▶ eLAS FAQs
▶ LEAVES & TIME-OFF FAQs
▶ eLAS USERS FAQs
▶ ORGANIZATION ADMINISTRATORS FAQs
▶ APPROVERS FAQs
▶ REPORTS FAQs
1. Who can use eLAS?
eLAS is available to any monthly-paid UAB employee, provided that their primary organization is participating in eLAS for Leave Accruals.
2. Where can I find my eLAS starting balance?
Once balances are loaded into eLAS, a time-off entry record is created and displayed in your time-off history with a leave type of "eLAS Starting Balances."
3. What do the different balances mean?
- Current Month Available Balances: The number of accrued days available for use through the end of the current month, which includes deduction of all approved requests. Pending and future approved requests are not deducted from this balance. Please see 12-month view for balance details.
- Certification Balances: The balance at the time of your last certification.
- January 1st Balances: These would be your starting balances for the current year. This balance includes any time that rolled over from the previous year.
- Current Year Approved to EOM: The number of days requested and approved through the end of the current month.
4. What information is maintained in the Demographic and Accrual information section?
- Service Date: An employee's service date is the initial date of employment with UAB, unless there has been a break in service by termination of employment. Reappointment after termination requires issuance of a new service date. See HR Policy 413 for further details.
- FTE: Full Time Employee.
- Vacation Rate: This is your current vacation accrual rate.
- Sick Rate: This is your current sick accrual rate.
- Personal Holiday Rate: This is your current personal holiday accrual rate.
- Work Hours: Based on the employee's FTE.
- Other Entity: This field displays the entity for HSF employees.
5. What do the different fields on the time off request mean?
- From Date: The start date of your time off request.
- To Date: The end date of your time off request.
- # of Days: The number of days you are requesting in your time off request. The number of days requested cannot exceed the date range used as your From and To dates.
- Partial Days: You are allowed to enter a minimum of ½ day (0.5); UAB policy does not allow exempt employees to request time off in less than ½ day increments, unless the employee is on an approved FMLA leave.
6. What date range should I use when submitting a time off request?
When submitting a time off request for one day of leave time, you should enter the same date in the From and To fields. It is important to remember that a single day off is measured by your work hours.
Example: If John Doe submits a request for December 24. He should select December 24 as the From and To Date.
7. What do the different statuses mean?
- Approved: Your request has been fully approved.
- Rejected: Your request has been rejected. Please see the comments on the request for rejection details.
- Pending: Your request has not been fully approved.
- Adj/Pending: Your request was submitted with modifications and has not been fully approved.
8. How is the calendar used and what does it display?
9. What is the 12-month view?
This view offers a 12-month projected view of the employee balances and does not include pending or future dated requests. Projected values can change based upon the following conditions — approved/rejected requests, years of service, manual adjustments, and the year-end roll over process. The 12-month view is typically used to view the current year accrual balances and days approved. A signature line is included, which can be used for certification for employment, transfers, and retirement.
10. What is the process for adding employees to eLAS?
New hire monthly paid employees are automatically added to eLAS.
If a biweekly paid employee transfers to a monthly paid assignment, HR Records Administration is responsible for verifying and loading their accrual balances to the electronic leave accrual system (eLAS).
Note: If a monthly paid employee transfers to a biweekly paid assignment, the employee should certify their balances prior to transferring out of the department. HR Records Administration is responsible for updating Oracle with the current available balances for the employee.
| ▶ LEAVES & TIME OFF FAQs |
11. What are the available leave types?
12. Am I able to make any modifications to a previously submitted time off request?
Requestors and Org Admins are allowed to make modifications to all approved future dated and pending requests. In order to modify a request, you should start by clicking on the edit icon for that particular request. Make the necessary changes to the leave type, date range or requested number of days and select Adjust. The status will then change from Approved or Pending to Adj/Pending.
Note: Approved and pending requests that are modified are routed back through your department workflow for approval; however, pending requests accept the change and remain in pending status until approved.
13. What is the edit icon?
The edit icon is located on the Employee Time Off and Employee Setup pages.
14. What is the process for deleting a previously submitted request?
An approved or pending future dated request can be deleted. To delete the request, click on the edit icon and hit the delete button in the upper right hand corner. Once an approved future dated request is deleted, eLAS sends a notification to the current approvers only. The time is added back into the requestor’s available balance once approved. An approved past dated request is sent back through the approval process.
Note: Much like a newly submitted request, eLAS requires approval of a deleted request for tracking purposes. An employee’s supervisor must approve revisions and deletions of any time off requests after the initial submission of the request.
15. How far in advance am I able to submit a time off request?
Requestors are allowed to submit requests up to 6 months in advance. If you experience problems with submitting your requests please contact us at HReLAS@uab.edu.
16. How long does it take the system to generate a notification for submitted requests to management?
A system generated email is sent to Approvers of all newly submitted requests nightly. However, a notification will not be generated if an Approver logs in to eLAS and approves the request from the Approvers work list.
17. What are the types of eLAS users?
- Organization Administrators: Organization Administrations have full access to the eLAS system. They have the ability to add additional administrators, approvers, perform manual adjustments, reassign employees from other organization to another when applicable, view employee’s time off and balance history, create groups and correct eLAS balances. Administrators also have access to 10 reports that provides detailed information regarding the employee.
- Approvers: Supervisor or designated personnel assigned the responsibility of approving time off requests submitted by direct reports. Approvers have the ability to approve and reject user requests. Approvers have access to 5 reports that provide detailed information regarding the employee.
- Requestors: Employees who have the ability to create and submit time off requests; view their historical balances, access to the department leave calendar, and a 12-month projected view of their balances.
| ▶ ORGANIZATION ADMINISTRATORS FAQs |
18. What is the process for adding Approvers in the Workflow Approval Maintenance (WAM) system?
Approvers must be added to WAM by the Workflow Officer, after the nightly process runs the approvers will appear in eLAS. For access to WAM click here uab.edu/wam.
If you are not sure of you department’s Workflow Officer, WAM will provide you with that information. Log in to WAM using your blazerid and password. The system will automatically default to Query, choose the second tab (Roles), and enter your organization number, Document Type – System and Search.
19. What is the process for creating and submitting a manual adjustment?
Click on the Adjustments-Admin tab, select the organization number, and choose the employee’s name. After choosing the employee’s name the employee demographics panel will then display, enter the new available balance with adjustments per required leave type, select the reason for the adjustment, enter comments in the comment section and save.
20. What is the process for adding Approvers to eLAS?
- Verify the Oracle record for the employee.
- Confirm if the employee has a record in WAM.
- Create an Approver record by clicking on Group Appr/Agent Setup.
- Select Create Approver Record.
- Choose the Default Group or Select the Group name.
- Choose an Approver and save.
Note: If you want to add someone to eLAS and their name doesn’t appear in your drop down list, please contact your Workflow Officer and request to have them added to WAM.
21. What is the process for creating a Group Record in eLAS?
- When creating a Group Record, you should first start by clicking on the Group Setup tab, select your Org, click on Create Group Record, create and enter a Group name, and save.
Select Group Setup → Select your Organization Number → Select Create Group Record → Create and Enter a Group Name - Next, assign Approvers to those newly created groups. Click on the Group Appr/Agent Setup tab, select your Org, click on Create Approver Record, select Group name, select the name of the approver you wish to assign to the Group, and save.
Select Group Approver/Agent Setup → Select your Organization Number → Select Create Approver Record → Select Group Name → Select Name of the Approver - Lastly, assign the employees to the group. This can be done by clicking on the Employee Setup tab, click on edit icon next to employee name, select Group name and save.
Select Employee Setup → Select the Edit Icon → Select Create Approver Record → Select Group Name
22. Am I able to use the back button on the web browser to return to the main page?
When using eLAS, you will see a range of navigation task tabs at the very top of your screen. To ensure that you navigate the system successfully, please use the task tabs to advance from screen to screen.
Please do not use the browser back button, as this may cause the system to double deduct the number of days you are attempting to submit from your available balance(s). If you need further assistance please contact your Org Administrator or HReLAS@uab.edu.
23. What would prevent time off notifications from being sent to Approvers within my organization?
In order for an Approver to receive time off request notifications, he/she must be assigned as an Approver. Log on to eLAS and make sure that you have assigned Approvers to each group record. If the problem persists, please contact us immediately at HReLAS@uab.edu.
24. Should I receive an error message for future dated leave requests during an employee's probationary period?
If an employee is on probation, eLAS generates an alert message that should appear notifying the Approver of the employee’s current status.
25. What steps should I take to remove Approvers from eLAS?
The first step that you should take is to end date the Approvers in the eLAS system. Next, you should contact your Workflow Officer and request that they remove the approvers from workflow in the Workflow Approver Maintenance (WAM) system.
26. What is meant by an Agent Submitter?
Agent Submitters have the responsibility of submitting time off requests on behalf of other employees in a designated org or group.
27. What is the process for adding Agent Submitters?
When adding Agent Submitters, first click on Group Appr/Agent Setup tab, select your org, click on Create Agent Submitter Record, select the corresponding group name, select the employee’s name and save.
Select Group Approver/Agent Setup → Select your Organization Number → Select Agent Submitter Record → Select the Group Name or Default Group → Select the Employee's Name
28. Who is responsible for approving time off requests for employees who are assigned to a Default group?
Requestors who are assigned to a Default group and submit a time off requests will have their requests routed for approval to all of the Approvers assigned to the Default Org. Once the request is approved by any one Approver, it is automatically deleted from the work list for the other Approvers.
29. What reports are available to Approvers and/or Organization Administrators?
In order to assist you with managing and maintaining employee accruals, we have created several reports that are easily accessible by clicking on the reports tab. The reports are available for use by eLAS Approvers and Organization Administrators only.
For assistance with eLAS, please contact HRelas@uab.edu or 205-934-4408. For assistance with password resets or login issues, please contact AskIT at 205-996-5555 or uab.edu/askit.
- Accrual: The amount of vacation, sick and personal time that is accumulated per employee.
- Accrual Rates for Vacation Time: See below.
|
Length of Continuous Service |
Accrual Rate Per Pay Period |
Maximum Accrual Per Year |
Total Maximum Accrual |
|
|
Bi-weekly Paid Full-Time Employees* |
1 through 10 years | 3.70 hours | 96 hours (12 work days) | 192.00 hours |
| 11 through 20 years | 5.23 hours | 136 hours (17 work days) | 272.16 hours | |
| 21 or more years | 6.77 hours | 176 hours (22 work days) | 352.08 hours | |
|
Monthly Paid Full-Time Employees* |
1 through 5 years | 1.25 hours | 15 work days | 30 work days |
| 6 through 15 years | 1.67 hours | 20 work days | 40 work days | |
| 16 or more years | 1.83 hours | 22 work days | 44 work days | |
|
The accrual rates for part-time regular employees and Alternate Work Options employees are prorated based on hours paid for bi-weekly employees and assigned FTE for monthly employees. The maximums for part-time regular employees and Alternate Work Options employees can be as much as the maximums for full-time employees. |
||||
- Adj/Pending: A request has been submitted with modifications and has not been fully approved.
- Approved: A leave request that has been fully approved.
- Future Dated Requests: A leave request that is submitted for a date beyond the current month. The requested days will be deducted from the employee’s available balances on the first day of the requested month.
- Intermittent Leave: A single leave of absence taken in separate blocks of time.
- Manual Adjustment: A corrective action that is performed in the eLAS system due to incorrect accrual balances. The steps for submitting a manual adjustment are as follows: Calculate the balances (vacation, sick, personal holiday or all three) and enter the new balances in each field and save. The balances will then appear in the Current Month Available Balances.
Note: This function can only be performed by Organization Administrators. - Past Dated Requests: A leave request that was approved prior to the current month.
- Pending: A leave request that is awaiting approval or in the process of being approved.
- Prorated: To distribute proportionately or adjust when an employee is appointed for less than 1.00 FTE.
- Rejected: A leave request that has been denied. Please see the comments on the request for rejection details.
- WAM: The WAM Form is used to maintain approvers for document type approval and workflow routing.
For assistance with eLAS, please contact HRelas@uab.edu or 205-934-4408. For assistance with password resets or login issues, please contact AskIT at 205-996-5555 or uab.edu/askit.
Medical software platforms can come with an overwhelming number of features. Not every practice needs every bell and whistle, but there are some essential functions and tools that almost every healthcare organization should have.
Appointment Scheduling
On the PMS side of medical software, appointment scheduling tools are fundamental to streamlining your front-office staff’s calendar-related tasks. Appointment scheduling features can also expedite intake and registration in ways not possible with traditional paperwork.
Although appointment scheduling is primarily a PMS tool, you’ll also see it on the EMR side of most medical software platforms. Your medical software’s appointment scheduling tool should let you see your daily appointment schedule and appointment types. It should also display a patient’s status and location within your facility (or which facility they’re scheduled to visit). Some medical software allows you to track patients right down to the specific exam room or piece of medical equipment, as well as to check them out when their visit is complete.
Billing and Claims
The PMS portion of your medical software tool should be able to post charges and create claims based on your EMR data. It should also have built-in ICD-10 and CPT coding libraries, alongside automatically generated E&M codes, that your billers can use.
The best medical software platforms should clearly indicate the patient and care provider tied to the claim, as well as the total claim value. Your software should also include claim-scrubbing tools, and many platforms have tools for handling rejected or denied claims too. Another critical function we looked for in our reviews is insurance eligibility verification. This allows you to check whether a patient’s insurance policy on file is active and up to date as soon as the appointment is scheduled. High-quality medical software enables you to check this information en masse.
Charting and Notetaking
EMR software should make it easy to take notes during encounters and add information to patients’ charts, whether typing or using hotkeys or voice-to-text. Your patient charts should clearly show the patient’s vitals, current medications, exact appointment history, medical history and other basic information. They should also let you easily jump to other tools, such as your e-prescribing suite.
Customization
In your EMR system, you should have access to numerous templates you can use to take notes during patient encounters or add important information to patient charts. Most importantly, these templates should be extensively customizable. You should be able to modify them based on the appointment type or your preferred notetaking method.
Your chosen template should provide you a quick view of the most critical information for your encounter and fill in chart fields as needed. If a template isn’t working for you in the moment, some medical software platforms will let you tweak it as you take notes.
Medical software customization also extends to PMS reporting. Many PMS providers offer hundreds of customizable, filterable financial reports; in fact, we suggest not choosing platforms that offer little to no customization on the reporting side.
Customization is vital for both EMR and PMS. Every healthcare organization has its own workflow, and your chosen medical software should be flexible enough to accommodate your practice’s unique needs and preferences.
E-Prescribing and Labs
Your medical software should make electronically prescribing medications a breeze. It should also provide you the option to review a patient’s entire medication history. Most EMR platforms even flag potential drug interactions or medicines that could trigger a patient’s allergies.
Several medical software solutions also include tools for electronically ordering labs and bloodwork. These platforms typically integrate with leading lab providers such as Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics, though some of our best picks lack this capability. These standout products make up for this gap with the vast majority of their other features.
Interoperability
No two medical practices use precisely the same software suite, but practitioners often need to communicate with one another. Interoperability features ensure no information gets lost or misinterpreted in transmission between disparate systems. They also allow instant provider access to a patient’s medical data.
Interoperability is also fundamental to getting your practice’s vaccine and immunization data into the CDC’s immunization information systems. The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs also have several meaningful use standards that practices can and should achieve through interoperability measures.
Patient Portal
Many medical software companies include a patient portal with their PMS offerings to expedite patients’ ability to book and modify appointments. Through these portals, patients can also request medication refills or message your front-office staff for assistance. Similarly, your front-office staff can use this portal to send patients their registration and intake forms, billing statements and payment requests.
Performance Management and Reporting
The best medical software includes customizable reports that can help you view and analyze all kinds of performance data tied to your practice’s operations. You can filter your reports based on numerous categories, such as provider, payer or location. With most platforms, you can also modify the period over which the information is collected and export your reports in several file formats.
Telehealth
As telehealth becomes increasingly important in modern healthcare, the best medical software includes plenty of telemedicine tools. Ideally, your chosen telehealth platform will fully integrate with your EMR system and PMS for easy notetaking and scheduling. In some cases, patients won’t have to obtain separate apps to start telehealth calls from their phones. This convenience may be useful to keep in mind as you browse medical software options.
While all document management systems digitize and organize documents, making them easy to retrieve and revise for users with permission, many other features might be built into your document management software. Here’s a look at some of the tools and aspects you might want to consider when choosing a document management system.
Usability
One of the most important elements of any software is usability. It could offer all the features in the world, but they won’t do you any good if the system isn’t user-friendly. Many document management systems offer free trials that allow you to test them before buying. If possible, allow your team to try out the software during the free trial period and offer their feedback on what they like and dislike about it. Since everyone has to use the system, be sure all stakeholders get the opportunity to test it out and provide insight about their experience before buying.
Document Sharing and Collaboration
While the primary function of a document management system is to digitize and organize files, most modern software also allows users to share files and collaborate on editing them. Some document management software allows users to edit a document simultaneously while others rely on a check-in/checkout feature that guarantees only one user can work on a document at a time. Others offer both options. Determine which is best for your team’s workflow and the types of documents you collaborate on together.
Version Control
Version control, sometimes referred to as “versioning,” is a critical feature of document management software that lets you keep track of changes to a document. The best document management software even maintains an archive of old versions, letting you see how documents have changed over time and revert to an old version if needed. This is especially important when collaborating to edit documents as human error could result in important information being altered or deleted. With version control, you can revert to an old version of the document and recover any lost information easily.
Image Scanning and OCR
Image scanning and OCR are useful features for businesses that have a lot of paper records they would like to digitize. Scanning is the first step in turning a paper record into a digital file that can be imported into the software. OCR is a more advanced feature, but it’s a necessity for streamlining large digitization projects. OCR reads the text of an image and makes the content of the image searchable. The best document management systems use OCR to fill out metadata automatically and make it even easier to search for the document later.
Electronic Signatures
Document management software is often home to files that require a manager’s signature, such as purchase orders (POs). Many document management systems integrate with an e-signature tool, such as DocuSign, to allow electronic signatures. You can often send a document to a recipient with a request for their signature through the software. This can Strengthen efficiency when it comes to getting clients to sign important documents or when onboarding new employees to the company, helping you to sign and store files in one central location.
Workflow Automation
Workflow automation features move tasks along automatically. Take a PO workflow as an example: You could set up workflow automation so that once a PO is generated, it goes to the appropriate manager automatically for their signature. The manager will receive a notification, and when the task is complete, the next relevant team member, such as someone in the accounting department or the manager’s supervisor, will be notified. If more action is necessary, you might be able to build that into the automated workflow as well. The best document management systems allow you to customize workflows to suit the way your teams work together.
Automated workflows can help streamline your business processes and maintain legal compliance.
User Permissions
An essential element of document management software is the ability for administrators to set individual user permissions. Permissions allow certain users to view or edit files while others can be prevented from even seeing those documents in the system. Not only is this useful for efficiency purposes, but it is also an important security measure. The best document management software allows administrators to set permissions by specific groups, as well as to change permissions on the fly if you need to make an exception while keeping the default permissions settings the same.
Mobile Functionality
Many document management systems have a dedicated mobile app. Others rely on web browsers or online portals. Make sure the mobile version of any document management software you are considering is truly mobile-friendly. Even if you personally don’t use it on mobile devices, it is likely other members of your team will.
Not every document management system checks all these boxes while others offer all of them and more. When choosing your document management software, consider which tools and features would be most useful to your business. It is important to strike a balance between comprehensiveness and usability. Some systems can do it all but are a challenge to navigate (not to mention more expensive than simpler software).
Data Security
Data security is a vital part of any document management system. As an increasing number of businesses go digital, more customers are entrusting sensitive personal information to the companies they do business with. Your organization is responsible for ensuring sensitive information is safe and protected from a data breach.
Look for document management services that offer encryption and compliance tools, auto-updates, data redundancy and backups.
Parents want the Gauteng education department to create a system to monitor the content on the electronic devices
Roy Sylvan has a Ph.D. in communication studies. He directed a large city department of aging, was COO of a consulting company and provided management training to companies and nonprofits. Writing for more than 40 years, Sylvan has authored articles in trade journals, magazines and blogs, and wrote a how-to book on starting a business.
FLIR Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets sensor systems that enhance perception and awareness. The company's advanced thermal imaging and threat detection systems are used for a wide variety of imaging, thermography, and security applications, including airborne and ground-based surveillance, condition monitoring, research and development, manufacturing process control, search and rescue, drug interdiction, navigation, transportation safety, border and maritime patrol, environmental monitoring, and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives detection. The company's...
FLIR Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets sensor systems that enhance perception and awareness. The company's advanced thermal imaging and threat detection systems are used for a wide variety of imaging, thermography, and security applications, including airborne and ground-based surveillance, condition monitoring, research and development, manufacturing process control, search and rescue, drug interdiction, navigation, transportation safety, border and maritime patrol, environmental monitoring, and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives detection. The company's business is organized into two divisions: Commercial Systems and Government Systems. The Commercial Systems division is focused on the design, manufacture, and marketing of instrument, sensor, and electronics solutions that facilitate improved situational awareness and environmental analytics for commercial customers. The Commercial Systems division is sub-divided into two segments: Thermal Vision & Measurement and Raymarine. The Thermal Vision & Measurement segment provides advanced thermal imaging solutions where the customer need is to see at night or in adverse conditions or to image a scene gathering valuable temperature information. The Raymarine segment provides electronics for the maritime market and is a provider of fully integrated networked electronic systems for boats of all sizes. The Government Systems division designs, manufactures, and markets advanced imaging and detection systems for government markets where high performance is required. The Government Systems division is sub-divided into three segments: Surveillance, Detection and Integrated Systems. The Surveillance segment provides enhanced imaging and recognition solutions to a wide variety of military, law enforcement, public safety, and other government customers around the world for the protection of borders, troops, and public welfare. The Detection segment produces sensor instruments that detect and identify chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives threats for military force protection, homeland security, and commercial applications. The Integrated Systems segment develops platform solutions for combating sophisticated security threats and incorporates multiple sensor systems in order to deliver actionable intelligence for wide area surveillance, intrusion detection, and facility security. FLIR Systems was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Wilsonville, OR. Read Less
