Credentialing:User Guide

From Humanitarian FOSS Summer Institute

Adding titles and certifications:

The first thing to do when using the Credentialing module is to add one or more titles, such as 'Doctor' or 'Physician', to the system. To do that, the user has to go to the "Add Title" page in the "Titles" menu and enter a name and a description for the title. Then the user should add some certifications to the database from the "Add Certification" page. Those might include things like 'Degree', 'License', or others.

Dividing a title into levels:

Once the titles and certifications have been established, the titles can be subdivided further into any number of levels by going to the page for the particular title, entering a number for the level and clicking the "Add" button. This will lead the user to a page where he or she will be able to choose the certifications required for that level. For example, 'Degree' might be selected from the first drop-down menu as the certification, and it could be either 'verified', 'unverified' or 'not required' for that level. If no certification is selected from the first drop-down, that row will be ignored. Also, if more than three certifications are needed for the particular level, the user can simply click on the 'Add Requirement' button and an extra row will be added to the list. Once the user is finished with the selections, he/she should press the 'Save' button to store the changes. Thus the user may have a Physician Level 1 thorough 4 for example, with Level 1 being the highest (requiring the most certifications) and Level 4 being the lowest (requiring the least number of certifications).

Adding people:

Now that the levels of each title have been set, the user can start adding people to the database by going to the "Add Person" page, filling out all the required fields and clicking the 'Add Person' button at the bottom. Once the people as well as the titles are in the database, the next step is to put these two things together. That is done through documents, which serve to fulfill certifications, allowing a person to gain a certain Title and Level.

Adding documents:

Documents are added from the "Add Document" page in the "Documents" menu. The 'Call Number' field serves as a way of knowing where to locate the actual document physically, like a library book number. If one is not specified, it is filled out automatically. If the document is available on the internet, a link to it can be put in the 'Document URL' field. The status of the document can also be marked in the 'Status' drop-down menu. Once all the required fields have been filled out, the user has to press the "Add Document" button to store the document in the system.

Document association:

This will take the user to the document's page, where it can be associated to a person in the system and be used to fulfill one or more certifications. This is done by first searching for a person by their name or unique ID number in the field labeled 'Search for a person'; as the user is typing, a list of the people matching the entered criteria will come up, making it easier to find the desired person. Having selected the person, the user should then go on and select the certification that this document fulfills. He/she has to select the appropriate title from the list on the left, and the certification from the list on the right. This process can be repeated if the document is used to fulfill more than one certification.

All of the information in the system is editable after submission, allowing it to be updated with any changes over time as well as providing a way of correcting errors in the data.