be used in conjunction with the Companion: On the Road mobile (read-only) application, available on iPad and Android phones and tablets. By setting up a fixed schedule of automatic exports, you can ensure that on-call staff using the mobile app have access to up-to-date information.

The export folder path that you choose in the HTML Export Setup must be on or accessible from the HomeTrak Companion application server (the machine where the Maintenance and Telephony services are running). For the exported information to be available to be downloaded and used by the Companion: On the Road mobile (read-only) app, the DropBox application must be downloaded and installed on the server and the export path must be the root of the DropBox folder.