Fax a Purchase Order Version

Contents

Overview

You will want to communicate some purchase orders to vendors via FAX. This section describes the methods, the setup steps, and the basic procedures.

The methods of faxing a purchase order are:

• Use the automatic FAX feature.
  This feature sends a PO as a FAX to a vendor buy-from location automatically when the PO is authorized. You can use automatic faxing with a regular, blanket, or standing purchase order.
  - The automatic faxing feature requires no additional equipment or software beyond what a site currently uses for the system.
  
  Similar to EDI, automatic faxing from within the system is a "pass through" communication: information is transmitted from a hospital to a vendor via the system host. A nominal per-page fee applies to faxes generated with the automatic fax.
  
  To use automatic faxing, you must contact the Help Desk so that the feature can be turned on for your site. Also, you need to include the FAX number for the vendor buy-from location in the buy-from location record.
  
  
• FAX a copy of a purchase order manually using your existing printers that have FAX capability.
  You may have a local or network printer at your site that is equipped to send and receive faxes. If so, you can fax a PO using WinFax� PRO. Using WinFax PRO is very much like printing to a fax printer, except that you have more options. Information on how to acquire WinFax PRO is at the end of this section.

Security

ePHI Features -- Bill-Only Purchase Orders

Features are built into the system to ensure the privacy of electronic protected health information (ePHI), in compliance with HIPAA requirements. One applicable area is faxing (and printing) of bill-only purchase orders which contain patient-identifying data (on the Case Info panel).

On a User Profile, the Hide ePHI Data field determines whether a user can access patient data. When Hide ePHI Data is checked, a detailed series of restrictions apply to the user's access to ePHI records. Patient information in the PO FAX feature is subject to restrictions governed by this User Profile field.

In sum, if Hide ePHI Data is checked, the system does not display patient-identifying information.

The list of restrictions and examples is outlined in the ePHI documentation.

User Access to Purchase Orders

To access organization, department, or asset location data, the organization, department, or asset location must be included in your data profile.

The "Purchasing" role object setting Create (or All) allows you to create and copy purchase orders.

Use the automatic FAX feature - setup

Once the Help Desk has enabled automatic faxing for your site, you need to make sure that the vendor buy-from location record contains a FAX number.

To enter the FAX number on a buy-from location record:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Vendors > Vendors.
   The list of vendors appears.
2. Locate the vendor of interest
3. Select Menu > Buy-From Locations.
   Locate the buy-from location to which you will be faxing POs.
4. Click Menu > Edit or . The buy-from location record appears (Figure 1).

Figure 1 - Vendor Buy-From Location Record Main Tab

5. On the Main tab, enter a FAX number in the field Contact Fax No.
6. Click Save, and Submit.
   The buy-from location is ready for you to send faxes.

To fax a purchase order automatically:

1. Select a purchase order generated by the system, or create the purchase order manually. (See Create a Purchase Order Manually, if needed.)
2. Edit the purchase order.
   Note: To edit a purchase order, from the Purchase Orders list, click the edit icon next to the PO.)
3. In the PO Comm Type field, select Fax (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - Setting the PO Comm Type So That the PO Is Automatically Faxed

4. Enter lines on the PO for the items that you are ordering.
   When you are finished entering lines...

• To authorize and send the PO as a FAX right away, click Authorize Now.
• Or, to authorize the PO later, and send it as a fax, click Authorize Later.
  The PO will be available from the list of POs ready for authorization. (From Materials Management select Purchasing > Authorize PO.)
  On the Purchase Orders List:
  Clicking Menu > Authorize PO authorizes the purchase order, and, if you select the box Send Fax Now, also faxes it.
  Clicking Menu > Send/Resend EDI/Fax POs faxes the PO.

You can view the PO Comm Type on the PO Inquiry panel for any purchase order.

• In the Purchase Orders list, click the i next to a PO number. The PO inquiry appears.
• On top, click the PO tab. The PO General panel appears on the bottom.
  The PO Comm Type is included on the left of the General panel.

The FAX Cover Sheet

For automatically-faxed purchase orders, the system generates the FAX cover sheet from information supplied on the purchase order itself. Figure 3 is a typical FAX cover sheet and purchase order. The figure shows the fields on the cover sheet that correspond to fields on the PO.

Figure 3 - FAX Cover Sheet and Purchase Order

Automatic Authorization of FAXed POs

Some sites find it efficient, for selected vendors, to let the system automatically authorize and send generated FAX purchase orders. One efficient use of automatic authorization involves purchase orders that are generated from requisitions imported from dispensing units (such as Pyxis).

Note: Manually-created purchase orders cannot be auto-authorized.

Security: To set up automatic authorization, you need permission established in your user profile for purchase order authorization and for scheduling jobs. You may also need access to Tables (if you need to create Scheduled Job Groups to assign to buy-from locations).

To use auto-authorization, you must configure the vendor buy-from location. (The topic Working With Vendor Information explains the fields on the vendor Buy-From Location panel.) Then, you create a scheduled job to run the authorization.

1. On the Vendor Buy-From Location panel:

• Make sure that the PO Transmission Method is FAX.
• Select the field Auto Authorize Fax POs on the vendor Buy-From Location panel.
  Important: If this field is not selected, the system cannot automatically authorize a FAX PO for the buy-from location. In this situation, a system note is written to the PO.
• Select a value in the Vendor Order Cycle field.
  Automatic authorization works together with the Vendor Order Cycle established for a vendor buy-from location. For each purchase order to be automatically authorized, when the auto-authorization job runs, the system looks for a Vendor Order Cycle for the PO's buy-from location.

- If no Vendor Order Cycle is established, the system assumes "today" and authorizes the PO.
- If a Vendor Order Cycle exists and is valid for the current day, the system authorizes the purchase order.
- Otherwise, the system does nothing until the auto-authorize job runs again. Then the PO is evaluated again, and compared with the Vendor Order Cycle value.

• If you are authorizing FAX purchase orders for groups of vendors, select a Scheduled Job Group.

2. Using the job scheduler, create a batch job -- Process Auto Authorize Fax PO -- that authorizes and sends the POs.
   

Details on the setup process are in this topic: Auto-Authorize EDI, email, or FAX POs by Buy-From Location.

Hospitals that use auto-authorization of FAX POs often find it efficient to create a daily scheduled job to run the authorization before the earliest vendor order cutoff time. If you are setting up auto-authorization for POs based on imported requisitions, be sure to schedule the auto-authorization job so that its timing meshes correctly with the timing of the requisition import.

Note: Stat POs (created from Stat requisitions) are not included in the automatic authorization unless the Auto Authorize Stat POs flag has been set on the asset location record.

Purchase Order Auto Authorization Status field

The Auto Authorization Status field on the Purchase Order edit Other tab provides information about authorization status and eligibility. Values are:
Not evaluated - Default value for FAX POs. The PO's vendor buy-from location has not been evaluated. If the PO is an auto authorize FAX PO, the auto authorization process updates this value when the scheduled authorization job runs.
Not eligible - The PO is not a FAX PO.
Eligible - The PO is a FAX PO and the buy-from location is set to auto authorize.

The Automatic FAX Log

You can get detailed data from the FAX log on automatic faxes that you send. If you have administrator privileges, you can get information on all faxes for your site.

To view the log of your faxes:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Purchasing > Purchase Orders (by PO) or Purchase Orders (by Create Date).
   The list of POs ordered by PO number or by create date (as you selected) appears.
2. Locate the purchase order of interest in the Purchase Orders list.
3. Click Menu > View Faxes. The FAX log for the PO appears (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - The Outbound FAX Log for a Purchase Order

The FAX log lets you check the vendor buy-from location (Recipient) and the Contact, the Fax Number, and other information:

• The Fax Status identifies the "send" status of a fax. Values are:
  OK - the FAX was sent successfully.
  Staged - the FAX is pending.
  Sending - the FAX is being sent.
  Sent - the FAX has been sent.
  Error message - a problem exists with the fax, and it cannot be sent.
  Fax Pending - the FAX is queued for sending, but has not been sent.
  Faxing Error - the FAX has a problem and cannot be sent.

These columns may be useful for trouble-shooting:

• Pages Sent is the number of pages faxed, including the cover sheet.
• Sent Date is the date and time when the user authorized the PO to send the fax.
• Completion Time is the system date and time when the FAX actually was sent. Since network and phone system factors are involved, the Completion Time will normally be slightly different from the Sent Date.
• The time difference between Sent Date and Completion Time is in Duration.

To view the administrator's FAX log:

1. From the Work in Administration menu, select EDI/Fax Management.
2. Select PO Faxes. The list of faxes appears. (Figure 5).
   - You can sort on Organization, PO Number, and other values.
   - You can create a report by clicking Quick Report on the top right of the list. With a Quick Report, you can generate the total number of faxed pages.
   - You can also create a spreadsheet version of the report, and perform spreadsheet calculations on the data.

Figure 5 - Administrator's FAX Log

FAX via existing printers that have FAX capability

Sending a FAX from a printer is almost as simple as printing. Here are some notes to get you started.

• For network printers with FAX capability, users must have the authority to fax from the printer via the network.
• You can set up network printers for faxing using the MS Windows Print dialog box.
• For local printers with FAX capability, the setup is the same as for a network printer, but you don't need to be concerned about users' authority to fax over the network.

To send a FAX from a local or network printer:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Purchasing > Purchase Orders (by PO) or Purchase Orders (by Create Date).
   The list of POs ordered by PO number or by create date (as you selected) appears.
2. Locate the PO of interest.
3. Next to the PO, click Print PO. Adobe Acrobat Reader opens and the PO appears -- ready for printing or faxing.
4. Select File > Print from the Microsoft Internet Explorer Menu bar. The Print dialog box appears.
   
   Important: Do not click the printer icon. The printer icon does not let you select the FAX printer from the printers you have set up on your PC, nor does it give you the FAX options.

5. On the Print dialog box, use the drop list following Name to select the printer that you know has FAX capabilities.
6. Select Properties. Use the drop list following Print/Fax Job Type to select Fax, as shown in Figure 6.
   
   




Figure 6 - Print Dialog Box for Sending a FAX

7. Click OK. The Properties window closes.
8. Click OK again. The Printer window closes and the Fax Setup dialog opens. (See Figure 7.)



Figure 7 - FAX Setup Dialog

• Select the Fax tab to identify the recipient of the fax.

- Enter the recipient's name in the Name: field and the FAX number in the Fax # field.

- Select the Cover Page box if you wish to include a cover page.

• If your FAX includes a cover page, select the Cover Page tab to configure the cover page.
• If you would like a confirmation of your fax, go to the Options tab and select Generate Confirmation Report After Send.
• To get more information about FAX setup choices, click the Help button on the Fax Setup panel.

9. When you have finished setting options, click OK to send the fax.

Fax via WinFax™ PRO

If you do not have WinFax™ PRO on your local system or network, see the discussion below. The following instructions explain how to set up WinFax PRO and send a fax.

To set up WinFax PRO:

1. Open the WinFax Message Manager and start the Program Setup. Follow this path: Message Manager > Tools > Setup > Program Setup.
2. Select options for your FAX transmission. The following are some of the options:

General tab:

Dialing - Off-peak schedules faxes to be sent during off-peak hours, when long distance rates might be lower.

Location - Sets your area code. Also, you can set options that specify your modem; tell WinFax whether or not to use a dialing prefix; use "9" to access an outside line; or blocking call waiting.

Calling Card - Set up calling card numbers and pins.

Modems and Other Fax Devices - Sets up modems or network sharing.

Microsoft Exchange/Outlook icon - Sets either Outlook or MS Exchange as your mail system. You can use your mail system for Contact FAX numbers, for keeping copies of faxes that you send, and for keeping confirmations that you receive when faxes are delivered.

User icon - Sets up your identification, i.e. name, company name, your FAX number and voice number, and the identifier of the PC you are sending from.

Send icon - Specifies the use of a FAX wizard, or no wizard, whenever you fax a document.

Printer Driver - Sets Orientation to Landscape or Portrait. Set Landscape if you are only going to use WinFax for faxing Purchase Orders. If you select Landscape with Printer Driver, you will not have to change it each time you fax a Purchase Order.

To make all of these settings, you can choose Properties or use the Guided Setup.

To fax purchase orders using WinFax PRO:

In the first few steps, using WinFax is the same as printing to a FAX printer. When you are setting up the FAX itself, or at any time afterwards, you can ask WinFax to walk you through the process using a wizard.

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Purchasing > Purchase Orders. The Quick Click menu appears.
2. Under I would like to..., select Print PO.
3. Enter the PO number in the PO No field under For...
4. Click Go. Adobe Acrobat Reader opens and the PO appears -- ready for printing or faxing.
5. Select File > Print from the Microsoft Internet Explorer Menu bar. The print dialog box appears.
6. In the printer name drop down box, select WinFax.
7. Click the Properties button and change the Orientation to Landscape.

   Note: You can specify Landscape permanently in your Program Settings. Setting it permanently works best for Purchase Orders.

8. Select OK.

WinFax prompts you for a recipient name, FAX number, and company. You can type these in, select them from a saved phone book, or select them from Contacts in you Microsoft Outlook Address Book.

9. Enter the information for the FAX destination, and click OK.

If you are not using the wizard to walk through the setup, the WinFax PRO Send dialog appears.

10. Enter the FAX recipients' names and FAX numbers. You can also select them from Microsoft Outlook/Exchange, or from your personal phone book.

• Click Microsoft Outlook/Exchange or Phonebook (in the upper right of the dialog) to open it.

- If you are using Outlook/Exchange, expand the window. You will see the Address Book, and, under that, Contacts containing the contacts you have entered.

Note: For the FAX number to be available to WinFax, it must be set up in Outlook as Other Fax Number. You may wish to edit your Contact entries if you do not have FAX numbers in the correct field for WinFax use.

• Locate the name of the FAX recipient(s).
• Double click on the name. WinFax puts the name and number in the recipient fields.

11. Change any options as needed using the menu bar at the top of the box. (You have probably set many of these options already.)
12. Click Send. WinFax displays a cover page filler.
13. Complete the cover page filler, or click Send to bypass the cover page. WinFax sends your fax.

For more information on WinFax cover pages, click Help on the WinFax dialog box.

14. To see a log of your fax, go to the Message Manager and select the Send Log icon (on the left).

• If your FAX was transmitted successfully, you will see a log in the window.
• If your FAX remains in the Outbox, WinFax was not able to send it successfully. In this case, check your recipient information and your options settings. If you cannot determine the source of the problem, speak to your site's information systems personnel.

When you fax (or print) a purchase order, the way the PO lines are ordered depends on whether the PO is bill only, or non-bill-only, and whether any of the lines are receiptless. Here is a summary:

• Non-bill-only purchase order, non-file and file lines, receipts required and receiptless: lines print in line-number order.
• Bill-only purchase order, non-file and file lines, receipts required and receiptless: lines are grouped by receipt required and receiptless. Within each group, the lines are printed in line-number order.

About WinFax PRO

WinFax PRO is a Symantec product (http://www.symantec.com). The package is available from various online software retailers. The current version is Version 10.0.

The product runs under Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows NT.

Memory requirements are:
- 32 MB RAM for Windows 98, and Me (64MB recommended)
- 64 MB RAM for Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, 2000, and XP Professional (128MB recommended).

Hard disk requirements are:
- 70 MB hard disk space for Windows 2000 and NT
- 1.5 GB hard disk space for Windows 98, Me, and XP Professional for the full install.

Symantec WinFax Starter Edition is included with Outlook 98, and Outlook 2000. WinFax Starter Edition is a "light" version of the product. You have automatic access to WinFax SE when you install Microsoft Outlook 2000 in Internet Mail Only (IMO) mode. The WinFax Starter Edition Setup Wizard runs automatically to configure your modem.

Symantec offers an upgrade from the Starter Edition to the full WinFax PRO 10.0 product.

WinFax PRO supports multiple address books, and it can automatically link to Microsoft Outlook, making all the address book entries immediately available. Users can use their Contacts phone numbers to send the Purchase Orders to the numbers that they have stored for all their vendors. WinFax Pro also supports sharing of faxes in a network.

After upgrading to WinFax PRO, if you are using Outlook 98 in IMO mode, WinFax PRO can use the Outlook 98 Contact list (as long as you are not sharing it across a network.) The FAX number for each list member must be in the Other fax field and voice number in the Primary Phone field. You can manually copy the FAX number to the Other fax field, or use a utility to move the number(s) to the appropriate field(s). Note that the utility moves, not copies, the numbers. If you have the Outlook 98 CD, you'll find this utility in the \Valupack\Winfax folder.

Important: The WinFax Starter Edition is not supported in Outlook 2003 IMO mode and will be uninstalled by the Outlook upgrade routine, if you are upgrading Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2003. Outlook 2003 does not contain any integrated Fax program.

Re-Faxing a Purchase Order

Purchase orders that have been faxed and not acknowledged can be re-faxed. Figure 8 is an example: the PO has a PO Comm Type of Fax and the Communication Status is Sent (not Acknowledged). This PO can be re-faxed if needed.

Figure 8 - PO Inquiry for a Faxed PO

To re-fax a PO:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Purchasing > Purchase Orders.
   The list of purchase orders appears.
2. Locate the PO of interest on the list.
3. Click Menu > Send/Resend EDI/Fax PO's.
   A confirmation panel appears.
4. Click Submit to re-fax the PO.
   (Clicking Cancel cancels the re-fax.)

When you re-fax a purchase order, the FAX cover sheet displays the message: "RE-FAXED PURCHASE ORDER - DO NOT DUPLICATE."

The Purchase Orders list includes the Re-Faxed column which indicates whether the PO has been re-faxed. (Figure 9). The total number of times the purchase order has been faxed is in parentheses. This field is empty when a PO has been faxed only initially (i.e., never re-faxed), or not faxed at all.

Figure 9 - Re-Faxed Column on the Purchase Orders List

The Faxed Outbound Log displays the column Re Fax (Figure 10). This column contains Yes if the purchase order has been faxed more than once

Figure 10 - Re Fax Column on the Outbound Log

To access the Faxed Outbound Log for a purchase order:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Purchasing > Purchase Orders.
   The list of purchase orders appears.
2. Locate the PO of interest on the list.
3. Click Menu > View Faxes.
   Faxes for the purchase order appear on a list. Each element in the list is an instance of faxing/re-faxing the PO.

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