ALIS Guide to Survey Preparedness

Use this guide for advice on steps to prepare for your next survey, including how to export your data from ALIS.

Prepare for your next survey

1. Create a clear policy that states what items must be included in a resident's ALIS chart. Not everything recorded in ALIS needs to be viewed by a surveyor, and a policy helps prevent exposing informal notes and charting details that are not necessary to the survey process.
2. Create an agenda for your survey process. Include who should be notified immediately, where the surveyor should work, what computer they should use (if applicable), how to give them access to ALIS (if applicable), and how to print most commonly asked-for items. Make sure a community representative is present with your surveyor to print or provide copies as needed.
3. Plan to give the surveyor access to ALIS. Our recommendation is to not give a state surveyor access to ALIS if it can be avoided. Our recommendation is to print the information they request. However we acknowledge that not all surveyors will allow this, so it is a good idea to be ready.
4. Discuss what you want your surveyor to have access to with the ALIS team. We can then create the appropriate Security Role for your surveyor. Once we have created the security role, you can then create a login with a generic username and password for them to use. On the day of a survey, ALIS offers unlimited surveyor support. Please contact the ALIS Customer Success Team for help during your survey. 

The rest of this guide outlines how to print the most commonly-requested items from ALIS.

Print Observation Notes

Navigate to the Observation Center. Use the filters in the Observation Center to display the information you need. 

• Use the Observation Type filter to select Nurse's Notes.

• To narrow the search to only one resident, begin typing their name in the Resident filter and click on the name when it appears. Skip this step if you want to print notes for all residents.
• Use the date range filter to look at the notes for a specific length of time. 

• After you have adjusted filters, verify the correct notes are displaying in the table below. Click the Print button located on the right below the filters and above the notes.

Print Incident Reports

The ideal practice is to export or print all completed state-reportable Incident Reports as soon as they are completed. If you have a physical file of all state-reportable Incident Reports on hand, the stress related to incidents and documentation is completely relieved before you even know you are being surveyed. Keep completed state-reportable Incident Reports in a physical folder in preparation for anyone requesting these in the future.

You can alleviate a lot of survey stress by reviewing your current process and solidifying your policy on how incident reports are created. This will help you avoid having to face a list of old uncompleted reports when the time comes. Contact your Account Manager or our ALIS Customer Success Team for help with this preparation.

Printing (or Exporting to Print) an Incident Report:

The PDF Incident Report document will include all completed forms and task details. There are three locations where you can print this PDF document: the Incident Center, Incident Report page, and the resident profile.

• Incident Center - This is your most efficient method for printing multiple PDFs for multiple residents. Use the filters at the top of the page to find the report you need to print. You may need to update the date filters, resident name, or incident type filter. Next each incident you need to print, click the Print button to download the report PDF.
• Resident Profile - In the Incident Forms section of the resident profile, you will see any incidents that this resident was involved in. For each Incident Report PDF you need to print, click the Options button > Print.
• Incident Report page - This is your least efficient option for a completed report, however this page can be accessed when you click View on the completed report in the Incident Center (or resident profile). If the Incident Report has not been marked completed, there may be an Edit button instead. Once on this page, use the Export button at the top right to download the PDF document, and then use the printer icon to print.  

Print Physician Orders 

1. Click Medications > Manage Orders in the menus at the top of the page.
2. Click the button that says Print Current Physician Orders. These documents will contain all active orders.

This will open a pane on the right for you to select options. 

1. • To print orders for multiple residents or all residents, keep the Multiple Residents toggle.
   • To print Physician Orders for all residents, keep the Resident menu set to All. To print for specific residents, click the checkboxes next to their names in the dropdown menu.
   • You can also filter using the Med Cart and Product Type filters to gather orders for groups of residents. 
   • Click the Print button to generate a file containing all Physician Orders for the selected residents. 

The dropdown arrow on the Print Current Physician Orders button reveals the Print All Physician Orders button. Clicking this will allow you to generate Physician Orders containing all orders within a specified date range. This option requires you to enter an Order Date Range, and then you can filter for specific residents, Med Carts, or Product Types. Orders that have since been discontinued will display with a clear "discontinued" label.

You can also print Physician Orders for a single resident from here. If you select Single Resident, you choose the resident name, and then you will then also have the option to Select Meds to Print. When Select Meds to Print is highlighted blue, you can use the Select Meds menu to include specific orders. 

Physician Orders can also be printed for individual residents by accessing their specific Manage Orders pages. Read this article for more information: Manage Orders.

Print MARs

1. Click Medications > Manage Orders in the menus at the top of the page.
2. Click the button that says Print Filled MARs. These documents will contain all orders within a single selected month. 

This will open a pane on the right for you to select options:

1. • To print MARs for all residents, keep the Resident menu set to All. For printing MARs for specific people, click the checkboxes next to their names in the menu. You can also print a MAR document for a single resident from here.
   • You can also filter using the Med Cart and Product Type filters to gather MARs for groups of residents. 
   • Select the Month and Year for which you need the documents. If you need multiple months, you will need to complete this process and print on month at a time. Read on for more details about printing previous month's MARs.
   • When you generate MARs from here, they do not automatically contain Exceptions, Med pass notes, Injection sites, or Vitals checks. Click the checkboxes next to these items in order to include these details. 
   • Click the Print button to generate a file containing all MARs for the selected residents. 

The dropdown arrow on the Print Filled MARs button reveals the Print Unfilled MARs button in which you can generate MAR documents that do not contain administration records. They will include resident names and order details only.

You can generate a MAR for more than one month at a time on a specific resident's Manage Orders page. Click the Past MARs button. This will create a pop-up that allows you to multi-select the months that the resident has been in ALIS and download to print.

Read this Manage Orders guide for more details and to learn more about managing medications.

You can also access a resident MAR for the current month by clicking the Current MAR button on a resident's profile below their photo.

Print Advance Directive or DNR status

The resident’s Advance Directive status tag displays on their Resident Profile page, on the Manage Orders, Pass Meds, as well as most other parts of ALIS. This tag displays on the ALIS Facesheets, Physician Orders, MARs, Evaluations, and Care Plan documents.

To print the Advance Directive status tag for All Residents:

• Advance Directive status is also captured on several Resident reports, including the Resident Roster and the Resident Checklist.
• The easiest way to print out the Advanced Directives is to visit the All Residents page. When you land on this page, the Current Residents is in focus. Click the Print Resident List button near the middle of the page above the list of residents. When you click this, a printable PDF document generates to show you a handful of useful details regarding the resident’s status, the second column from the right being the Advance Directive status.

If you are maintaining an Advance Directive document in the resident's Compliance Documents, the easiest way to export this for an individual resident is in the Compliance section of the resident profile. Click the link in the File Location column for this item.

To print a compliance item for all residents, use the Resident Compliance Details report. In the Reports page, find the Resident Reports section and click Compliance Details.

• Here we can use the Compliance Item filter to find the Advance Directive item. 
• Click the blue Refresh button to ensure accurate and filtered data below.
• Then, use the Print Compliance Documents button to download a folder of all documents onto your computer for viewing or printing. 

Print ALIS Facesheets

The easiest way to print Facesheets is from the Print Center.

1. Access the Print Center from the Care menu at the top of your page in ALIS.
2. Click the Download button in the Face Sheets sheets section. This will open a pane on the right with filters for Product Type and a list of residents you can multi-select.
3. Once you click Download, a printable PDF document including all the Facesheets will generate.

You can also generate Facesheets for all residents from the All Residents page. Click the Print Facesheets button toward the middle of the screen above the resident list. When you click this, a pop-up will ask if you want the document of all Facesheets sorted by Last Name or Room Number. Once you click Submit, a printable PDF document including all the Facesheets will generate. 

To print a compliance item for all residents, use the Resident Compliance Details report. In the Reports page, find the Resident Reports section and click Compliance Details. Here we can use the Compliance Item filter to find the Facesheet item, click the blue Refresh button, then use the Print Compliance Documents button to download a folder of all documents onto your computer for viewing or printing.

Print Vitals Records

There are two reports we can use to print Vitals data. Most of the time, the Vital Sign Details report will show us everything we need.

1. Go to Reports, find the Resident Reports section, and click Vital Sign Details.
2. By default, this will show us the list of all vitals recorded for all residents this month to date. Use the filters to select specific residents, Vital Sign Types, and a Date Range. Click the Refresh button.
3. Verify the vitals records you need are in the table below, and click Export to Excel to view these outside of ALIS. 

Use the Vital Sign Summary Report to display a single vital type for an individual resident. This displays a line graph and is printer friendly.

Print Service Plans

The easiest way to generate Service Plans is from the Print Center. 

1. Access the Print Center from the Care menu at the top of your page in ALIS. 
2. Click the Download button in the Service Plans sheets section. This will open a pane on the right with filters for Product Type and a list of residents you can multi-select.
3. Once you click Download, a printable PDF document including all the Service Plans will generate.

The Evaluation Center is another location where you can access the Service Plans documents. You can also do this in the Evaluations and Service Plans section of the Resident Profile.

1. Go to the Evaluation Center and click the All Residents tab.
2. Scroll to find your resident, or use the filter menus at the top to find the resident you are looking for.
3. Click on either of the the small icons that look like a piece of paper. This will create a pop-up to ask which documents you want to view for the resident.
4. Select the items you want to view. This will generate a PDF for viewing and printing. 

Print Care Plans

The easiest way to generate Care Plans is from the Print Center.

1. Access the Print Center from the Care menu at the top of your page in ALIS.
2. Click the Download button in the Care Plans section. This will open a pane on the right with filters for Product Type, Care Program, and a list of residents you can multi-select.
3. Once you click Download, a printable PDF document including all the Care Plans will generate.

To print a Care Plan for an individual resident, go to a resident's profile and open the Care Plan section about halfway down the page. Click the Download Care Plan button to open a PDF for viewing and printing. 

Related Articles: 

• Guide to Observations
• Guide to Incidents
• How do I print Physician Orders for all Residents?
• Manage Orders
• How do I print all MARs for residents?
• ALIS Facesheets
• How do I print all Care Plans?

For more assistance with Survey support,

Contact our ALIS Customer Success Team:

 888.404.ALIS (2547) or support@go-alis.com