Purge Customer

  1. Access Administration Center.

  2. On the sidebar Purge menu, click Purge Customer.

For information about security rights, see Important Note about Security Rights later in this topic.

Use Purge Customer to permanently delete data you no longer need in your system. In addition to helping you manage the size of your database, purging data enables you to comply with regulations around HIPAA.

 

If a customer has active policies or has ever had accounting transactions, you cannot purge that customer. Consider purging the customer's Activities. See the Requirements section in this topic for more information.

Purge Customers removes the Customer (customers, prospects, and suspects) record, policy information, activities, suspense, notes, claims, and any other items associated with the customer(s) you've selected to purge. Alternately you can purge just activities for a customer or customers. See Purge Customer Activities for more information.

Important Note about Security Rights

Follow these steps to purge data (see related sections later in this topic):

  1. Prepare for Purge: See Requirements and Considerations.
  2. Select data to be purged: See Selecting Purge Items.
  3. Review data to be purged: See Exporting Data.
  4. Run the Purge: See Purging Data.

Customers must:

  • be set to inactive. More...ClosedTo do this, select the Inactive check box in a data entry form.
  • have no accounting records nor active policies (customers with a continuous policy will not be purged).
  • not have their accounts or any policies marked "Exclude from Purge."
  • have all suspense items marked as complete.
  • have all customer claims closed on or before the Purge Data Through date.
  • have all customer activities entered on or before the Purge Data Through date.
  • have the Customer Added date be on or before the Purge Data Through date. More...ClosedYou can find the Customer Added date in the Customer data entry form.
  • have every entity of master/sub groups match all of the Purge requirements. More...ClosedOnly the master customer is displayed in the Purge Item Purge Results Detail lists.

Keep the following considerations in mind when planning a Purge:

  • The Purge process cannot be canceled once it's started.
  • There is no "undo" feature for purged data. Therefore, if you perform a Purge by mistake or a Purge shouldn't have been done, a full restore is required.
  • An In-house agency must create a valid and current backup before purging data in case you need to restore the data after the Purge.
  • An Online agency must plan a timely review of the Purge Results because an immediate request for a restore would minimize data re-entry.
  • You can process only one Purge at a time. If you attempt to start a Purge while another Purge process is still in progress, a message appears. More...ClosedClick Refresh to see the latest purge status so you can monitor when the purge is completed. After the Purge is completed, you can select Purge and proceed to start your Purge.
  • Vertafore recommends that you perform a Purge:
    • outside business hours.
    • after you've notified all users not to log in to the system. More...ClosedIf you attempt to perform a Purge while applications requiring exclusive control are running, a message appears. The applications must be closed before you can start a Purge process.
  • The Purge process can be time-intensive depending on the amount of data that is selected to purge. More...Closed
    To determine the estimated time for purging data:
    1. Purge a small amount of data (select a few customers).
    2. Review the Purge Results page to see the amount of time this purge required, and then determine time estimates for future purges.

You can complete the following preparations with users still on the system:

  • Select the Set Customers to Inactive based on [date] check box in Daily Process. You can use this option to mark customers as "Inactive" if their policies are all expired on the date entered.
  • Identify customers who don't have any policies by creating a target list in the Home Center . See Target List for details. More...Closed
    To identify customers with no policies:
    1. Select the following items in the Target Lists form:
        - All customer types in the Type field under Customer Criteria section.
        - The Active check box in the Status field under Customer Criteria section.
        - The Include Policy Information check box in the Query Information.
    2. Click the Export icon to view the target list in an Excel format.
    3. Filter on the Policy Number column and find the customers who have no policy numbers. You can then determine if these customers should be marked "Inactive."
  • Run the Customer List report and verify that the account statuses are appropriately set (Active or Inactive). See Report: Customer List for details. If necessary, mark the accounts as "Exclude from Purge."
  • Run the Claim Management report and determine if claims reported should be closed. See Report: Claims Management for details. More...Closed
    If users are closing claims that should have been closed in the past, remember to set the Closed Date in the past. If logging activity for claims actions, back date the activity to match the Closed Date. Activity must be posted on or before the Purge date, and claims must be closed on or before the Purge date for the customer to be eligible for Purge.
    Set the following options in the Claim Management report form:
    - In the Data Range area, select Loss Date.
    - In the Data Range > From and To fields, select a range between the earliest possible loss date and the date for the Purge.
    - In the Claim Selection area, set the Claim Status field to All open types.   
  • Run the Suspense report and determine if a suspense reported should be completed or deleted. See Report: Suspense for details. More...Closed
    Set the following options in the Suspense report form:
    - In the Suspense Selection area, set the Status field to Not Completed.
    - In the Due Date Range > From and To fields, select a range between the earliest possible due date and the date for the Purge.
  • Export eligible purge items to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file and review the items for Purging. More...Closed
    To export purge items:
    1. In the Purge page, select the Purge options.
    2. ClickApplyto populate the Purge Item list with items eligible for Purging.
    3. ClickExport. For details, see Exporting Data later in this topic.

Print the attached pdf file to use as you prepare for the purge.

Report Image

Purge Data Checklist

You must first select items to be deleted. The Purge Options section is set to Customer by default and cannot be changed at this time.

To select purge items:

  1. Select one or more entity types (Suspect, Prospect, and/or Customer).
  1. In the Purge Data Through field, type the date or select it from the date picker. This date is used to determine the Customer's eligibility for Purge.
  2. Click Apply to fill the Purge Item list with items available for purge. If no items are displayed in the list, you may select different selections from the Purge Options section, and then click Apply again.
 

You lose your selections if you close the Purge page.

The Purge Item list contains the following columns. Columns are sortable, except for the Count column.

Purge Item

Displays the entity type, customer name, and account number (with leading zeros) of the selected item.

Business Unit

Displays the name of the business unit for the selected item, in the order of Division, Branch (if applicable), Department, and Group (if applicable).

Count

Displays the total number for each of the customers, policies, activities, claims, suspenses, and notes that are attached to the purge item.

When the Purge Item list is populated with eligible purge items, the Export button becomes available. You can use this button to export purge items to a CSV file, and then review eligible customers. Use this file as a worksheet to select customers for purging. The check box column of the Purge Item list isn't exported. You may insert an additional column to the table for adding check marks for the customers you've selected. You may also sort columns, if necessary.

To review items eligible for Purge:

  1. Click Export. A CSV file opens with purge items displayed. Review the list and make the necessary changes to the customers in the system. Either make them "Active" or mark them as "Exclude from Purge" so they aren't available to purge (see Exclude from Purgefor details). If you don't see a customer you expected to see, review the Requirements section in Purge.
  2. (Optional) To save the file, Vertafore recommends you rename the file to indicate the Purge Date Through date.
  3. If changes are made to customers and they no longer meet the requirements for Purge, select Apply again. A new list of customers eligible for Purge appears in the Purge Item list.
  1. From the Purge Item list, select at least one purge item that you want to delete permanently. The Purge button then becomes available.
  2. Click Purge.
  3. Review and confirm the information in the Purge dialog box, and then click Next.
  4. Read the warning message, and then click Yes to start the Purge process. If the Purge process doesn't start, a message appears due to one of the following reasons:
  • Other applications that require exclusive control are running. Close these applications and click Purge again. More...Closed
    You can go to 360Toolbox > System Administration > Utilities > Application Locks, and see which application is running and who is using it. If an application is running because a user didn't close out for the expected Purge, you may ask the user to close the application so you can start a Purge process. Note that you must be an authorized user to have access to Application Locks.
  • Another Purge is already in progress. You must wait until the other Purge is completed. Click Refresh to see the latest purge status so you can monitor when the purge is completed. After the Purge is completed, you can select Purge and repeat the steps in this section to purge data.
  1. When the Purge is completed, select Purge Results to see the details of this Purge or select Purge to start a new Purge.

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