This article will walk HMIS@NCCEH users through the process to remove extra, duplicate project stays from the client's Service Transactions tab & Entry/Exit tab.
This article is exclusively for use by projects following the ShelterPoint 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]
Removing the invalid Shelter Stay Service Transaction
For ShelterPoint utilizing HMIS projects, every Entry/Exit project stay row is created with a Shelter Stay service transaction when a client is put into the ShelterPoint bedlist. If done correctly, the only way to remove an Entry/Exit project stay row is to remove the Shelter Stay service transaction.
To remove the service transactions:
- Click on the client's Service Transactions tab
- Click on the View Entire Service History button
- Locate every row associated with the duplicate project stays.
- There should be two rows per project stay (one row for Need and one row for Shelter Stay)
- Determine which Need/Shelter Stay grouping is inaccurate.
- This is either be determined by the fact that the Date is inaccurate or by clicking on each magnifying glass next to the Shelter Stay row.
- The magnifying glass will include additional information such as unit list &/or bed number to help determine which is wrong.
- Click the trash can next to the Need that is inaccuarate.
- This will delete both the Need and its associated Shelter Stay row.
To verify the Entry/Exit project row has also now been removed:
- Click on the Client Information tab
- Click on the Entry/Exit tab
- Review the listed project rows to confirm the extra, inaccurate row was deleted.
- If there are still duplicate rows appearing, click the trash can next to the inaccurate row.
- You should now be able to deleted it without issue.
BEWARE! Hitting the trashcan to delete anything cannot be undone. Be sure you are clicking on the trashcan of the item you intend to delete!
Duplicate Project Entries for Households
An important factor to remember about deleting project stay details is that it only removes the details from that specific client's Entry/Exit tab &/or Service transactions tab; it does not remove the duplicate project entry from any other household member's record! When working with a household that is enrolled in an HMIS project together, each individual household member's Entry/Exit & Service Transactions tab must be reviewed for duplicate/overlapping project stays & those manually deleted from each individual household member's Service Transaction tab (and verified it was then removed from the individual's Entry/Exit tab).
Example: Sue Smith and John Smith entered into Emergency Shelter. A duplicate enrollment was found on Sue Smith's Entry/Exit tab for this project. The inaccurate duplicate shelter stay NEED was deleted from Sue's Service transaction tab & confirmed as removed on her Entry/Exit tab. The next step is to switch to John Smith's record to review John's Entry/Exit tab to confirm if he also had the duplicate project row; if so, that duplicate shelter stay NEED would need to then be deleted from his Service Transactions tab & confirmed as removed from his Entry/Exit tab.
Entry/Exit duplicates don't match Service Transaction Records
If during the review for duplicate Entry/Exit project stay rows and their accompanying Shelter Stay service transactions record it is found there is not an accompanying Shelter Stay service for one of the Entry/Exit rows, this indicates ShelterPoint was not utilized correctly to complete the client's enrollment. It is likely the client was entered into HMIS as ShelterPoint for one of the enrollments but ClientPoint for the other enrollment.
To begin, it is advised to delete the Entry/Exit tab duplicate project row without an accompanying service transaction. Before deleting any details, confirm both project rows have the accurate information listed (start dates, interims, end dates, client counts)
Correcting for SINGLES
- If both project rows on the Entry/Exit tab do not match for start/interim/end dates, edit the item(s) as necessary so that both rows contain the correct information.
- Click the trash can next to one of the duplicate project rows. If the system does not allow for deletion of that row due to an accompanying shelter stay transactions, simply click the trash can of the other project row. The system should allow for deletion of a row that does not have a linked service transaction.
- Review the Entry/Exit tab project row to confirm all the details are accurate.
- Click on the client's Service Transactions tab
- Click on the View Entire Service History button
- Click on the magnifying glass next to the Shelter Stay row
- Confirm the details appear accurate (Date In, Date Out)
- If the details are not accurate, please reach out to the Data Center helpdesk for support
Correcting for HOUSEHOLDS
If both project rows in the Entry/Exit tab have the same client count...
- If both project rows on the Entry/Exit tab do not match for start/interim/end dates but the client counts are accurate in both, edit the dates as necessary so that both rows contain the correct information.
- Click the trash can next to one of the duplicate project rows.
- If the system does not allow for deletion of that row due to an accompanying shelter stay transactions, simply click the trash can of the other project row.
- The system should allow for deletion of a row that does not have a linked service transaction.
- Switch to another household member's record to review that client's Entry/Exit tab. Find the row that now has a lower client count & click the trash can next to that row.
- REPEAT FOR EACH FAMILY MEMBER.
- Switch back to the Head of Household's Entry/Exit tab & review the project row to confirm all the details are accurate.
- Click on the client's Service Transactions tab
- Click on the View Entire Service History button
- Click on the magnifying glass next to the Shelter Stay row
- Confirm the details appear accurate (Date In, Date Out)
- If the details are not accurate, please reach out to the Data Center helpdesk for support
If both project rows in the Entry/Exit tab have different client counts...
Reach out to the Data Center helpdesk for support as there are multiple corrections needed in this case. Be sure to provide the following information in the email for assistance:
- The error needing support (ShelterPoint project has duplicate/dual enrollments)
- Which HMIS project is impacted
- HMIS client ID [if it is a family, be sure to state it impacts the whole family]
- What the project start date should be
- What the project end date should be (if applicable)
- Which unit list &/or bed number the client(s) should be associated
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