Certified Trainers Blog

 Posts Tagged ‘TRC’

When we first started using Therap, we put all of our Medical Appointments in the Therap calendar, just like we do on paper. Then Therap put the Appointments on everyone’s FirstPage/Dashboard so that users could see all of the appointments for Today and Tomorrow. Now we are turning off the calendar and only using HT.

This will save on double documenting in both places, therefore saving staff more work. Once again, Therap has saved us time and energy!

Thanks Therap!

It’s mid-day at the Therap Conference on Day Two, and I was just in a session regarding the 1115 Wavier for New York.  I could go into great detail about what was discussed regarding funding, Care Coordinators, etc…, but I would probably bore you.  If you’re really curious, just Google OPWDD 1115 Waiver, get yourself a pillow, and you’ll be out in just a few minutes.

But there are two things that I really appreciated taking out of that session:

1) We are all in the dark… nobody reallly knows what exactly this will mean for our agencies, how we will need to implement it, what documentation will increase/decrease, how it’s going to change the way we serve the individuals we currently support, etc…  It’s good to know that we are not alone in having anxiety about what this will bring.

2) Therap is already on top of it.  In all of the sessions that I’ve attended so far, there has been at least one programmer in attendance.  But at this session, there were at least 3 programmers (Sazzad, Pushpita, and Asif), as well as Kevin Lightle and James Kelly, who were able to share information about the Waiver.  I’m not sure, but I think Kevin has a direct line to the OPWDD Commissioner, Courtney Burke, so hopefully he’s getting any inside scoop on the issue.

So tonight, I’ll be just fine falling asleep knowing that, once again, I can count on Therap to be there whenever there is a regulatory concern.  Now, if I could just make sure that Sazzad fixes that one thing for me…

Typcially we’ve used agency Splash Pages as announcements for specific Therap related issues: “An updated T-Log Reference Guide has been sent via SComm, please be sure to review.”  Non-Therap related information has always been sent as a flyer within staff paychecks: “Interested in earning more money?  Individualized Services is looking for…”

Recently, however, we decided to try something new.  We created a Splash Page to let users know that we were hiring for a specific position and listed the phone number to contact if they knew anyone interested.  Since that Splash Page, I’ve received additional requests for other similar needs, ”Mary Active, a resident at First Street Group Home, is looking for someone that would be interested in volunteering for …” 

So here is my next thought… when a staff sees this Splash Page, it might not interest them at first, so they click on the box “Do not show this message again.”  But later that week, they need the information that was in that Splash Page.

Wouldn’t it be beneficial for users to have the ability to access old Splash Pages?  I know that there have been times when I’ve clicked on that box, just to realize two days later that I needed the information again, for example, release notes.  Some users would be able to find them on the homepage, but others might not.

Here’s my feedback: Category-Suggestion, Summary-Access to old Splash Pages, Description-”It would be beneficial if users could access old Splash Pages that they have clicked not to be shown. There may be information within them that at that time they don’t need, but may need at a later date.”

I’ll let you know if there’s anything interesting in “My Issues” tomorrow!

Renee

Yesterday, I left my office at The Resource Center to drive north two hours to attend a WNY User Group Session, and it was awesome!!!   Thanks to the great staff at Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled located in Buffalo, NY for once again opening their agency for a user group session.

And also to Kris and Stephen who were willing to put up with all of us throwing out our great ideas for future upgrades!  I’m pretty sure that they wrote everything down to take back to the Therap programmers to work on for us!!!!  Hopefully we’ll see some of those great ideas soon! 

If you haven’t already attended a local user group, you really should consider it.  You can find a list of sessions on Therap’s homepage.  It’s a great opportunity to see how other agencies in your state are utilizing Therap.  Everytime I’ve attended, I’ve either learned how to do something that we aren’t doing or shared something with other agencies that they aren’t doing.   Either way, it’s a win-win for all agencies in attendance.

Another great reason for a user group session is for the Points Program.  Kelly and I are currently working on getting enough points to attend any future conferences that Therap might host in Hawaii!!!  See you there Kevin!

Renee