ASPEN SURVEY EXPLORER
TRAINING GUIDE
FOR HHA CERTIFICATION ENTRY
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This guide is designed to take you through, step-by-step, the certification process. During
this process, you will use ASPEN Survey Explorer for the certification process from the
point of entering a survey until you have completed the survey.
This manual is separated into various sections by which we will walk you through the
process beginning with Logging into the System. There will often be several ways to
access menu items. (e.g., right-click on a name or select from the tool bar menu) To make
this guide more user friendly, we will document only one way to perform each of these
tasks.
This program involves several steps. We believe if you start at the beginning of this
document and follow the instructions step by step, you will have a good understanding of
the program when you finish. In addition, we have included many screen prints to help in
understanding this program.
Alternative methods of access and detailed information about ASE functions are included in
the ASPEN Survey Explorer Reference Guide. This training guide includes some crossreferences to the ASE Reference Guide, which appear as follows:
 Chapter 3: Surveys and Citations, “Adding Surveyors”
This cross-reference directs you to the section “Adding Surveyors” in chapter 3,
which is entitled Surveys and Citations, in the ASE Reference Guide.
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Table of Contents
Logging into Survey Explorer ................................ 1-1
Entering a New Facility ......................................... 2-1
Entering a New Survey Event ............................... 3-1
Entering Survey Findings ...................................... 4-1
Forms .................................................................... 5-1
Printing Forms ....................................................... 6-1
Exporting a Survey ................................................ 7-1
Quick Keys ............................................................ 8-1
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Logging Into Survey Explorer
After you have the Survey Explorer program installed on your computer or the network in
your office, double-click the Survey Explorer icon on your desktop.
The first thing Survey Explorer requires is a login name (see below). If you have used this
program before your name will appear alphabetically in the list. This list can be
manipulated by pressing the up () and down () keys on your keyboard or the Page Up
and Page Down keys.
1) Highlight your name and select the OK button.
 Chapter 1: Getting Started, “Starting and Exiting ASPEN Survey Explorer”
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In the event that your name does not appear on the list, you must enter your personal
information into the system so that your name does appear in the list of surveyors.
2) Select the New button at the bottom of the screen. The Enter New Staff Information
window will appear (see below).
 Chapter 3: Surveys and Citations, “Adding Surveyors”
3) Enter your Federal Surveyor ID assigned by your HCFA Regional Office contact. If you
know your State Personnel ID, you may enter it. Enter your first name, middle initial,
and last name. For the Title Code, the program has a drop down box as indicated by
the down arrow next to the Title Code field. When you click the down arrow, a number
of disciplines will appear. Select the proper discipline code. In the Login Detail section,
fill in the Network Login, Oracle Login, and Oracle Password fields. If you are unsure of
your network login, oracle login and oracle password, contact your State contact.
Select the OK button to save your information and close the window. The Please
Select Active Surveyor window will appear with your name in the list of surveyors.
Highlight your name and select OK.
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Entering a New Facility
Before you can actually go out and perform a survey, the facility information must exist in
the Survey Explorer program. OASIS and MDS facilities should be entered through ACO
or ARO. Those systems generate a Login ID and Password for the facility to use to submit
assessment data. To enter a new facility:
1) Select the Facility icon on the main toolbar. See screen print example below.
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2) The following Define New Facility screen appears:
 Chapter 2: Facilities, “Facility Definition”
3) Fill out the as much information as you have. Name, City, State, State Facility ID and
Type are required fields.
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4) To enter an additional address for the facility, select the Mailing Address tab and enter
the information. (see screen print)
 Chapter 2: Facilities, “Mailing Address”
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5) Select the Buildings/Wings tab. (see screen print)
 Chapter 2: Facilities, “Buildings/Wings”
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6) To enter building or wing information, select the New button. The screen print below
shows the fields become activated. Fill in the information.
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7) Select OK when you are finished entering the facility information. The facility will be
displayed under the appropriate alpha character in the tree view. (see screen print)
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Entering a New Survey Event
To perform a survey on your facility, you must first select the facility from the main menu. It
is recommended the HHA or MDS facility be created in ASPEN Central Office (ACO). The
facility’s login and password for HHA or MDS Assessment submission is created in ACO.
For this purpose, I created a facility named A Training Facility 1- TRAIN1 - HHA-18 –
Earlham in ACO and imported it to ASE. The facility will be filed under the heading A-C.
1) Select the plus sign next to A-C in the tree view. You will see that all facilities starting
with A-C displayed. Select the plus sign next to the facility A Training Facility 1TRAIN1 - HHA-18 - Earlham. The tree view now expands to show all surveys for this
facility. Below is a sample of this tree view expanded.
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2) At this point you want to enter a new survey for A Training Facility 1- TRAIN1 - HHA18 - Earlham. To do this, right click on the name of the facility. A pop-up menu will
open. Select New Survey. The Define Survey window will appear. Below is a sample
of the Define Survey window.
 Chapter 3: Surveys and Citations, “Surveys”
3) The Start date is the day you enter the facility. The Exit date is the day you leave the
facility.
[TIP: To enter today’s date in any Survey Explorer date field, you can hold down the
Ctrl key and select the down arrow box.]
4) The next item is Status. The choices are 1 Open or 2 Closed. The system is defaulted
to show 1 Open.
5) The Facility Details icon shows the facility information. You cannot change any facility
information.
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6) In the Type section, you will see Health and LSC (Life Safety Code) options. Health is
defaulted and the appropriate choice for Home Health Agencies.
7) In the Regulations section, it helps to identify only the pertinent regulation type
associated with the facility as you describe it. Only Home Health regulations show up
for home health agencies. Life Safety Code regulations and Long term care regulations
show up for nursing home facilities. If you select the Show All button, all the regulation
sets available in the system will be displayed. Select the box beside Home Health
regulations.
8) The Team Roster section displays the person(s) assigned to this survey. When you
select the Update button, a list of all surveyors currently in the system will display.
Check the box beside an individual’s name to add that person to the team roster (see
below).
 Chapter 3: Surveys and Citations, “Adding Survey Team Members”
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9) You can also select the New button to add a new surveyor or select the Modify button to
modify an existing surveyor. Select the OK button. You are returned to the Define
Survey window.
10) In the Survey Categories section, select a category.
 Appendix C: Survey Categories“ for definitions of all survey categories.
11) Select the box beside Initial Certification in the Survey Categories section.
12) The following are the options for Extent: Routine/Std Survey, Extended Survey LTC/HH,
Partial Ext. Survey, and Other Survey. In the Extent(s) section, the default is
Routine/Std Survey. This is appropriate.
13) Select the OK button. The message box shown below will appear.
14) You can select Yes and proceed to the Citation Manager window or select No and
return to the main ASE window. For now, select No. The new survey is displayed in
the Tree view.
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Entering Survey Findings (Deficiencies)
At this point in the survey process you have created a survey event. The next step is to
record your findings. Survey team members will often import a survey shell created in ACO
into ASE. The survey shell must first be exported from ACO to a diskette, then you import
the shell into ASE and enter your findings.
To import a survey shell and record your findings:
1) Import the survey shell that was created in ACO. To do this, insert the diskette
containing the survey shell into your A: drive and select the Import icon on the main
ASE toolbar (see screen print below).
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2) The following Import screen appears.
 Chapter 4: Survey Exchange, “Importing Surveys“
3) Select OK. The following screen appears.
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4) Highlight the survey you want to import if it is not already highlighted and select OK.
The survey is imported into ASE. The following screen appears.
5) From the Alpha tab, select the plus sign next to A Training Facility 1- TRAIN1 - HHA18 - Earlham.
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An open survey is displayed under A Training Facility 1- TRAIN1 - HHA-18 - Earlham. This
survey date is 02/01/2001 with Event ID ML3S11. At this point you can start writing up any
deficiencies that you have found on A Training Facility 1- TRAIN1 - HHA-18 - Earlham.
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Citing Deficiencies
1) Right-click on the survey you imported. The pop-up menu shown below appears.
2) From this menu, select Citation Manager to start documenting any deficiencies you
have found. See example below of the Citation Manager window. Note that the name of
the facility appears on the top bar of the window. A listing of the regulations appears on
the right side in the Regulations section. The Team Roster appears in the lower left
portion in the Team Roster section.
 Chapter 3: Surveys and Citations, “Entering Citations”
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3) There are hundreds of tags listed. In order to find a specific tag that properly matches
the specific findings, you can use the Find button in the lower left corner of the Citation
Manager window to search citation text, interpretive guidelines and regulations.
 Chapter 3: Surveys and Citations, “Searching Citation Text, Interpretive
Guidelines, and Regulations “
4) For example use Tag ‘0116’. Scroll down the list of tags in the Regulations section until
‘0116’ appears in the window. Select tag ‘0116’ and drag and drop it in the Citations
section. Once the tag is dropped in the Citations box, the Citation Properties window
below will appear.
5) You will now see the POC Detail section, which contains Plan of Correction (POC)
dates. The POC is used to track whether or not the facility has corrected the problem
that was noted in the survey process.
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6) Select OK. You should now be looking at the Citation window where you can enter in
the findings pertaining to this citation tag (see below).
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7) You may enter your findings on this window. Note there are two icons at the bottom left
of this window (REG and IG). The REG icon will open a window that shows the current
regulation text on which you are working. The IG icon displays the Interpretative
Guidelines for the regulation on which you are working. Below is an example of the
Citation window with the REG and IG icons displayed. The REG and IG are set as
toggle switches so that you can open and close them as you wish by selecting either the
REG or IG icon.
 Chapter 3: Surveys and Citations, “Viewing Regulations and Interpretive Guidelines“
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8) The findings relating to this regulation should be typed in the top section of the Citation
window. When finished, select OK. You will now see tag ‘0116’ and your name in the
Citations section of the Citation Manager window.
9) After you have entered all citations, select the Forms icon.
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Forms
Every survey ends with a number of forms that need to be completed.
1) Select the Forms icon from the Citation Manager window. The Select Form(s) to print
window below will appear.
 Chapter 6: HCFA Forms, Reports, and Letters, “Printing HCFA Forms“
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HCFA 670
2) Select the 670 Entry button. The HCFA 670 Workload Detail window will appear.
 Chapter 6: HCFA Forms, Reports, and Letters, “Entering HCFA 670 Information “
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3) Highlight a team member and select the Hours icon located on the right side of the
window with a picture of a clock. The Input window will below appear. Enter the hours
spent on the survey. The window asks for the Arrival Date and Departure Date. This
information indicates the time spent on the survey process. Select OK and you will be
returned to the HCFA 670 Workload Detail window.
 Chapter 6: HCFA Forms, Reports, and Letters, “Entering Time for Surveyors“
 Chapter 6: HCFA Forms, Reports, and Letters, “Entering Hours“
4) If you have multiple surveyors, you can cascade the hours for all the surveyors by
highlighting the surveyor you just entered hours for and selecting Set All Hours. The
following screen appears to verify you want to cascade the hours to everyone.
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5) Select Yes. The hours entered are cascaded to all of the surveyors on the 670 form.
Select Close on the HCFA 670 Workload Detail window and you will return to the Select
Forms window.
HCFA 1539 C & T (Certification and Transmittal)
The C & T captures information regarding the compliance of the facility with HCFA
regulations.
6) Select the 1539 Entry button. (See screen print below.)
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7) The following C & T 1539 form appears. The field Certified As must be completed if
ODIE is expected to accept this form. Notice the only fields that can be entered are
Accreditation Status, Certified As, Facility Eligible to Participate and Termination Action.
Select 0 Unaccredited in the Accreditation Status field. Select the box beside Yes in
the Facility Eligible to Participate field.
 Chapter 6: HCFA Forms, Reports, and Letters, “Entering HCFA 1539 Information “
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8) When you mark the facility as ‘In Compliance’ on the Details screen, you should select
the Compliance tab and the following screen will appear: [Note 1- Acceptable POC is
the only valid choice for HHAs.]
9) Highlight 1- Acceptable POC.
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10) Use the Remarks tab to enter comments regarding compliance (see below).
11) Select OK. You are returned to the Select Form(s) to Print window.
12) Click Cancel. The Select Form(s) to Print window closes.
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Printing Forms
After you have documented your findings and completed the forms, the next step is to print
all of the documents and mail them to your HCFA Regional Office.
1) On the Select Form(s) to Print window (see below), select the box beside the form you
want to print and select OK. In this case, select the box beside HCFA 2567.
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2) The Customize Survey Report Form window appears which allows you to customize the
HCFA 2567 form. This window was designed to allow a state to customize the HCFA
forms to their own state requirements. For example, if your state requires the survey ID
numbers to be printed on the form, you may select that particular box. Or if your state
requires that scope and severity be included, you may also select that particular box.
When you select OK, the 2567 will be generated according to your specifications, and
any other forms you have checked off on the Select Form(s) to Print window will be
generated and available for printing.
 Chapter 6: HCFA Forms, Reports, and Letters, “Entering HCFA 2567 Information“
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3) There are several icons listed at the top of the print preview window (see below). The
particular icons being referred to are: the printer to actually print the forms (displayed by
the red arrow), the printer with the yellow wrench is to change the printer (displayed by
the green arrow), and the envelope icon to mail the form (displayed by the yellow
arrow). The windows expand icon will display the entire form on your screen and
displays a print preview window that does not allow information to be altered.
 Chapter 6: HCFA Forms, Reports, and Letters, “The Report Preview Window “
4) Select the x icon in the upper right hand corner of the preview window to close the
window. You are returned to the Select Form(s) to Print window. Select Cancel. The
Select Form(s) to Print window closes. You are returned to the Citation Manager
window. Select the Done button. You are returned to the main ASE tree view.
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Exporting a Survey
This function is used to pull the information entered in ASE for a survey and export it to a
disk for e-mailing purposes.
1) First, select the survey you want to export. A Training Facility 1 is the name of the
facility, thus you will need to select the plus sign next to A Training Facility 1. Then
select the survey with Event ID ML3S11. Drag and drop that survey onto the Export
icon located under the main menu on the toolbar (see below).
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2) The following window is displayed:
 Chapter 4: Survey Exchange, “Exporting Surveys“
3) At this point, place a formatted disk in the A: drive and select OK. The system will
transfer all the files relating to this survey to the diskette, which can then be mailed or emailed to a home office for review. You will receive a confirmation message stating the
survey was exported (see below).
4) Select OK. The Export message window closes.
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Quick Keys
The Quick Keys section is designed to help you navigate the system more quickly, so you
do not need to spend the time looking for assistance in the book. Quick Keys will assist
getting you to the right place faster.
Logging into Survey Explorer
Page 1-1
Type your personnel information in the system, if it isn’t already there, so that you will be on
the list of surveyors. Then highlight your name and select OK.
Entering a New Facility
Page 2-1
To enter a new facility record, select the Facility icon on the main toolbar. Enter the facility
information on the Define New Facility window and select OK.
Entering a New Survey Event
Page 3-1
This function allows you to set up a survey event and enter basic survey information in
preparation for your onsite visit.
Select the plus sign next to the alpha group containing the first initial of the facility name.
Right-click the name of the facility.
Select New Survey.
Start and Exit dates must be entered. Regulation(s), Categories and Extent(s) must be
specified.
Select OK when finished.
Entering Survey Findings
Page 4-1
Select the plus sign next to the alpha group containing the first initial of the facility name.
Select the plus sign next to the name of the facility.
Right-click the survey.
Select Citation Manager.
Select relevant tag(s) and drag and drop them from the Regulations section to the Citations
section.
Select OK in the Citation Properties window to close it.
Enter your findings in the Citation window.
Select OK to close the Citation window.
When finished citing tags and entering findings, select the Done button in the Citation
Manager window.
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Forms
Page 5-1
Select the plus sign next to the alpha group containing the first initial of the facility name.
Select the plus sign next to the name of the facility.
Right-click the survey.
Select the Print Forms button.
To enter 670 and 1539 data, use the 670 Entry and the 1539 Entry buttons.
Printing Forms
Page 6-1
Use in the event your State requires you to leave a copy of the survey forms with the
facility.
Select the plus sign next to the alpha group containing the first initial of the facility name.
Select the plus sign next to the name of the facility.
Right-click the survey.
Select the Print Forms button.
Select the box beside the form(s) you wish to print. (multiple boxes may be checked)
Select OK.
If you select the HCFA 2567 form, you may customize what is displayed.
Select the Print button in the preview window’s toolbar to print the form. Select the x in the
upper right hand corner to close the preview window.
Exporting a Survey
Page 7-1
Export the survey to diskette to mail or e-mail to your home office for review. Drag and
drop the survey on the Export button of the main ASE toolbar.
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