This article will walk HMIS@NCCEH users through the process to remove extra, duplicate project stays from the client's Entry/Exit tab. This article is exclusively for use by projects following the ClientPoint workflow.
Identifying Duplicate Project Entries
Clients with duplicate or overlapping entries into the same exact HMIS project will often appear with data errors on various canned and BusinessObjects reports. These duplicate or overlapping entries are also identified by reviewing the client's Entry/Exit tab.
The image above shows an opened Entry/Exit tab with two project rows by the same HMIS Project with duplicative project stay dates.
Factors to review & consider
When looking into project stay row errors, there are a few items within each row to review to determine if each row is duplicative or overlapping, and if so, which of the the project stay rows should be removed.
Identifying if rows are duplicates or overlapping
- Confirm if the rows each have the same HMIS project ID
- If different, this may not be a data entry error.
- Confirm if the Project Start Dates and Project Exit Dates for the same HMIS project ID are the same dates, or if they are overlapping.
- If the the dates are the same or overlapping at all, this is an error. HMIS projects with the same ID should never have any overlapping date ranges [this includes no Exit Dates on the same date as a Start Date]
In the image above, the two project stay rows are confirmed to have the same HMIS project ID. Each has a different start date and exit date, but the date ranges are overlapping. This indicates one of the project rows is in error.
Determining which Entry/Exit project stay row is valid
- Confirm the Type column has the accurate assessment type for the HMIS project listed (ex: VA, HUD, PATH)
- Wrong assessment type can mean that row that should be removed.
- Look to see if either of the project stay rows have any associated Interim update assessments recorded
- If one row has multiple interims, that row is likely the one other staff have been using to record updates.
- If both rows have interims, review the dates of each interim to determine which is more accurate &/or if any interims need to be re-recorded on the row that ends up remaining active in the end.
- Review the Client Count column to confirm which row has an accurate number of enrolled household members listed for that project's stay.
- Whichever row has the incorrect client count total is the row that should be removed.
The image above shows the three Entry/Exit tab columns to check when reviewing for possible duplicate HMIS project ID rows: (1) Type, (2) Interims, and (3) Client Count
The row that is identified as valid should have the correct assessment type, project stay date range (start/end date), accurate number of interims, and accurate number of enrolled household members (client count).
Removing the invalid Entry/Exit project row
Once the Entry/Exit tab has been reviewed and the invalid project stay row has been identified, simply click on the trashcan in front of the row that was created in error.
Hitting the trash can icon will prompt a pop-up box to confirm the action of deleting the entire project row is intentional. Once confirmed, the duplicate enrollment will be removed.
Additional things to know when hitting the trash can:
- This action cannot be undone. Be sure you are clicking on the row you intend to delete!
- If the trash can icon does not appear, you may not in the correct EDA mode.
- Change the EDA to match the HMIS project ID for which you are editing/removing.
- If a pop-up box appears stating the action cannot be done because it is associated with a shelter stay, this is not a ClientPoint module project.
- The Zenguide for ShelterPoint: Removing Duplicate Project Entries should be utilized.
Duplicate Project Entries for Households
An important factor to remember about deleting project stay rows from a client's Entry/Exit tab is that it only removes the row from that specific client's Entry/Exit tab; it does not remove the row from any other household member's Entry/Exit tab! When working with a household that is enrolled in an HMIS project together, each individual household member's Entry/Exit tab must be reviewed for duplicate/overlapping project stays & those manually deleted from each individual household member's Entry/Exit tab.
Example: Jane Doe and John Doe entered into ABCD Transitional Housing. A duplicate enrollment was found on Jane Doe's Entry/Exit tab for this project. The inaccurate duplicate project row was deleted from Jane's Entry/Exit tab. The next step is to switch to John Doe's record to review John's Entry/Exit tab to confirm if he also had the duplicate project row; if so, that duplicate row would need to then be deleted from his Entry/Exit tab.
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