ABA data import

When your clinic moves its ABA caseload to NeatPractice, Setup > ABA Data Import brings the records over one file at a time. Each file imports in the background; the list on the page shows how each import went, lets you download the rows that were left out, and undoes a whole import while nothing depends on it yet.

You need permission to manage ABA settings to open the page, plus the permission each file needs: adding charts for learners, ABA plan: Author for programs, ABA data: Correct for data history, and managing authorizations for authorizations. See Roles and permissions.

Order of the files#

Import the files in this order, since each one finds what the earlier ones added:

1. Learners: the charts and their ABA episodes.
2. Programs: programs and targets on each learner's open ABA episode.
3. Data history: prior data points for those programs and targets.
4. Authorizations: payer approvals on each learner's coverage. Add the learners' coverages first, on the chart or through Data import.

Import a file#

1. Click the button for the file, such as Import Learners.
2. Choose a CSV file or an XLSX workbook (the first sheet is read). Blank template downloads the header row and Sample file a filled-in example with fictional learners.
3. If the file comes from another system's export, turn on The file comes from another system and pick the header the export uses for each column. Save the mapping under a name to reuse it next time; see Files from another system.
4. Check the preview. It counts the rows that add records, the rows that match what is already in NeatPractice, and lists by row number each row that will be left out and why.
5. Click Start Import. The import is queued and runs in the background; its row in the list shows Queued, then Running, then Completed or Failed.

Rows with problems are left out and the rest import. A problem with the file itself (a missing required column, an unreadable file) stops the whole import and nothing is added.

Finding learners#

Every file names its learner the same way. A row matches a chart by chart_number, then by external_id (the learner's id in your previous system, kept on the chart), then by last_name, first_name and date_of_birth. Only charts you can open are matched, merged charts never are, and a row that matches more than one chart is left out with a request for the chart number.

Learners#

One learner per row. A row that matches a chart only gains an ABA episode, and only when the learner has no open one. Any other row becomes a new chart, checked like a patient added by hand: first name, last name and date of birth are required, and a minor needs a legal guardian. Its external_id must not be on another chart. Every new chart gets an active ABA episode. Pick a Default location for the new charts if your clinic has several.

Adding learners needs access to every chart, not only your caseload, so that a learner you cannot see is never added twice.

Programs and targets#

One target per row, on the learner's open ABA episode, read exactly like Import learner programs: a program the plan does not hold yet becomes a draft, and a program of the same name gains only the targets it lacks.

Data history#

One data point per row, with the columns program (required), target, date (required), value (required), phase and note.

• program names one of the learner's programs; target names one of its targets and is required when the program has targets.
• value is in the program's measure, such as a percent for a discrete trial program or a count for frequency.
• phase is baseline, intervention, generalization or maintenance; empty uses the target's current phase.

Imported points are marked imported and graph like any other. They belong to no session and never create, change or sign a session note. The first point locks the program's data settings, as recorded data does. A row whose point was already imported (same program, target, date and value) is counted as already there and not added again.

Authorizations#

One service line per row. Rows of one learner that share an authorization_number, start_date and end_date make one authorization with a line per row; a row without a number is an authorization of its own.

The authorization lands on the learner's coverage with that payer on the start date, for the ABA discipline and the learner's open ABA episode. An authorization already recorded with the same number and dates is counted as already there. See Authorizations for how approvals are used.

Error files and undo#

Open an import's actions in the list:

• Download error file saves a CSV of the rows that were left out, with each row number and problem. Fix those rows in your source file and import them again.
• Undo import takes back everything that import added: data points are deleted with the reason Import undone., authorizations, targets, episodes and charts are deleted, and imported draft programs are archived. Undo is all or nothing: when something already builds on the records (a chart with appointments or a coverage, a program made active or holding data, an authorization already scheduled or used), the import stays and NeatPractice says what is in use. Undo later imports first.