November 2007 Newsletter

Help Desk Helps for HARP Clients

By: Technical Support Manager

Early last year several changes were made to the Quadax Help Desk to allow HARP Standalone (Enterprise) clients to use this valuable tool to communicate with their Technical Service Consultants.  Because many of our Standalone clients have been using the Help Desk quite successfully, I wanted to share the benefits of the Help Desk with all of our clients.

The Help Desk provides features that make it easy for clients to ask questions, report problems, and send attachments that contain PHI in a secure environment. We refer to each of these instances as a Help Desk event. Creating an event is very much like creating  an e-mail – only better!

When a client enters an event, it is automatically sent directly to their assigned Service Consultant. Clients can also send a notification to others of the event.

Events can be viewed by more than just the person it was sent to. For my Standalone clients, I monitor all events that have been assigned to my staff to ensure these events are getting the proper attention. Any client using the Help Desk would receive this same attention.

If a client sends an event to their assigned Service Consultant who happens to be out of the office, the Help Desk can be set up so that the event is automatically forwarded to a manager who can review it. We can then determine if the issue needs immediate attention without waiting for the consultant to return.

The Help Desk provides more security than sending e-mail. Some clients send e-mails containing PHI; however, e-mail is not a secure method for sending PHI. The Help Desk is.

Help Desk event entry screen

Clients can check the status of events. As shown below, they can see the status, when the event was opened/closed, and who it is currently assigned to. (Click here for an example of a list of Help Desk events.)

By clicking on the Event #, clients can view the comments associated with the event. They can even add a comment to an existing event that will be sent to their Service Consultant, even if they did not initiate the event.

Example of Help Desk comments

Reports can also be generated that will list all the events for a specified time period.

The Help Desk is not intended to replace e-mails or phone calls. It is, however, an organized, efficient, and secure way to log and keep track of all your events. If you would like to learn more about how to take advantage of all of the benefits that the Help Desk provides, please contact your Service Consultant.