PIMS Resource Center

 
Configuring User Accounts
Last updated 13 Sep 2011 RR

PIMS allows you to manage access to data by setting up user accounts.  You can continue to use the login pims admin for full access to data.  For each staff member entered into the Staff Information Form, you can create an additional user account which allows staff to see only the participants in their current caseload.  Specifically,

  • FAWs can only access the Assessment Form of participants they have assessed (i.e., the FAW ID field in the Assessment Form of the participant matches the user’s login name) and cases that have been transferred to them after a screen (i.e., the Transfer Case to FAW for Assessment field in the Screening Form of the participant matches the user’s login name)
  • FSWs can access all records of a participant if they are the current FSW assigned to the case (i.e., the FSW in the Intake Form or the Info Change Form, whichever is most recent, matches the user’s login name)
  • All staff other than pims admin can only open the following reports and view summary data on their own participants:
    • Child and Corresponding Participant Listing
    • Contact History
    • Contact Log
    • Home Visit Activities for Participants Served
    • Monthly Data Summary Sheet
    • Participant Information Sheet

When you first install PIMS, the only login account available is the default administrator, pims admin.  If your staff is not required to enter their own data, or your site is not required to comply with HIPAA regulations, you may choose to give the administrator login to anyone entering data in PIMS.  To create additional accounts, you will need to follow the steps below.

Technical Configuration

PIMS security is managed through the file system_user.mdw.  By default, this file will be installed in on every computer where the PIMS program resides.  In order to implement the user-based security system, you will need to create a copy of system_user.mdw file on your network server, and then configure each desktop PIMS installation to recognize the location of this system file.

To do this:

  1. Make a copy of the PIMS workgroup file (typically at C:\Program Files\pims7\system_user.mdw) on your server.  You may want to put this in the same folder as your PIMS data table (pimstab.mdb).
  2. On each local workstation, right-click on Shortcut to PIMS 7 and select Properties.
  3. The PIMS 7 Properties window opens.  Click on the Shortcut tab.
  4. Put your cursor in the target: box, which should read something like:
  5. "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSACCESS.EXE" "C:\Program Files\pims7\pims.mde" /runtime /wrkgrp "C:\Program Files\pims7\system_user.mdw" /user pims admin
  6. Modify the workgroup section of the target.  Your new target should look something like the following, substituting H:\PIMS\system_user.mdw for your own network path:
  7.  "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSACCESS.EXE" "C:\Program Files\pims7\pims.mde" /runtime /wrkgrp "H:\PIMS\system_user.mdw" /user pims admin
  8. You can also customize the default user login.  For example, if you’re setting up PIMS on a computer used by staff member A003, you would substitute A003 for pims admin.  Note that you will also need to configure the account for A003 (see the following section):
    "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSACCESS.EXE" "C:\Program Files\pims7\pims.mde" /runtime /wrkgrp "C:\Program Files\pims7\system_user.mdw" /user A003

Setting Up User Accounts

Once you have set up your workgroup file, you can then configure and manage user accounts across your site.  Typically, one or more PIMS users will continue to log in as pims admin, and will be able to configure additional staff-level accounts:

  1. If you haven’t done so already, enter your staff data in the Staff Information Entry Form.  The Staff ID you enter can be used as a new login, and this account will be active provided a Date First Provided Service is entered and no Termination Date is entered.
  2. From the navigation bar, click on Main Menu.
  3. Click on the Accounts Manager button.
  4. The Staff Accounts Manager form will open.  Any staff you have entered in step 1 above should be listed in the window.  To create an account, select the staff member by Staff Code, and click on Create Account.  Note that the Create Account button will only be visible if this staff person has an Employment Date but no Termination Date.
  5. The New Account Password window will open.  Enter a default first-time password for this staff member (minimum five characters) and click OK.
  6. Back in the Staff Accounts Manager form, you should verify that staff appears under Account Type for this particular staff member.  The staff member now can log in to PIMS using their Staff Code and password you just assigned.

 

config_user_01

For each staff member, you can also complete the following additional actions:

  • Change Password.  You can change the password of any user in the system.  After clicking this button, you will be prompted to enter a new password for the currently selected staff member (minimum five characters).
  • Give Admin Rights.  This gives administrative rights to the selected staff member.  This allows the user to access all participant records, view all reports, manage accounts, and administer security features of the database.
  • Remove Admin Rights.  This removes administrative rights from the selected staff member.  A staff member that has lost administrative rights will have an account type of “staff”.
  • Delete Account.  This removes the user from the staff and/or admin groups.  The user will no longer have any access to PIMS.

Other Account Options

  • Participant Component Access Only- As in previous versions of PIMS, a user can log in as pims staff. This will give them access to the entire Participant Data Entry section of the database, but not the Program Data Entry or Site Definitions sections.
  • Read Access Only- To provide a user with read-only access to the PIMS database, have your network administrator set access privileges for the back-end database (“pimstab.mdb”) to read-only for those users who need this access.

Managing Passwords

Once their account has been set up, each staff member will be able to manage their own password.  To do this:

  • From the navigation bar, click on Main Menu.
  • Click on Change Password.
  • Enter the Old Password, New Password, and Confirm New Password.
  • Click Change Password.  The next time you log into PIMS, the new password will take effect.

 
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