SAMS/Beacon

As a partner with county and tribal aging programs (whether you are an office on aging or an ADRC), GWAAR is your resource for up-to-date SAMS/Beacon information, training, and technical support. 

Wisconsin county and tribal aging programs can get SAMS/Beacon assistance by contacting any member of GWAAR’s SAMS/Beacon team. Team members are: Carrie Kroetz and Lisa Pulte. Click here to contact the team.

Upcoming Trainings:

We will be offering, free of cost, 7 hands-on trainings for the SAMS regular database users around the state this summer.  The dates, available computer workstations, agenda, and registration information is listed below.  Additional information is provided on our calendar of events on our website under "For Professionals."

For each training we have two different registration cut-off dates.  In order to provide the greatest training opportunity for all, we are requesting that one workstation per county/tribe be available during the first round for registration.  If we have available workstations after this date, open registration will be available on a first come, first serve basis.  Please note that this is also dependent upon how many user accounts you have - if you only have one SAMS account you may only be able to be logged onto one workstation.

Click here for the agenda for the county trainings. revised June 24

SAMS Instructional Materials new page

SAMS Training in:

**Please note these trainings listed above are addressing County issues.

Click here for the agenda for the tribal trainings.

SAMS Training at the:

**Please note these trainings listed above are addressing Tribal issues.

The following are resources for county and tribal aging program staff:

SAMS Information:

SAMS (Social Assistance Management System) is a comprehensive consumer and case management system designed by Harmony to meet the demands of social service organizations—from small service providers all the way up to state-level enterprise deployments. SAMS helps organizations achieve comprehensive integration of data and conduct meaningful, well-rounded care planning. SAMS is an extensive program, capable of managing data from several organizations in a streamlined, secure environment. SAMS offers a wealth of key features, offering:

• Full integration of consumer record management, to include management of caregiver/care recipient relationships, comprehensive service, and care planning, to include goal setting and route management.
• Consumer referrals between any organizations within a statewide database, extensive journaling, and action management.
• High-volume service unit data entry using Rosters, and optionally, SAMScan           integration of multiple assessment forms and data sharing between different           programs (when used in concert with the Omnia System), and integrated care            planning, service order, and service delivery management.
• Flexible reporting, allowing deployment for one office, or a whole state.
• Integration with the entire SAMS product suite - Omnia System, BeaconIR, OmbudsManager, SAMScan, FinPak, and NAPIS SRT.

SAMS serves county and tribal aging units within Wisconsin; it also provides state and federal reporting requirements.

A user can access SAMS by subscribing to the AgingNetwork.com service. Harmony customers off-load responsibility for hardware and installations and make their Harmony products accessible to their users over the Internet without the need to install the application locally. All servers, network administration, updates, installations, and maintenance are all handled by Harmony and are included in the AgingNetwork.com subscription service.

AgingNetwork.com users streamline deployments of Harmony products and minimize product footprint, making administration and management efficient and easy. Users also typically avoid the high costs of hardware and networking equipment for their offices and for the offices of the many organizations they support, and avoid the high cost of ongoing maintenance of hardware and networks. The product allows organizations to achieve HIPAA-compliant security for all databases in their network. It eliminates the need to manage installations or updates, because Harmony handles installations and maintains our software products on the company’s behalf.

SAMS Technical Support: 

For technical support on the SAMS program, contact one of GWAAR’s SAMS/Beacon Team members:  Carrie Kroetz or Lisa Pulte.

BeaconIR™ Information:

A web-based Information and Referral Data Management program, BeaconIR™ is a key component of Harmony for Aging Services, allowing for single-point-of-entry data management across organizations. BeaconIR™ offers comprehensive automation of any IandR program, and is completely customizable for any community service offering. As part of Harmony for Aging Services, BeaconIR™ integrates case management with IandR activities. BeaconIR™ provides powerful search functions, flexible and meaningful reporting, full incorporation of the AIRS taxonomy (alternate and customer taxonomies may also be used), follow-up flagging, tracking of topics discussed, and comprehensive journaling functions. When used with the Harmony for Aging Services, BeaconIR™ facilitates NAPIS reporting on IandR activity, to tie IandR to case management and to achieve meaningful outcome-based measurements—all with single point-of-entry on the core client data. BeaconIR™ simplifies maintenance of resource database, provides detailed reporting and search features, is fully compliant with AIRS taxonomy, and offers a wide range of available assessment forms.

BeaconIR™ serves Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) within Wisconsin; it also provides state and federal reporting requirements.

A user can access BeaconIR™ by subscribing to the AgingNetwork.com service; Harmony customers off-load responsibility for hardware and installations and make their Harmony products accessible to their users over the Internet, without the need to install the application locally. All servers, network administration, updates, installations, and maintenance are all handled by Harmony and are included in the AgingNetwork.com subscription service.

AgingNetwork.com users streamline deployments of Harmony products and minimize product footprint, making administration and management efficient and easy. Users also typically avoid the high costs of hardware and networking equipment for their offices and for the offices of the many organizations they support, and avoid the high cost of ongoing maintenance of hardware and networks. The product allows organizations to achieve HIPAA-compliant security for all databases in their network. It eliminates the need to manage installations or updates, because Harmony handles installations and maintains our software products on the company’s behalf.

An addition to BeaconIR™ is BeaconWEB, which publishes BeaconIR™ resource data to consumers and others on the Web. With one click on the familiar BeaconIR™ interface, authorized users publish their most current local IandR resources on customer-friendly Web pages. BeaconWEB’s comprehensive search tools allow Internet users to search resources by name, service category, location, and/or need. Search results and resource information are presented in an intuitive, easy-to-understand layout. All information on BeaconWEB is also accessible with assistive technology devices such as screen readers and compliant with accessibility standards to let users locate resources on your Web site quickly and easily. BeaconWEB is easily integrated into any existing or AssistGuide powered Web site to let agencies link consumers directly with BeaconIR™’s list of resources. This valuable solution extends an investment in BeaconIR™ and permits quick, inexpensive service to on-line consumers, even when an office is closed for the day. BeaconWEB features:  One-click publishing, avoid redundancy, search/print features, and 24/7 secure data access.

BeaconIR™ Policies and Procedures/Forms:

Beacon Style Guide: 
http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/LTCare/adrc/professionals/infosys/beaconstyleguide080408nonundrlined.pdf

Beacon Resource Data Base Guidelines: 
http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/LTCare/adrc/professionals/infosys/beaconinclexclguide080408.pdf

Beacon Technical Support:

To find technical support of Beacon, contact the State of Wisconsin.

Contract for Beacon Data Entry Assistance:

To find out more about contracting for data entry support on the Beacon program, contact one of GWAAR’s SAMS/Beacon Team members: Carrie Kroetz or Lisa Pulte.