Service Log Help | Group Service Logs | Export Log Data | Minutes Report | Service Log FAQ
Jump to the Medi-Cal billing FAQ or open Medi-Cal Billing with SIRAS Service Logs for the SIRAS/MBT connection, enrollment, and billing-related information.
Questions in this FAQ
- How can I create a custom service-minutes report from service data?
- How does Medi-Cal billing work with SIRAS Service Logs?
- Why don't any logs appear when I search for a student?
- Why do I see “No records found” or “No applicable service data for specified period”?
- Why aren't absences appearing in my Minutes Report?
- Why is a student missing from the Minutes Report even though the student is in my Found Set?
- Why does the Minutes Report say more or fewer minutes were expected than I anticipated?
- If I run a report for an earlier period, does SIRAS use the services that were in effect at that time?
- Why are Expected Minutes an estimate?
- What if I don't want SIRAS to calculate the minutes?
How can I create a custom service-minutes report from service data?
If you need a custom report built from exported service information rather than the standard Service Minutes Report, see How can I create custom service minutes reports from exported service data?.
If you want SIRAS to calculate delivered-versus-expected Service Log minutes, use the Minutes Report instead.
How does Medi-Cal billing work with SIRAS Service Logs?
Districts using Medical Billing Technologies (MBT) can use SIRAS Service Logs as part of their Medi-Cal billing workflow.
Providers document services in SIRAS. When the district's SIRAS/MBT connection is enabled, applicable Service Log information can be provided directly to MBT through the backend connection. No Service Log export is required by the provider for the SIRAS/MBT connection.
For Service Logs used for Medi-Cal billing, start and end times are required.
For information about getting started, MBT enrollment, the SIRAS/MBT connection, and billing-related questions, see Medi-Cal Billing with SIRAS Service Logs.
For instructions on entering the Service Log itself, see Service Log Help.
Why don't any logs appear when I search for a student?
Check the Specific Log Dates criterion in the Service Log search.
If the search is set to show logs on or after a particular date, Service Logs dated before that date will not appear. Change the date to an earlier date and search again.
Check the Specific Log Dates criterion when older Service Logs are missing from the search results.
Why do I see “No records found” or “No applicable service data for specified period”?
Check the student's current service start and end dates on the MIS Summary page.
A service may be excluded from the report when:
- the service end date is before the report begin date; or
- the service start date is after the report end date.
For example, if the report ends April 28 but the student's current service begins May 3, that service does not overlap the reporting period and may not be included.
First verify that the dates on the MIS Summary page accurately reflect the student's current plan. If a temporary date adjustment is used for a specific reporting purpose, restore the correct service information immediately afterward and verify the student's MIS Summary.
Why aren't absences appearing in my Minutes Report?
Check whether Include Absent Logs is selected in the Minutes Report options.
Select Include Absent Logs when absent Service Log entries should be included in the report.
For ordinary local reporting, use this option according to the purpose of your report.
CDE-specific reporting requirements can differ from ordinary local reporting. Follow the current guidance in IEP Implementation Resources for SIRAS Districts.
Why is a student missing from the Minutes Report even though the student is in my Found Set?
The Found Set determines which students are available for the report, but the student's current services must also overlap the reporting period.
Check the service start and end dates on the student's MIS Summary page:
- If the current service starts after the report end date, the service may not be included.
- If the current service ended before the report begin date, the service may not be included.
This is the same date-overlap issue that can produce a “No applicable service data for specified period” message.
Why does the Minutes Report say more or fewer minutes were expected than I anticipated?
The Service Minutes Report calculates expected minutes using the student's current services on the MIS Summary page.
If a later meeting changes the duration or frequency of a service, the current service information can affect a report that is run for an earlier period.
For example:
- If a later meeting increases the required minutes, an earlier month may now appear to be under-delivered.
- If a later meeting decreases the required minutes, an earlier month may now appear to be over-delivered.
Consider running and retaining Minutes Reports on a regular schedule, such as monthly, when you need a record of how the report appeared before later service changes were entered.
If I run a report for an earlier period, does SIRAS use the services that were in effect at that time?
No. The Minutes Report uses the student's current service information when calculating expected minutes.
This means a report generated today for a prior reporting period can produce different expected-minute results after a later meeting changes the student's current services.
If you are researching a historical discrepancy, compare:
- the current services on the MIS Summary page;
- the reporting period used in the Minutes Report; and
- the student's archived plan or meeting information when you need to understand what services were in effect historically.
Why are Expected Minutes an estimate?
The Minutes Report must translate the student's current service frequency and duration into an estimate for the selected reporting period.
Several factors can affect that estimate:
- months contain different numbers of school days;
- school breaks affect the available instructional days;
- daily, weekly, and monthly service frequencies must be converted so they can be compared;
- services with infrequent schedules, such as yearly frequencies, do not always translate cleanly into a monthly expected-minute amount; and
- current service information is used when the report is generated.
Because of these factors, Expected Minutes should be treated as an estimate for monitoring purposes, particularly when a student has a complex mixture of service frequencies.
For the normal report procedure and available calculation options, see Minutes Report.
What if I don't want SIRAS to calculate the minutes?
Use Export Log Data when you want the underlying individual Service Log entries without the Minutes Report calculations.
This is useful when you need to inspect individual records or perform your own analysis outside the SIRAS Minutes Report.
