How to Access, Add, or Modify an Authorization

• Active Authorization:  "Active" in this context is used the same way as everywhere else in SET-Works:  The only time an authorization should be inactivated is if the authorization was entered by mistake (it is an error).  Authorizations are active by default.
  
• Temporary Authorization:  Marks the authorization as temporary. This field should only be used when documenting services provided to a consumer before funding has been approved.
  
• Department:   Assigning a department to authorizations assists in two areas:
  
  • Reporting:  E.g. Aggregating data by department.
    
  • Simplifying data entry for staff: Staff will only be able to see the authorizations that are assigned to departments that they have access to.
    
• Service:  The service that the authorization applies to.
  
• Authorization Code:  The authorization code or number attached to the authorization.  This field will default in from the Service configuration.  If no number is provided by the funder, leave the default value or change it to something that will be helpful for staff going forward.
  
• Authorization Type:  Authorizations can be measured either Hourly or by Outcome (also known as Milestones or Benchmarks).
  
• Authorized Hours:  Enter the total number of hours authorized for the entire authorization.  If the service is billed on smaller units or a day rate, convert the unit into hours.  For Outcome/Milestone/Benchmarks, entering hours is still required, as it assists with internal tracking of productivity/efficiency.  Choose a number that is realistic for the type of service.  (Multiple outcome reports are available to report on this information.)
  
• Hours used:  Read-only field for displaying how many total hours have been used on the authorization.  This is calculated automatically.
  
• Hours remaining:  Read-only field for displaying how many hours are remaining on the authorization.  This is calculated automatically.
  
• Start date:  The start date of the authorization.
  
• End date:  The end date of the authorization.
  
• (If applicable) Update dates for associated goals link:  Only available on an update, clicking this link will automatically update any goals that are associated to this authorization.
  
• Contract:   The Contract/Funding Source for this authorization.
  
  • This is configurable in the Contract / Funding Source / Funding Source Contacts utility. Learn more.
    
• Funding Source Contact:   The primary contact at the funding source for this authorization, if applicable.
  
  • This is configurable in the Contract / Funding Source / Funding Source Contacts utility. 
    
• Area Program / LME:  This is an optional field if the authorization is provided by an Area Program or LME.
  
• Logged and Remaining to Log: The Logged section shows how many hours have been consumed by both billable appointments and billable records. Remaining shows how many hours are left. 
  
• Billable and Remaining Billable: The Billable section shows many hours have been consumed by billable records (appointments are not counted). Remaining shows how many hours are left. 

Temporary Authorizations

Temporary authorizations allow staff to complete documentation on a service provided before the authorization is officially available from the funding source. Once the authorization has arrived, deselect the checkbox and select the appropriate service to turn it into an official authorization.  Once saved, all Activity Records created for this same authorization will automatically update to be linked to the official authorization.  Activity Records created for a temporary authorization are not billable until the authorization is changed to a permanent/official authorization.

Overlapping Authorizations

(Optional) Authorizations can be specified to overlap with other authorizations.  This allows different staff to document on two different authorizations at the same time.  For example, nursing services often overlap with other standard I/DD services.  If the authorizations are not configured to allow overlapping, an error will show when creating a second billable Activity Record for the same consumer at the same time.

Authorization Groups

(Optional) If different authorizations are related in some way, grouping them together allows reporting/aggregating the authorization information in some reports. Learn more about Authorization Groups.

Authorization Frequencies & Exceptions

(Optional) Authorization Frequencies allow configuring how many hours are expected to be used on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis.  These limits can be configured to be enforced so staff can not pass the limit (a hard limit), or configured to allow them to pass the limit (a soft limit).  Authorization Limit reports are available to show on a weekly/monthly/annual basis how each authorization is performing compared to this limit. See our article about Authorization Limits to learn more. 

Note: The Max Monthly Hours column on the Consumer Index will display the Monthly limit of hours based upon the oldest start date among all authorizations. 

Discharge/End Authorization?

Delete an Authorization?

Users can INACTIVATE mistaken or duplicate entries, or ALTER THE END DATE for Authorizations that change mid program year, however Authorization deletion is not permitted. This is done to preserve an accurate data record within SET-Works. Also note: authorization should only be made inactive if it was a mistaken entry.

• Inactivate Authorization:
  

Navigate to the Consumer whose Authorization you would like to inactivate, then click on the Authorizations tab for that consumer. Click on the Authorization you wish to modify, and un-check the "active auth" checkbox at the top of the record. Click "update" in the top right corner to save your changes. Follow this link to read more about inactivating in regards to Consumer records.

• Alter End Date for Authorization:
  

Navigate to the Consumer whose Authorization you would like to inactivate, then click on the Authorizations tab for that consumer. Click on the Authorization you wish to modify, and update the "end date" to reflect the new end date for the Authorization.