Hi, this is Ali from ACRE Consulting, here to show you a little bit about how information is shared between service providers in HIFIS 4, and what your options are for customization. 

The first thing that's important to understand is the difference between client information and service-related information. 

Client Information 

Client information, like contributing factors are not impacted by the service provider that a user is logged in at. It doesn't matter who first recorded that Kermit here is ineligible for social assistance.  Instead, as long as a user has permission to Display, Edit, or Delete a contributing factor, they can do so, no matter what their service provider is. 

Service-Related Information 

Service-related information, like case files work a little differently. Notice that Kermit here has 3 case files open at different service providers. Let's imagine that I'm Alex the caseworker, which means that I have permissions to display and edit cases. 

By default, I can take these actions (display and edit) at My Service Provider but not at any of the other Service Providers. 

Note that this same principle also applies to other service-related information such as turn-aways, goods & services, and assessments. 

Now let's imagine that, in my community, our two other Service Providers have very different ideas about sharing information. 

Hiding Service-Related Information

To allow Secret Organization to share as little data as possible with other organizations, we're going to modify their Service Provider Settings. This is done through the Administration Menu, by clicking on Service Provider, and then modifying the Service Provider Settings. This is the Service Provider Settings screen for Secret Organization. There's one field at the bottom entitled "Hide Service Provider Data." We'd like to set that to "Yes." Save this.

And then we're going to go back and see what Alex the caseworker can see. With the Hide Service Provider Data setting set to "Yes" for Secret Organization, Alex the caseworker can now only see 2 open case files for Kermit the Frog, even though we all know that there's a 3rd open case at Secret Organization. But because Secret Organization has set Hide Service Provider Data to "Yes," then that means all of their service-related information does not display to users at other organizations.

Sharing Service-Related Information

Remember that Sharing is Caring wants to share more information than the default with the other Service Providers. Unfortunately, this can't be accommodated through a Service Provider Setting. Instead, it needs to be configured for individual users.

In order for Alex the caseworker to view Sharing is Caring's service-related data, we need to give Alex's user account permission to do so. This is done from the Users List and then pulling up Alex's User Account. Once we're here, there are 2 steps we need to complete:

First, we need to give Alex access to a secondary Service Provider, "Sharing is Caring" and then Save.

Next, we need to tell HIFIS what Alex can do with Sharing is Caring's data on the Rights tab. Select the Service Provider "Sharing is Caring" and we're now going to define what Alex can do with Sharing is Caring's service-related information.

For the purposes of this video, I'm going to select individual rights, here but you could easily define a Rights Template that includes the same rights that I'm going to demonstrate and simply select it, using the Select a Rights Template button.

In our example, Sharing is Caring wants to share their Case Management files so we are going to grant Alex Case Management rights, including the ability to Display Case Management records and Edit Case Management records. Let's see what this looks like for Alex.

After granting Alex the Caseworker additional permissions at the Service Provider "Sharing is Caring," including the ability to Display and Edit cases, we now see that there are additional buttons that weren't there before.

Now Alex can Display this case file even though it occurs at a different Service Provider. This case file belongs to Sharing is Caring. Even though Alex is currently logged in at My Service Provider, and if Alex tries to change Service Providers, there's only the one option: "My Service Provider," Alex has been given permissions to Display and even Edit case files at Sharing is Caring via User Rights.

Thanks for watching this video! I hope it taught you something you didn't already know about how service-related information is shared between Service Providers in HIFIS 4 and how that can be customized. Be sure to visit acreconsulting.ca for more tips on using HIFIS 4 in your community!