Useful HMIS Data Entry Tips

History bar, Back Date Mode, sub-assessment magnifying glass and HUD Verification? Not familiar with what these are and how to use them? Read on for some useful tips on making data entries in HMIS!

History Bar

Have you ever noticed the little colored bar next to the answered data fields?

Here are the things you should know about the history bar:

• The color indicates when the entry was last made

  • Bright green means the entry is very recent

  • Dark green means the entry is a few months old

  • Dark brown means the entry was made around a year or so ago

  • Red means the entry is several years old

• You can click on the little bar to see the answer history

You can see the effective date of the past answers, the user who made the entry, what provider they were in while making the entry, and finally the data they entered for the field.

• History answer can be deleted

When you click on the history bar to reveal the answer history for a data element, you may sometimes find conflicting or incorrect answers that would impact your program’s data quality for a given period. If you see the trash can icon, it means you are able to remove that history answer. If not, you can usually contact the Helpdesk, and ICA staff will be able to delete an incorrectly entered history answer for you.

Back Date Mode

When you open a client record, you always see this pop-up dialog asking if you need to enter Back Date Mode.

Or in the upper-right corner, you see the Back Date option.

When it’s NOT necessary to use the Back Date Mode:

• If you are just viewing the data in HMIS

• If you are editing data in the client’s Entry, Interim or Exit Assessment

When you SHOULD use Back Date Mode:

• If you are editing data in the Client Profile

• If you are editing data in the Assessments Tab

Magnifying Glass in Sub-assessments

The quickest way to view data entered in a sub-assessment is to click on the magnifying glass!

HUD Verification

Another quick way to double-check if you are missing data in a sub-assessment is to see if there is a green check next to the HUD Verification sign.

The green check indicates the completeness of your data entries in a sub-assessment.

If you see a red exclamation point, click on the red exclamation point to complete the missing data and click on the magnifying glass to verify the changes as needed.