| Table of Contents | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Permission and Accounts
What sites and projects do I have access to in STAR?
...
If you have Vendor Administrator permission: You’ll be able to see which of your agency’s sites you have Vendor Administrator permission over in the Vendor Administration section of STAR. In the navigation bar to the left, you will see a drop-down menu listing all the sites you have access forto. Selecting a given site will bring up that site’s Profile and Staff Roster.
If you have Vendor / Provider permission: You’ll be able to see what programs and projects you have access to once you log into your dashboard. Programs are listed on the left. Click it, and you will see a list of all the projects you have access to. A dropdown menu on the left will list the various sites you have access to for that program, too. Because permission in STAR is organized around project projects, you might have different sites listed for different projects.
...
The needed information will be your name, your email address, your level of access, the sites you need access to, and the projects you need access to. Permissions in STAR are organized around projects and distinguished by site, so make sure this information goes into the request.
...
The name of the user(s)
Their email address(es)
Which site(s) they will need access to
Which project(s) they will need access to
What level of access they will need. For the vast majority of vendors, this is going to be vendor (i.e., data entry, billing, other program activities if applicable), vendor administrator (adding/removing users; updating staff records and credentials; updating vendor profiles), or vendor financial administrator (boxing ring/claims recoupment information).
...
Due to our HIPAA compliance measures, users in STAR cannot share an account. Please see the section above about adding users, if you would like to learn how to set someone up with an account.
...
Staff Roster and Licensure
Why isn’t a staff member appearing in the drop-down, when I’m submitting billing?
...
The staff member must be active at the facility you’re billing for. Staff members are automatically made active for at least one site when added in STAR, but you will need to make sure they are activated at the right sites , if your vendor account included multiple sites. Vendor Administrators select the site they are looking at from the dropdown menu to the left of the screen.
The staff member needs a license or certification. STAR requires that every staff member have a licensure or certification selected, in order for them to appear in lists when adding services. In terms of what to add, you should have this information from your Program Manager at the State: STAR support staff can inform you what has been used in the past, but they are not qualified to tell you what your program requirements are. The same goes for documents needed for upload - you’ll need to check with your program manager. There are some cases when you do not have a relevant document to upload - in these cases, a blank pdf will work. But please check with State Agency staff.
The staff member does not have the correct licensure or certification. As in the above item, if you’re not sure what to select, ask your Program Manager at the State.
The staff member’s licensure or certification has expired. Most licensure/certification selections in STAR will require an expiration date. Make sure this date is correct. If the date has expired, add a new entry with a later date.
...
If you have this permission, a Vendor Administration link will appear, when you log in (or you will go directly there , if Vendor Administrator is the only permission you have). Once on this page, click the Staff tab at the left of the screen to access or create staff records.
...
This could also be an issue with expiration dates, but usually, this means you do not have the correct licensure saved. Certain services are set up only to accept billing for staff with a particular licensure. Occasionally, this required licensure does not line up with the real-life licensure that the provider has and is able to bill real services for.
...
If looking at other staff doesn’t help, you can contact your program manager or Falling Colors support. We are happy to help you, but we highly recommend bringing this to your program manager’s attention, because they will need to be alerted to what licensure is missing in the system, and you will have the best knowledge of what in fact is missing. STAR enters requirements like this at our State Agency’s direction.
...
Client Records and Surveys
I’ve brought up a client’s record, but I can’t enter any surveys. What do I do?
...
Is the client activated in the project? Surveys will not be available , if the client hasn’t been activated in the project yet. To activate a client in a project, go to the Projects tab, select the right location (if there are multiple options) and click Activate for the appropriate project.
Do you have the proper certification? In order to fill out some surveys, a STAR user must have certification saved in their staff profile. Not all users can perform this - only vendor administrators can update staff certifications.
In this instance, “certification” does not necessarily mean that a certificate must be uploaded. It will depend on individual program requirements. If there is no relevant certificate to add, certification can be added anyway.
Has your certification been finalized? This is relevant for YSA and CANS surveys only. If you know for a fact that certification has been saved, and the surveys still aren’t working, your certification might not be finalized. There is a final step that must be performed by STAR staff to enable YSA and CANS surveys. Contact your vendor administrator, or email support@fallingcolors.com if you believe this is what’s happening.
...
Then, take a look at the navigation menu to the left of the survey, and make sure that every box has a checkmark. If you see any fractions (e.g., “33 / 37”), this means there are still unanswered questions. You will be able to Complete complete the survey survey once every single box has a checkmark (i.e. every required question is answered).
...
Billing - Uploads and Encounters
I have funding available, but I can’t add services / can’t find the funding. What’s going on? (Non-client-based services)
...
Are you logged into your account, at the right place? Make sure you are logging in at star.bhsdstar.org. Only certain vendor users (vendor administrators) can create STAR accounts so, If you do not have an account, please contact either your supervisor or your State Agency contact and ask them to send us an “add user” request.
Do you have access to the funding? Providing access can sometimes get lost in the shuffle, especially if there is new funding at an agency that has been with STAR for a while already. Access needs to be specifically requested for all users for all fund sources - accounts are not automatically updated. You will know you have the right access , if you can log into the right dashboard (this will happen automatically , if you only have one to choose from) and you can see the name of the program/application in question on the left. If you can see it, that means you have the right access. If you can’t see it, then you will need to request access to the funding. Again, this request must be made by a vendor administrator.
Are you on the correct fiscal year? This problem occurs most often shortly after a new fiscal year has started. Once you have clicked on the program name, there will be tabs displaying the various fiscal years when that fund has/had funding. Click on the fiscal year you are billing for to bring up the correct fund source.
Are you billing for services before the billable start date? You cannot enter services that occurred before the project’s billable start date. For most providers, this will be the 1st of the previous month. For example, if it is September 16th, you can only bill as far back as August 1st. If you need to bill before this date, please contact your program manager about opening a billing windows.
Are you billing for services before the fund source end date? This is similar to but slightly different from the billable start date. All funds have an end date, beyond which you cannot bill for services. For the vast majority of projects, this will be the end of the state fiscal year (6/30). Beyond that, you will need to bill for the next fiscal year. However, occasionally funds will have a different date. You can check this by hovering your mouse cursor over the “details” icon in the table where you view your allocations. If you have any concerns, you will need to contact your program manager, because this is not something that Falling Colors can change without State Agency approval.
Is there, in fact, funding available? It’s possible that funding has been requested and not allocated yet; , or sometimes other team members at your agency might have spent it. You will see available funding listed in the tables. If the funding levels don’t seem correct, please contact the funding State Agency. They will reach out to us if they need us to make any changes.
Are approved services saved for this project? This is a common configuration error - funding as has been allocated and enabled, but no services have been selected yet. If this is the case, you will be able to see the listing for the fund source, along with allocation totals, but the name of the project won’t be a clickable link. If this is the case, please contact your State Agency program manager - who will be able to contact us with any necessary updates.
...
Are you logged into your account, at the right place? Make sure you are logging in at star.bhsdstar.org Only certain vendor users (vendor administrators) can create STAR accounts so, If you do not have an account, please contact either your supervisor or your State Agency contact and ask them to send us an Add User request.
Do you have access to the funding? This step can be missed, especially if there is new funding at an agency that has been with STAR for a while already. Access needs to be specifically requested for all users for all fund sources - accounts are not automatically updated. You will know you have the right access , if you can log into the right dashboard (this will happen automatically , if you only have one to choose from) and you can see the name of the program/application in question on the left. If you can see it, that means you have the right access. If you can’t see it, then you will need to request access to the funding. Again, this request must be made by a vendor administrator.
Is there, in fact, funding available? It’s possible that funding has been requested and not allocated yet; , or sometimes other team members at your agency might have spent it. You will see available funding listed in the tables. If the funding levels don’t seem correct, please contact the funding State Agency. They will reach out to us if they need us to make any changes.
Do you have the client record up? To bring up a client record, you can use the relevant client list in your dashboard. You can also look up lookup clients by clicking the Client menu in the top menu bar, selecting FIND CLIENT, then entering the relevant information to bring up the record.
Is the client activated in the project? Make sure the client is activated or opted-in by visiting the Projects tab. If your agency has multiple locations, you will need to select the correct location using the drop-down. If you find there are no projects to select except at a main location, this is very common - you should still be able to enter services properly.
Is the client’s mandated data up-to-date? Usually, there will be an exclamation point (but not always) next to the Mandated Data tab, but not always. Take a look at this guide to read about Mandated Data troubleshooting.
Are the client’s surveys filled out? As with Mandated Data, you may see an exclamation if there are tasks to completed on the Surveys tab. Take a look at the entry below for surveys troubleshooting tips.
If you are unsure what surveys need to be completed before entering services, we would recommend contacting your supervisor or State Agency program manager.
...
The Supporting Documentation “service” has been created to allow additional documents to be added onto to an invoice. Though it’s not a service, we sometimes refer to it as one, because it functions like as the other services in the system.
...
When talking about billing windows, we are generally talking about the billable start date. This is the earliest date a service can have , when you are billing in STAR. The billing window is the time from this date until the present day.
...
First, download this form.
Fill out all the fields on the form.
Remember that Project is the name of the state-funded operation you are billing under, not the fund source, or the name of your agency. If you are unsure what the project is, see the very first question on this page.
Send the document to your State Agency program manager. All Billing Window Requests require State approval.
Your program manager will take it from there. Depending on the situation, they will need to send the document for further approval by the finance department, or send it to Falling Colors directly.
...
Billing - Claims
How do I check the status
...
of a submitted claim?
First, you’ll need to make sure you have claims project permissions. If you do, you’ll see the word “Claims” appear at the left of your dashboard. If this is missing, please contact your vendor administrator, or, if you are a vendor administrator, send a message to support to update your permissions.
...
To make the process as swift as possible, please identify the claims with the STAR claim ID. These IDs are nine - digits - long and usually begin with 2 or 3. For example:
212345678
No other information is needed - Falling Colors staff will be able to bring up the total information for this claim using the ID.
The claims will be added to the Boxing Ring, the “waiting area” for claims that are queued for recoupment. Recoupment will occur on the next payment day , when your agency is being paid for an invoice with an amount greater than the amount of the recouped claims.
To view the Boxing Ring, go to to the QA Review menu and select Boxing Ring. To view these menus, you need Vendor Financial Admin permission. Vendor Administrators can request Vendor Financial Admin permission for themselves or other team members. Any team members who may be tasked with recouping claims should be granted this level of access.
...
Invoices and Payments
My Program Manager says I need to correct an invoice, but STAR won’t let me / I don’t know how to do that. How do I correct an invoice?
...
You have 30 days to correct an invoice that has been marked for corrections. If you do not submit the corrections within 30 days, it the invoice will be automatically denied, and the funding will be released back into your account. If you notice this has happened, please contact your State Agency program manager.
...
Where in STAR will it tell me if an invoice has been paid yet?
There are a couple of ways to check.
The first is on the invoice itself. You can review the status of the Invoice by bringing it up in the Invoice History feature. In addition to the invoice showing up in the Paid list, a dollar sign symbol indicates that a payment has been issued:
...