Apricot

Best Practices for HMIS Data Entry

Managing data for HMIS can be a challenge, especially when presented with minor data entry errors that can cause a domino effect.

For the best user experience when dealing with HMIS data, we recommend doing the following: 

Please ensure that all Individuals are linked to a Household, as this is necessary for the assignment of Household IDs, and can affect how Individuals appear in HUD Reports. Also, there must be a new Household Enrollment record created for each new Program Enrollment record for any given household.

Ensure that data entry is being done correctly. For example, the HMIS Assessment has a large amount of questions, which can make it easy to lose track of smaller details, such as ensuring that important details like the "Information Date" field matches the date in the Enrollment Date fields. More specifically, for Entry HMIS Assessment records, the "Information Date" field needs to match the "Enrollment Start Date" field, and for the Exit HMIS Assessment records, the "Information Date" field needs to match the "Enrollment Exit Date" field. These are just a few examples, but if you would like to know more about the full data entry process, please see <a href="https://apricot-articles.socialsolutions.com/en/articles/6325249-ahs-how-to-get-started-and-individual-data-entry#h_8e14fd9505">this article</a>.

If a ticket needs to be opened with support, please have in mind that it may take more than one business day to identify and solve the issue. If possible, please enter support tickets so that there is a buffer between the date from when the ticket was opened and any report due dates.

- Please ensure that all Individuals are linked to a Household, as this is necessary for the assignment of Household IDs, and can affect how Individuals appear in HUD Reports. Also, there must be a new Household Enrollment record created for each new Program Enrollment record for any given household.
 
- Ensure that data entry is being done correctly. For example, the HMIS Assessment has a large amount of questions, which can make it easy to lose track of smaller details, such as ensuring that important details like the "Information Date" field matches the date in the Enrollment Date fields. More specifically, for Entry HMIS Assessment records, the "Information Date" field needs to match the "Enrollment Start Date" field, and for the Exit HMIS Assessment records, the "Information Date" field needs to match the "Enrollment Exit Date" field. These are just a few examples, but if you would like to know more about the full data entry process, please see <a href="https://apricot-articles.socialsolutions.com/en/articles/6325249-ahs-how-to-get-started-and-individual-data-entry#h_8e14fd9505">this article</a>.
 
- If a ticket needs to be opened with support, please have in mind that it may take more than one business day to identify and solve the issue. If possible, please enter support tickets so that there is a buffer between the date from when the ticket was opened and any report due dates.