Onboarding Overview
Onboarding Checklist
This document is intended as a quick reference for health service providers currently onboarding to the MHA PDS.
What does it mean to "onboard" to the MHA PDS?
The MHA PDS is a set of data collected by service providers and submitted to the Ontario Health. Onboarding to the MHA PDS means that service providers at your organization have begun collecting the MHA PDS data elements within your PDS-compliant client management system, and your vendor has connected your client management system to the Ontario Health MHA PDS repository to begin ongoing submission.
What is a PDS-compliant system?
Software vendors have partnered with Ontario Health to submit data directly from their customers' client management systems (CMS) to the MHA PDS repository. Compliant systems have been built to capture all necessary MHA PDS data elements within the front-end screens/workflows service providers use to manage their clients (registration/intake, service delivery, discharge, etc.), as well automatically submit MHA PDS data to Ontario Health in the required format.
There are currently four PDS-compliant systems available to service providers: CaseWORKS (VitalHub), CRMS, EMHware, and TREAT (VitalHub).
How do I begin collecting the MHA PDS?
If you are not already using a PDS-compliant system, please read more information on CMS migrations here.
If you are already using a PDS-compliant system, begin by understanding the data elements within the MHA PDS. Then, reach out to your vendor to initiate the process of adding these data elements to your CMS screens and workflows. Your vendor should provide materials and training. When your organization is ready, add the MHA PDS data elements to your live CMS environment and allow service providers to begin collecting the data.
This process may take some time.
How to I begin submitting the MHA PDS to Ontario Health?
The high-level steps for this process include:
- Make a MHA PDS Plan
- Complete the Client Information Form
- Sign off on legal agreements
- Wait for Ontario Health to configure the connection between your CMS and the MHA PDS repository
- Test the connection
- Enable the connection to allow ongoing submission (go live)
Many of these steps are facilitated by your CMS vendor. Service providers may begin collecting the MHA PDS before all the submission-related steps are completed.
What happens after I begin submitting the MHA PDS?
Organizations will be given access to MHA PDS Provider Reports through an Ontario Health reporting portal. DATIS will check in with all submitting service providers 3 months after they go live to introduce the portal, reports and discuss preliminary data quality.
