What is an Activity?
This article provides an overview of Activities in SupportAbility, outlining the different types and purposes, who can create and edit Activities, how to access existing Activities and the various outputs from an Activity record.
Further learning material is linked at the end, which outlines specific areas of related functionality in greater detail.
Audience: All
Summary
The following list summarises the content of this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:
- What is an Activity?
- Different Types of Activities
- What information is recorded on the Activity Details tab?
- How is the information in an Activity record utilised?
- Who can create and edit an Activity?
- Who can access an Activity?
- How is an existing Activity accessed?
What is an Activity?
Activities in SupportAbility generally reflect instances of service delivery for an individual or group of Clients; however, they may also be used for recording Staff-only events or Client-only Activities for specific billing purposes.
An Activity record comprises three separate tabs of information:
- Activity Details - this is where most of the data entry is completed pertaining to the instance of Service delivery, such as the Activity details, participating Clients' attendance, Journal notes, and Support Allocations, and the related Staff Shift details. The Replication management settings are also located here.
- Related Activities - SupportAbility provides functionality for replicating a single incidence of service delivery to create a set of linked Activities. All Activities in a replicated set are listed on this tab and may be accessed via the target icon:
- Cost Amortisation - When providers use the Rate Card functionality, this tab displays the amortisation of the total hours and kilometres incurred in a group Activity divided evenly across the number of participants.
N.B. The Rate Card functionality is scheduled for de-commission due to its limitations.
Only Staff with the 'View Financial Information' privilege can see and access this tab.
Different Types of Activities
Activities may be utilised in various ways depending on their required outputs and this determines the information entered and how the Activity is managed.
The different types of Activities include the following:
- Individual Activities (1:1 Staff to Client)
- Group Activities (multiple participating Clients)
- Client-only Activities (e.g. billing instance)
- Staff-only Activities (e.g. staff meetings)
More information on each of these is outlined below.
Individual Activities
Individual Activities are used for one-to-one ratio appointments or sessions where one Client participates and one Staff Member facilitates:
Examples of individual Activities include appointments, clinical therapy sessions, in-home care, one-to-one support, assessments etc.
Group Activities
Group Activities are used for group appointments or sessions. A Group Activity has multiple Clients participating and one or multiple Staff facilitating. There are also cases where there may be ratios of two or more Staff to one Client.
Examples of Group Activities include day programs, accommodation services, community access groups, supported employment, training etc.
Client-only Activities (billing instance)
Client-only Activities can be used in cases where an invoice needs to be generated for a Client purchase, service fee, or Activity Cost. It is unnecessary to add any Staff as this would incorrectly reflect a Shift for that Staff Member.
For example, if a piece of equipment is purchased for a Client and an invoice for reimbursement needs to be generated, a Client-only Activity could be created.
In this case, the activity's name reflects the purpose e.g. 'Equipment Purchase'. The relevant Client, their Funding Source and relevant NDIS Support Allocation would be added:
The Activity Cost functionality may be utilised instead of NDIS Support Allocations where appropriate e.g. for non-NDIS funded items or one-off billable costs.
Once the Activity has been signed off, billing data will be ready to be batched and exported for your organisation's finance system for generating Invoices or generating Bulk Payment Requests for claiming.
Staff only Activities
Staff-only Activities can be created to generate Time Sheet data for the following purposes:
- track non-Client-facing time
- track Staff Private and/or Company Kilometres that are not billable to a Client
- staff meetings
In these instances, the relevant Staff Member/s are added to an Activity, but no Clients are added:
Once saved, this Activity will populate on the Staff Roster.
Once the Activity has been signed off, the Time Sheet data will be ready to be batched and exported for payroll.
What information is recorded on the Activity Details tab?
The Activity Details tab comprises four sections as follows:
- Activity Details section
This section is where the following Activity information is recorded:
- Site/Service facilitating the Activity
- Activity Description
- Dates and Times
- Activity Location
- Program
- Replicating and Non-Replicating Staff Notes
- Activity Tags
- Replicating Client Notes
This section is where the following Activity information is recorded:
It is also where the Activity Sign-Off is performed by someone with the privilege to edit Activities. Once the Activity has been signed off, the data is available for financial and payroll processing.
- Replication section:
This section is where the following actions are completed:
- An Activity may be replicated to create a set of linked Activities
- Where staff with access to the Activity can navigate between Activities in a set
- Select Activity sections that contain updates to be rolled out to future Activities in the set.
More information on this functionality is available in the following articles, linked below for reference:- Replicating Activities
- Replicating Changes to an Activity set
- Replicating Activities
- Clients section:
This section is where the following Client information is recorded:
- Client Participation and Absenteeism
- Client Journal (case note) evidence
- Clients' Direct 'Funding Source'
- NDIS Support Allocations
- Client Support Log
- Incidental or non-NDIS Activity Costs
This section is where the following actions are completed:
This section is where the following Client information is recorded:
- Staff section:
This section is where the following information is recorded:
- Staff Shifts
- Staff Private and Company Kilometres
- Individual Staff Shift Sign Off is completed
- Shift details: e.g. 'Includes Break' or is 'Not Paid'
How is the information in an Activity record utilised?
The information entered on the Activity Details tab is used to generate the following outputs:
- Client Activity Schedules
- Staff Rosters
- Staff Time Sheet Batches for importing or manually inputting Time Sheet data in your organisation's payroll system
- NDIS Bulk Payment Requests for claiming from the myplace provider portal
- Direct Invoice Batches for importing or manually inputting the data in your organisation's finance system
- Client Funding Statements
- Reports
Who can create and edit an Activity?
Staff require the 'Team Leader' Staff Account privilege at either the Site/Service level or the global 'Team Leader for ALL Services' privilege to be able to create and edit Activities.
This requirement can be deactivated for individual Services as necessary by deactivating the 'Only Team Leaders Can Edit Activities' setting in System Preferences on the Sites tab. This may be required when Staff Members are tasked with creating Activities, but it is not appropriate for them to be granted the 'Team Leader' privilege due to the extended access and additional functionality this privilege grants.
More information is outlined in the Privileges required to manage Activities article linked below for reference.
Information on how to create an Activity is outlined in the How to create an Activity article linked below for reference.
Who can access an Activity?
Staff can access an Activity if they meet the following criteria:
- They are rostered into the Activity
- They have access to at least one Client participating in the Activity
- They have the 'Team Leader' privilege for the Site/Service the Activity relates to
- They have the 'Team Leader for ALL Services' privilege
An exception to the above is when Activities relate to specialised services such as NDIS Support Coordination and NDIS Plan Management. Additional privacy barriers further limit staff accessing these Activities. Access to an Activity via access to at least one participating Client no longer applies, unless the Staff Member also has the specialist Service listed in their Staff Account.
How is an existing Activity accessed?
Assuming Staff have access to an Activity, there are several places in SupportAbility where they can access the Activity record as outlined below.
N.B. Staff will only see Activities listed for specialist Services, i.e. NDIS Support Coordination and NDIS Plan Management, if the Staff Member has this Service listed in their Staff Account, is rostered for an Activity for this Service, or has high-level access via privileges.
Client's Activity tab
Staff with access to a Client's record can view the Activities the Client is scheduled to participate in on the Activities tab of the Client record.
Each of the Activities listed is displayed in a different colour depending on the status of the Activity; future, in progress, and retrospective, either awaiting Activity Sign Off or Sign Off performed:
More information on this functionality is available in the Client Activities tab overview article, linked below for reference.
'Activity Schedule' portal of the Dashboard
The 'Activity Schedule' notification portal on the Dashboard displays the Activities the Staff Member logged in is either rostered for or has access to via high-level/global privileges.
Individual Activities may be accessed via the target icon located next to the Activity name:
The number of Activities displayed in this portal is determined by how the 'Number of records to display' (e.g. 2 Records) and 'Number of days advance notice' (e.g. 30 Days) settings have been configured on the Dashboard tab in System Preferences.
More information on this functionality is available in the Dashboard privileges and customisation article, linked below for reference.
Activity Search
The Activity Search, accessed via the Dashboard, will display a list of Activities in the onscreen results relative to the search criteria selected and the level of access the Staff Member generating the Search has:
Roster
Individual Activities can be accessed via the Activity link in the Roster.
The Activities displayed depend on the Date period selected and the option selected for 'Showing Roser For' e.g. My Roster, or if they have high-level access, the Roster for another Staff Member, Site or Service.
The Roster may be viewed in either Month or List view:
More information on this functionality is available in the Staff Roster article, linked below for reference.
Activity Reports
Individual Activities can be accessed via the Activity link in the onscreen results of the following Reports; Activity Report, Activity Clients Report, and Activity Staff Report, all of which are accessed via the Reports menu on the Dashboard.
The Activities displayed depend on the search criteria selected and the level of access the Staff Member generating the Report has:
More information on these Reports is available in the related articles, linked below for reference.