Calculate Travel Time

Owned by Chris vanderHeide
Last updated: Sept 05, 2017 by akapteyn (Unlicensed)
3 min read

You can calculate travel time automatically for eligible schedules in the Schedule Review Module, Finalize Schedules tab. Travel time is calculated only for schedules in which the caregiver is travelling from one client to another, and does not get calculated for a caregiver's first visit of the day.

Travel time may be calculated by the system based on the time between schedules, or the actual time it would take to drive between them. This option is configured in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under Settings in Schedule Settings tool. If your office does not pay travel time, use the tool to disable the setting.

If you pay travel time  based on the time between schedules: Travel time is based on the pay end time of the first schedule to the pay start time of the second.

If you pay travel time based on actual driving time between schedules: The system calculates the mileage and driving time from one address to another based on the Distance and Travel information populated in a schedule for an identical "from address/to address" scenario as the one on the current schedule for which you are calculating travel time. To edit the stored number of miles between two addresses, use the Distance and Travel tool in the Setup a Schedule screen.

NOTE: When you select Calculate Travel Time, the system will attempt to automatically update the Distance and Travel information using HomeTrak's Trips directions service before it creates an expense item for Travel Time in the schedule, if this information has not already been validated.

Example of Travel Time NOT automatically calculating

A caregiver visits a client, finishes the shift, than leaves.  They do not go to another client.  Some time later they go back to the same client and start a new shift.  Since this new shift is for the same client, the software will not calculate travel time.  You will need to identify these shifts manually, then add the correct travel time.

For travel time to automatically calculate, Clients and Caregivers must be configured to bill or pay travel time and have travel time rates and a maximum minutes of travel specified in their Billing or Payroll Options.

What Schedules are eligible for Travel Time?

To calculate travel time on a schedule:

  • The schedule must not be the caregiver's first schedule of the day
  • Both schedules must have actual hours entered
  • The length of time between the end time of the first schedule and start time of the second schedule must be less than the setting for "Max minutes between visits to pay travel time" in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under Settings in Schedule Settings tool.
  • The "Travel time calculation" option in the Schedule Settings tool cannot be set to "No Travel"
  • Either the caregiver or payer (or both) must have the Pay/Bill Travel Time option checked on their Payroll or Billing options.
  • The caregiver or payer (or both) must have a travel rate and maximum minutes of travel time specified on their Payroll or Billing options.
  • Schedules with an "Unavailable" Call Type/Service will not receive or factor in to Travel Time calculations.

If all of the above criteria are met, the caregiver is paid travel time, or the payer is billed travel time, up to the maximum minutes on their Payroll or Billing options.

To calculate Travel Time:

  • Open the Schedule Review Module and select the Actual Hours tab. 
  • The Start and End Dates must reflect the correct date range for the schedules for which you wish to view/calculate travel time. 
  • Verify that any filtering options that are applied are appropriate. (To view all schedules for the specified date range, do not apply any filters.) 
  • Click the View Data tool in the grid toolbar to load the grid for the specified criteria. 
  • Ensure that all of the schedules for which you want to Calculate Travel Time have a check in the checkbox column. 
  • Click on the Calculate Travel Time tool under the Expenses drop down menu on the ribbon.

THEN. . .
Confirm that you want to calculate Travel Time on the selected schedules. A message will popup when complete. To view the calculated mileage in the Travel Time column in the Main Display grid, you may need to click the View Data button in the toolbar to refresh the information in the grid.

Note that when the system automatically calculates travel time, it will not add travel time records to schedules that may already have travel time, nor will it update or replace the existing records. If travel time is calculated multiple times for the same schedule(s), duplicate charges are not added.