Frequently Asked Questions - Agency
What is CPSE Portal?
CPSE Portal is a website used by Counties to collect and share data with their providers.
What tasks will we do with CPSE Portal?
The primary provider tasks in CPSE Portal:
- Entering dates of attendance for Classroom programs.
-Entering/uploading treatment log/session note information for SEIS and related services (including services delivered as part of a tuition based center based program).
- Creating and submitting electronic invoices/vouchers to the County.
Will the system completely remove the need for paper bills or will there be some paper to fill out?
This does not eliminate all paper completely, but will reduce paper billing.
How will this electronic billing affect the timeline of the county paying on agency vouchers?
The timeline for the County paying agency vouchers should not change. The County will continue to process bills for payment as they receive them.
What kind of device do I need to access CPSE Portal?
CPSE Portal is a website. It is accessible via any device that can access the internet, including PCs, laptops, Macs, tablets/iPads, smart phones/iPhones, etc. You can use any web browser to access the website.
Is there any need for an iPad /tablet or would typical laptops be all the therapist needs to participate in online billing?
Laptops will be sufficient.
Will this be an app on the iPhone?
It is not an app; CPSE Portal is a website.
Does this system require the provider to use a smart phone fore documentation?
No. Any device with internet access and a web browser can access the system.
Is the "billing provider setup form" the same thing as the email invitation?
No. The billing provider setup form is no longer used.
How do I get a login for the website?
When the County sets you up as a billing provider, the system will send you an email “inviting” you to create an account on CPSE Portal. This email will have a link that directs you to a page that allows you to create an account and choose a username and password.
How do I log in initially?
Once you have accepted the invitation and created your CPSE Portal username and password, you will then log in at https://www.cpseportal.com/
How do providers get invited to sign into the portal (create a profile)?
Agencies invite their therapists via a process called invitations. This allows an agency to create a digital invitation that is emailed to the therapist. The therapist uses this invitation to create their account, profile, etc.
How will we be able to upload our providers into the CPSE Portal? Will we have the option to do batch upload? If so, what template should be used to upload the providers?
You may download the Service Provider User template found in Knowledge Base, enter in the information for each of the providers that you are inviting, and then upload the template under the People menu -> Invitations -> Import Invitation Batch File. For more information, please see
this article.
What will invited providers be able to do in the Portal? Will I still submit billing?
Service Providers enter, review and sign their attendance. Designated staff at the agency create a Voucher and submit the Voucher and billing to the County.
What if a provider works for multiple agencies?
The provider would only have one user account but may be linked to the different agencies including working as both an independent and for an agency.
Do all staff have to be invited to the portal in order to create classrooms?
Any users that will be accessing the CPSE Portal should have their own username / password. If multiple office staff will be performing this task, each one should be invited.
However, classrooms can be created and children assigned to a classrooms without all of the teachers having been invited.
We have a speech therapist who was using the CPSE portal in County A last year. Can she use her same username/password/pin as she moved to County B and now is working for our agency?
Yes. Create the invitation using her NPI.
Is it necessary to add 1:1 aides and teaching assistants?
No.
Even if it is not necessary to add 1:1 aides and teaching assistants, how are 1:1 aide services added when a child received their services?
The aide may be assigned to the classroom. However, there is no relation between the aide and the student.
What is an NPI number?
NPI stands for National Provider Identifier. It is part of HIPAA mandates for all healthcare providers to obtain one. Special Education teachers may also obtain one, but not all do.
As a permanent licensed teacher I do not have an expiration date. What is to be done at this point in time?
The license information is for professionals licensed through the NYS Office of the Professions. These professionals include Speech & Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistance, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Master Social Workers, Psychologists, etc. These professionals are issued a 6 digit license number that needs to be renewed. These professionals should enter their license number with original issue date and renewal date.
There are other professionals that are certified through NYSED Higher Education including teachers, TSHH, TSSLD, school psychologists. For these professionals, the dates can be left blank.
As a licensed speech therapist who holds a TSSLD/TSHH, should I include both credentials in the personal information section of the website?
You only need to include your SLP information.
It was not clear that we should randomly select a PIN number.
The service provider will need to choose a PIN that they will use to digitally sign treatment logs / session notes.
Billing Provider PINs will be created by each agency admins for submitting vouchers to the county.
Each PIN should be something that will be easily remembered.
PIN numbers and login information are private and should not be shared with anyone.
What is an enrollment?
An enrollment is a particular service documented on a child’s IEP. It is similar to an authorization in Early Intervention. It indicates a particular service and frequency for a child to receive for a specified timeframe that the IEP covers. Children have separate enrollments for the summer session vs. the 10-month (Sep-Jun) session.
Who logs in the initial child information?
As the County receives the information from the districts, the County enters the information into their system and it gets uploaded to CPSE Portal.
However, if there are delays in the County receiving the paperwork from the district and entering it, the Agency can enter temporary placeholder Children/Enrollments in lieu of the ones that the County has not yet uploaded. This allows Therapists to have access to their caseload and to enter session notes contemporaneously.
The temporary placeholder items can later be merged with the actual County created items. These temporary placeholder items are referred to as “unmatched” and the process to merge them with the County created ones is referred to as “matching”.
Will we need to verify enrollments assigned to our agency?
Yes, it would be a good practice.
Is this the way we access information about student we have accepted from the school districts?
You may reference enrollments under the Lookup menu -> Enrollment Lookup.
Whenever I check my Caseload, nothing shows up.
The county uploads enrollments into the CPSE Portal – The agency admin may create temporary enrollments under the Unmatched Children and Unmatched Enrollments menu in order for the therapist to begin entering sessions.
Once the county imported enrollment is in the CPSE Portal, the child and enrollment may then be matched.
What do you do if a CPSE caseload for a child is shared between two service providers (therapists)? How do you enter that in? Am I to assume that they each enter their own sessions in and the system will take note of it?
Both therapists may be assigned to the child. Once the enrollment is found under their caseload, the therapist is then able to go to the weekly attendance calendar and enter session for that child.
Do you know if the county has entered students into the portal?
Yes, they have been uploading children to the CPSE Portal.
How can we verify the number of enrollments assigned to the agency match those that the county has for the agency?
Refer to Reports menu -> Enrollment Listing report – OR – the Lookup menu -> Enrollment Lookup for listing of county imported enrollments.
What should a provider do if they view an enrollment and notice an error?
The provider should contact the County to notify of them of the discrepancy.
The County can get corrected information from the district and update their system and the CPSE Portal.
The amount of time for the information to be corrected could vary depending on whether new documentation is needed from the district, what documentation is needed, how long the district takes to provide the information to the County, etc.
Is it possible for the County to notify provider when the child info has been input so that provider can then match their information to the County?
Providers may reference all enrollments under the Lookup menu -> Enrollment Lookup to view all county imported enrollments as well as unmatched enrollments. We will look into adding a date added column to this report so that you can check for new ones.
The agency admin may check status by clicking on “Attempt Enrollment Match” under the Unmatched Children and View Unmatched Enrollments menu in order to check for prospective matches.
When an agency creates a temporary record/an unmatched child or unmatched enrollment, what is the expect length of time it should take to have the child or enrollment matched? What are the implications of a prolonged unmatched child/enrollment?
There is no expected timeframe- it could vary depending on how long the district takes to provide the information to the County. The agency will be unable to bill until the enrollment has been matched.
Who will be responsible for assigning the therapist to the enrollments?
Agency administrators.
Are date ranges associated with assigning service providers?
No, they are assigned to an enrollment for the period that the enrollment covers (ex. Jul-Aug, Sep-Jun, etc.).
Should I be directing my staff to be assigning students and providers now?
Yes, the sooner the better.
How do you split a service between two or more providers?
You can assign as many service providers to an enrollment at one time as you wish. You may also remove a therapist from an enrollment if they no longer work with that child.
If you edit/remove a provider, does it show you the history?
Any information that has already been recorded by the provider would still appear under the provider’s profile.
When having to input the child's diagnosis, what if the diagnosis is unknown or not stated in the information provided?
Certain related services such as speech, OT & PT require a documented medical need; a diagnosis. For other services where there is no applicable diagnosis, the value, you may enter “NOICD”.
What are the guidelines for providers to submit session attendance?
Therapists should enter and sign sessions daily as often and frequent as they can. Submitting billing to the County is same frequency as it is now.
Do therapists enter their billing directly into the Portal?
Enter sessions into the CPSE Portal on the weekly attendance calendar under the Attendance menu.
Will providers have to write and sign sessions as they happen?
Per SED, session notes/treatment logs should be contemporaneous, as soon after the session as possible.
Session notes may also be entered into the CPSE Portal by transcribing them from contemporaneous paper notes and indicating such.
If the session notes are recorded directly in the portal, does the agency have the opportunity to print out those notes for the files?
Yes – agency admins mayf t run/print the child treatment log or therapist activity reports.
How will SEIT services be recorded in the Portal?
SEIT sessions are to be entered on the weekly attendance calendar.
Do we still need to maintain hard copy of notes in file for audit purposes? If so, will hard copy represent original signature not a copy of signature?
We recommend that providers maintain back up copy of treatment logs entered into the CPSE Portal system. This is considered good practice, just as just as you should keep copies of your taxes after filing with the IRS. Treatment logs can be saved to an electronic file (PDF) and stored on a computer of other storage device.
Alternatively, you can choose to print them out on paper.
The treatment logs will indicate they were signed digitally, which is considered an original signature.
Can service providers generate daily session notes and progress reports on the CPSE Portal?
Session notes can be entered daily. Additionally, reports are available to generate electronic (PDF format) or paper versions of the session notes.
For service setting/ location, is full address entered if the child is seen at home? For daycare, the webinar said just to put the name of daycare.
Ideally, yes. We suggest providers use the enrollment “defaults” mechanism to prefill the setting and location with defaults for each attendance in which case this is minimal effort.
However, if the address where the service was provided by another means, such as the child’s home is documented in the IEP or other means, then using just “home” would suffice.
The combination of Setting and Location should satisfy requirements described in Medicaid Q&A http://www.oms.nysed.gov/medicaid/q_and_a #105 & #164
What will be the agency requirements for service provision documentation retention once processing services in this system begins?
The requirements have not changed.
Do notes accept clinical jargon?
Yes.
Can sessions from early mornings and evenings be entered into the system?
Yes – early morning and evening sessions may be entered on the weekly attendance calendar, however, will not appear on the weekly attendance calendar due to time range – these entries may be found and edited on the Review and Sign Attendance screen.
Is the ICD code the same code used on the child's prescription form?
It should be the principle diagnosis for this particular session/service, which could be the one on the script.
Does the note section on the attendance form replace the daily session notes or is this summary note in addition to the daily session note forms?
The information entered into the website is the session note. This will replace current paper forms.
Do I need to fill out "classroom attendance" if I'm seeing a child in a private preschool as a RS provider? (only child I see there, not the whole class)
No, Classroom Attendance is for children in a tuition center based program, not related service children.
The tutorials discuss signing and unsigning session notes. However, it is unclear as to whether family/caregiver is part of the process as has been.
The signing and unsigning mentioned in the tutorials refers to the Therapist’s digital signature, not a parent signature.
Parent signatures will be done on paper.
The county will be sending county specific information in regard to parental signatures.
Will this program include our quarterly progress notes/ discharges, and other requests for either increasing or decreasing service levels?
No, this will not include these.
Will all billing be completely electronic for all CPSE services with the new system? Are all paper forms being eliminated? Stac – 1, Stac – 5, CLR-2(R)?
No, these are still on paper. This process has not changed.
Will quarterly or annual review reports for children be done in this system?
No.
What is the program code for classrooms?
The program code is their SED program code.
Some districts require us to update therapy goals 2x/yr - will this program include this or will it remain the way it is now?
No, this program will not include this. It will remain as it is now.
How does a service provider bill for “coordination”?
In order to bill non-treatment sessions, you would create the entry on the weekly attendance calendar, however:
*Use NOICD for diagnosis code.
*Use NOCPT for CPT code.
*Check the box to indicate this does not meet Medicaid Requirements because it is not a treatment session.
*In the session notes section, you may indicate “coordination”, “CPSE meeting”, or any other description that describes what you are billing.
Is this strictly for documentation or does it replace IEP direct?
No, this does not replace IEP direct.
In order for me to fill in CPT and ICD codes I will need them for (Counseling & Parent Training).
We cannot provide guidance on what CPT and ICD codes are appropriate. However, if there is no applicable CPT or ICD codes, use NOCPT OR NOICD, respectively.
What happens if a therapist forgets to document a session from (date) but we have already submitted sessions on a voucher for that month?
The agency is able to include the session on a separate voucher and submit to the county.
Are therapists supposed to enter data during the session time?
No.
Who is going to inform the families/teachers and justify the subtraction/detraction of the treatment time?
Treatment time is for treatment. It should not be reduced with this process. The session can be documented after the session as it is currently done.
When beginning to use the Portal will written back-up also be necessary?
You will not need to submit written backup to the County with billing.
If you are taking hand-written notes contemporaneously, and then entering the data at a much later date by transcribing from the paper note, you should maintain the paper backup.
If a therapist forgets to document a session, can they complete it the next week? Next month?
Yes, the therapist may complete as soon after session as is possible.
How much is actually mandatory to be completed.... daily attendance, notes, monthly attendance....?
Per SED regulations, each session must be documented with a complete session note.
If therapist does a double session one regular / one make up – Do they create 2 separate attendances?
Yes, two separate sessions would be created.
For the make up session, make sure to check the make up box and then enter the date being made up for.
Will the portal be used for any evaluation data?
No.
Are there any attendance codes, such as Family Cancel or Therapist Cancel? How do we document cancelled sessions/Holidays?
No. For your own tracking purposes, you may enter any non-billable sessions under the Activities menu->Activity Management. This menu is completely optional.
Is the attendance date stamped?
Yes.
What download capability will there be for the data that will be stored in this system? Electronic files of Provider Service provision data – child attendance, provider hours worked, session notes, etc… What file formats of the electronic data will be made available to us: PDF, Excel, CSV?
There are different reports in the system – The treatment log notes are PDF – there are a couple of others that are Excel.
How long do you have access to see a child in the system?
For at least 2 years after the end of the school year.
Is there a time limit for un-signing notes other than once vouchered?
No.
Our agency “audits” all therapist claims for accuracy prior to billing the county. How can our agency continue to monitor the accuracy of our therapists when they provide the data that is used for the vouchers?
Since the bills being generated are coming from the agency, not the therapist, and the agency tax ID# is the payee, is there a mechanism to ensure accuracy?
The “audits” will be done on the Review and Sign Attendance screen.
This screen will flag errors made in the attendance entry process. An error message would prevent signing of the entry. A warning is simply that – the provider is warned but is still able to complete the signature.
Are overlaps between providers identified?
Yes – a warning message will appear on the Review and Sign Attendance screen but does not prevent signing.
I have the CLAIMS program by McGuinness. My therapists all have access to “EnterClaims”. How is the CPSE Portal billing is done by an agency who is using CLAIMS?
Therapists do not need to log into the CPSE Portal as they will enter all the information into EnterClaims.
CLAIMS then has a syncing process to link your Children, Enrollments and therapists – so no maintenance or caseload set up is needed.
Then, for billing you will upload your Voucher to the Portal and submit it.
How can Therapists use EnterClaims if (County) is not set up in Enter Claims yet?
Attendance can be entered into EnterClaims as long as there are Enrollments available for the Therapist that have been exported. It is not on a County basis.
Do we enter attendance in CLAIMS? If yes, will the voucher #’s that are in system created by the CPSE Portal be the same as the Voucher #’s created in CLAIMS?
Attendance can be entered into EnterClaims by the Therapist and billed to the Portal using the Voucher Number you Choose.
Or attendance can be entered into CPSE portal by the Therapist. Manually entered into CLAIMS by the Agency, and billed to match the attendances that your Therapists entered in the Portal, using the Voucher Number you Choose.
If you have additional questions regarding this – you should contact your CLAIMS Client Relationship Manager.
How will parent/guardian signatures/initials be collected?
There will be forms for collecting the signatures to verify the sessions.
The parents are not signing the treatment logs, but rather a separate form to verify the date and time of the session.
The format of the form varies from county to county.
However, the form provides for a single page to collect a month’s worth of signatures for a particular child.
What is a voucher?
A voucher is a collection of attendances submitted to the County for payment. Other terms for it could be a bill or an invoice.
How do we choose a billing date?
You would use the date that you are creating the invoice.
Does it have to be only one service type per voucher, i.e. for Sept. 2017, one voucher for Speech, another for OT, and another for PT – OR – can I place them all on the same voucher? Presently using paper, they all have to be separate vouchers.
Nothing changes with this process.
Will the county allow the use of electronic invoices?
The voucher will be submitted electronically to the county.
If so, will the system create the electronic invoice?
Yes.
If electronic billing is utilized will there be any paper billing sent to the county? Also, how often will the billing be submitted?
All county specific information in regard to billing and documentation will be sent to you by the county.
Who cuts the checks for payment?
The County. The actual payment/reimbursement process from the County is not changing. The part that is changing is how the County receives the billing and session information.
The webinar did not go over how to research issues and rebilling.
If the provider makes a mistake on the original attendance entry which has been submitted on a voucher (and the county has denied it), the provider may request that entry be removed from the original voucher so entry may be unsigned and then corrected / rebilled.
There is a
Knowledge Base article which outlines process.
Will a transcript of the training videos and webinar be available to print out or download?
We will have a recording of the Webinar available.
Will a PDF of the Webinar materials be made available? If so, how do we get a copy?
Yes – the webinar will be made available sometime next week – please check in Knowledge Base.
What other additional training is available?
There are many recorded webinars and tutorials in Knowledge Base that may be referenced as well as support staff via email.