Overlapping Staff Times
There are many factors to consider when addressing the issue of overlapping staff times in HPC. There are times when an overlap is desired when there is a 2:1 staff/client ratio. Two different staff will log in at different times at the same location, maybe only a few minutes apart, and there will be a 1:1 ratio for those first few minutes, then a 2:1 ratio after the 2nd staff clocks in. The same could easily occur at clock out.
Then there are other times when overlaps occur that are not so desirable. For example, when one staff hasn't clocked out before another staff clocks in at the same location. There may be only be a few minutes of overlap in these situations, but since the 2:1 ratio is not acceptable in these cases it can create a problem when it comes to Medicaid billing.
In all cases, any overlaps of 7 minutes or less will be ignored. Overlaps of 8 minutes or more will be included in the Medicaid billing. Since we have to consider the total minutes of the entire shift, any "start of shift" overlaps are combined with "end of shift" overlaps. For example, a 4 minute overlap when clocking in will be added to a 5 minute overlap when clocking out, so a total of 9 minutes would be 1 unit of 2:1.
If the overlaps that create a 2:1 ratio are not desirable, it will be up to the Provider to have it's own internal business process to deal with this. Maybe staff are instructed not to clock in until the the other staff clocks out. Or a manager may have to manually adjust the times to eliminate the unwanted overlaps.