In this article
Configuring the Blue Book is largely about designing the list options and search criteria workers will use to set up and search for Blue Book Entries. When choosing which items to include in the lists, think about:
What types of services do you make referrals for?
What types of service providers maker referrals to you?
What types of service providers do you partner with?
What are your reporting needs? Do you need to report on referrals made to other agencies? If so, do you need to categorize them in in anyway? These categories often translate well to the menu items for selections like Blue Book Type.
The language your organization uses in relation to third-party service providers. Do you work with hospitals, clinics, or medical centers? Perhaps all three and the distinction is important.
Are there reasons you would refer a client to one service provider over another? Does your client require services that are accessible through public transportation or that have specific subsidies available? These types of distinctions can be built in to your Blue Book Entries and used as filtering criteria.
To help you brainstorm ideas for your own Blue Book, see the list of example of Blue Book field values.
Configurable Lists for the Blue Book
List | Type | Description |
Blue Book Type | Drop-down list | The categories or types you want to use to classify the individuals or organizations you add to the Blue Book. |
Blue Book Hour | Drop-down list | Values related to the time of day services are provided by and/or hours of operation of the Blue Book Entries. |
Blue Book User Def Drop-Down 1 | Drop-down list | A user defined drop-down whose drop-down label and list values can be customized. |
Available Services | Multi-select list | The types of services offered by the individuals or organizations you add to the Blue Book. Because this is a multi-select, you can associate Blue Book Entries with multiple services. |
Serviced Area | Multi-select list | Values related to the geographic region or areas services are provided. Because this is a multi-select, you can associate Blue Book Entries with multiple areas. |
Other Attributes | Multi-select list | A user defined multi-select list whose name and list values can be customized. |
Blue Book Referral Drop-Down 1 | Drop-down list | A user defined drop-down whose drop-down label and list values can be customized. |
Blue Book Referral Drop-Down 2 | Drop-down list | A user defined drop-down whose drop-down label and list values can be customized. |
Blue Book Referral Memo 1 | Text field | A user defined text field whose label can be customized. |
Blue Book Referral Memo 2 | Text field | A user defined text field whose label can be customized. |
Configure the Blue Book Fields
Blue Book fields are both standard and user defined fields whose list values you can populate based on your agency’s unique needs.
These fields appear on a Blue Book Entry’s page as well as as Search Criteria in the Blue Book itself. In Step 1, we’ll look at configuring the following fields:
These instructions describe how to configure all Blue Book field types; however, you may decide that some fields aren’t necessary for your agency and you can skip to the next step(s).
Navigate to the Blue Book Setup Page
Navigate to System Setup > Blue Book > Field Setup.
Configure Blue Book Type Values
1. Next to Blue Book Type, click Drop Down.
2. In the Active Values section, click Add.
3. Type a Value for the Blue Book Type list option.
4. Select the Entity Type of Organization (for companies/agencies/groups) or Individual (for people or specific roles).
5. If you have enabled the CMS/EDI feature and want to track or populate the 2310A Loop in an EDI file with a Referring Provider of this type, click the Has CMS option.
6. Click Save.
7. Repeat Steps 2-6 to create additional values.
When you’ve finished adding your Blue Book Type values, click Back to return to the main Blue Book Setup page.
Configure Blue Book Hour Values
Next to Blue Book Hour, click Drop Down.
In the Active Values section, click Add.
Type a Value for the Blue Book Hour list option.
Click Save and repeat to create additional values.
When you’ve finished adding your Blue Book Hour values, click Back to return to the main Blue Book Setup page.
Configure the Blue Book User Def Drop-Down 1 Label and Values
1. To enable and/or customize the label for the user defined drop-down, click Blue Book User Def Drop-Down 1.
-In the Label field, type a name for your drop-down.
-Click the In Use option.
-To make the field required for Blue Book Entries, click the Required option.
-Click Save.
2. Next to Blue Book User Def Drop-Down 1, click Drop Down.
-In the Active Values section, click Add.
-Type a Value for the list option.
-Click Save and repeat to create additional values.
When you’ve finished adding your User Def Drop-Down 1 values, click Back to return to the main Blue Book Setup page.
Configure Available Services Values
Next to Available Services, click Multi Select.
In the Active Values section, click Add.
Type a Value for the Available Services list option.
Click Save and repeat to create additional values.
Please note, that the available services values (once added to a blue book contact) will populate the Referred Services drop-down list in the Anonymous Services Referral wizard.
When you’ve finished adding your Available Services values, click Back to return to the main Blue Book Setup page.
Configure Serviced Area Values
Next to Serviced Area, click Multi Select.
In the Active Values section, click Add.
Type a Value for the Serviced Area list option.
Click Save and repeat to create additional values.
When you’ve finished adding your Serviced Area list values, click Back to return to the main Blue Book Setup page.
Configure Other Attributes Values
To enable and/or customize the label for the multi-select list, click Other Attributes.In the Label field, type a name for your drop-down.Click the In Use option.Click Save.
Next to Other Attributes, click Multi Select.In the Active Values section, click Add.Type a Value for the list option.Click Save and repeat to create additional values.
When you’ve finished adding your Other Attributes values, click Back to return to the main Blue Book Setup page.
Configure General Blue Book Settings
1. On the Blue Book Setup page > Settings tab, click Edit.
2. In the General section, configure the following fields depending on your agency’s needs:
-Select a Default Blue Book Type or leave the selection blank to not use a default.
-Select a Default Contact Type or leave the selection blank to not use a default.
-Type the number of Available Services Search Results you want to see per page when searching for Blue Book Entries from the Available Services tab.
-In the Collateral Contact section, for Individuals and Funders, select whether newly added Collateral Contacts should be private or public by default.
3. Click Save.
Configure Referral User Defined Settings
The fields on the Referral User Defined tab correspond to the fields you see when you complete the “Add Referral Information” step or view/modify the Referral Information tab on the Blue Book Entry page. In this step, you’ll customize the names of two memo fields and two drop-down lists as well as create the drop-down list values
1. On the Referral User Defined tab, click Edit.
2. For each of the fields in the Blue Book Field Setup screen that you want to configure, type a Field Name and click In Use? to enable the field. Optionally, click the Required? option to make the field mandatory.
3. Click Save.
4.To configure the drop-down menu items for Blue Book Referral Drop-Down 1 and/or Drop-Down 2, in the Active User Defined Fields section, click the adjacent Drop Down option.
-In the Active Values section, click Add.
-Type a Value for the list item you want to add.
-Click Save.
-Repeat sub-steps 1-3 to create additional values.