04. Client Intake: Release of Information

Overview

This article will detail the steps to document whether a client has consented to share their transactional information - including enrollments and services - with all MN HMIS-participating organizations, or to restrict the visibility of transactions to the organization that created them.

More About This — Further important information is found in this section.
Details — Specific details and/or step-by-step workflows will be described in this section.
Video — Any relevant videos will be posted in this section.

More About This

It is your ethical obligation as an HMIS user to keep client transactional data private unless you are given explicit authorization by the client to share that information in HMIS.

You must present the HMIS Release of Information (ROI) form to every client entering your program at intake, or to each adult in a household. The heads of household should complete and sign the HMIS ROI on behalf of any minor children for which they serve as legal guardian.

You can download and print all documents referenced in this article on the HMIS Minnesota website, in the Client Intake Documents section of this page: Administrative Documents

💥 An updated Data Privacy Notice and HMIS Release of Information will go into effect upon go-live in ClientTrack. The new documents are now available on the MN HMIS website (linked above). PLEASE DISCARD ANY OLD RELEASES YOU MAY HAVE AT THAT TIME AND REPLACE WITH THE UPDATED ONE!

By completing the HMIS ROI, clients will indicate either Share or Do Not Share for their transactional data (i.e. enrollments and services) in MN's HMIS. If they choose not to share, only the details found on the Basic Client Information form will be visible to others in the system. By choosing to share, a client is consenting to Statewide Data Sharing, ensuring optimal service coordination and minimizing the need to "re-collect" data at each agency from which they are receiving services.

Clients also have the right to obtain and inspect their own information in HMIS whenever they request it. The client must be fully aware of what the HMIS ROI says and must be fully informed and allowed to ask questions to help them make the best decision for them and their situation.

More Important ROI Procedures

The HMIS ROI only needs to be presented to the client once, as it does not expire, by the organization that is first creating the client's record in HMIS. This consent should be applied to all transactional data entered going forward, unless or until the client later revokes consent.
The head of a households should complete and sign the HMIS ROI on behalf of any minor children for which they serve as legal guardian.
Clients can either sign in-person or give verbal consent over the phone. (The only exception to this being if your agency is covered by HIPAA, you are not allowed to get verbal consent only and must have the client sign in-person.)
- If verbal consent is gathered, a copy of the HMIS ROI indicating verbal consent must be kept in the client’s paper file. At the first in-person meeting with that client, you should have them physically sign the ROI to replace in that client’s file!

Details

During the Client Intake guided workflow, the last section to complete of the Basic Client Information form is where you will document what the client indicated when they signed the HMIS Release of Information (ROI):

Scroll down to the Transaction Visibility section of the page and complete accordingly:
1. Select Creating Organization ONLY if the client checked Do Not Share on the HMIS ROI.
2. Select ALL Organizations if the client checked Share on the HMIS ROI.

NOTE: Users should be sure to remember the client's sharing selection and answer identically whenever you are asked to indicate visibility restriction on a data element throughout the enrollment process.
Click the Finish button in the bottom-right corner to move on to the next page in the workflow.

Confirming a Client's ROI Status

If you're ever not creating a client record from scratch, and are, instead, using an existing client record in the system for an Intake and Enrollment, you must first view the client record Dashboard to know whether or not they have consented to share their transactional information in HMIS.

On the Clients workspace, navigate to the Dashboard of your client's record:

Make note and remember the client's selection, as you will need to record it during the Intake and Enrollment workflow process. You should answer identically whenever you are asked to indicate visibility restriction on a data element throughout the enrollment process.

Video

Under construction, coming soon!