Canned Notes

What if you could insure that during the interview:

1. Clients got the same high quality basic advice for a particular problem, no matter what advocate they spoke to.
2. Advocates would cover all the standard issues that arose from a particular problem faced by a client.
3. All the necessary information about the client’s particular problem would be gathered at the initial interview, allowing an informed evaluation of the clients rights and chances of prevailing
4. Advocates would inform each client about all the legal issues that arose from their problem, no matter how many similar cases they handled that day.
5. The Client could get a summary of the advice they received so they could review it at home.
6. You have a record of the information given the Client or Applicant in case there are future questions about what was said or a complaint is filed by the Client.

Canned Notes can do all of these things if they are properly used by Advocates. The nice thing is that using Canned Notes is easy.

Where do advocates find Canned Notes when doing an interview?

A pull-down for canned notes is available above the Notes Fields in Callback, Eligibility and the Client Intake Sheet. It is also available on the subforms that appear when you choose to send a form letter from Eligibility or Clients Intakes and you push the Add More Text Button. Canned Notes are divided up into two classifications:

1. A canned note, which can be advice for the client, advice for the advocate doing the interview or both.
2. A set of canned questions, which give the advocate a set of basic question to ask the client for a particular type of problem. This insures the necessary information is gathered.

Although stored in the same place, there are separate pull downs on the intake for Questions and Notes.

How do you properly use Canned Notes?

How canned notes are used depends upon the type of canned note selected.

Canned Questions:

Selecting canned questions that apply to the type of problem faced by the client inserts a list of questions into the case notes of the case. The Advocate can then go through the list of questions with the client and type in the client’s answers.

Standard Canned Notes:

Using standard Canned Notes requires four steps to get their full benefit.

1. The entry of the Canned Note automatically records the basic information given to the Client or Applicant if questions arise as to what was said.
2. Reviewing the content of the Canned Note at the end of the interview can insure the interviewer covered all the important points. For Example: When reviewing the notes at the conclusion of the interview the advocate might say, “Now I’ve told you about how you must have a witness to a hand written Will and how it affects joint checking.” The client might respond, “You didn’t tell me about joint checking.” Thus the Advocated is reminded to cover all important points.
3. Custom additions to the canned notes should be made to show that they just weren’t dropped in without thinking. For Example: The Advocate might add to the notes: “Told the client to have her son bring in the original will.”
4. The Client is easily given a copy of these notes when they are sent a form letter. When generating a form letter from a client intake there is a button that says Add Text. When it is pressed a box appears where custom text can be added to the letter. A pull down above this box allows you to drop in the canned note you used to give the client advice. You can edit these notes so they: Are worded more appropriately for a letter. For example, instead of saying “Tell the Client….”, they might be changed to say “I told you…..” Include any custom advice you gave the client. For example, you might add “I also asked you to have your son bring in the original will.”

How do you add a new Canned Note or edit an existing one?

You must have permission to use the Admin function.

A new Canned Note is entered by going to:

1. The Ribbon Bar
2. Select Admin
3. Click Setup Functions
4. Choose Canned Notes

To modify an existing note, choose it in the first dropdown.

To add a new note:

1. Click "Add" to get to a blank note - the "Unique Auto ID" will say (NEW)
2. Choose a "Usual Location" option from the dropdown
3. Enter a "Unique Note Name" - it can't be the same as a note already entered - make sure it follows the naming convention shown for ease
4. Enter the note itself in the "Enter Note Here" text box
5. Click "Save/Stay" to save the note

You then can Add a new note or Edit an existing one. These notes are then available immediately to everyone.

To get advocates to give you canned notes, you might prepare a paper form and send it around to all the units and ask them to fill one out for each of the major issues they deal with.