Bitfocus Vendor Updates (Effective August 12, 2024)

Updated: Invalid Social Security Number (SSN) Warning

When a user enters an SSN for a client, the system will check to see if the SSN is valid as based on Social Security Administration guidelines. An SSN is considered invalid if any of the following are true:

• The last four digits of the SSN are ‘0000’
• The first three digits are ‘000’, ‘666’, or start with '9'
• The middle digits (i.e., digits 4 and 5; the second grouping of digits) are ‘00’
• The digits are repetitive, like 000-00-0000, 111-11-1111, 333-33-3333, etc.
• The digits are sequential, like 123-45-6789 or 987-65-4321.

If the SSN is invalid, the system displays the following pop-up: “‘The SSN entered does not conform to Social Security Administration guidelines. Click ‘Cancel’ to change the SSN. Click ‘OK’ to proceed with the SSN entered.” This pop-up appears before the ”An existing client has been found matching the SSN entered” pop-up appears.

If the user clicks “Cancel”:

• The pop-up disappears
• The user’s mouse returns to the first digit of the SSN.
• The SSN field is underlined in red.
• The user can change the SSN and save the profile with the edited SSN.
• If the user enters another invalid SSN, the pop-up appears again. This continues until a valid SSN (or one with 1-9 non-numeric characters) is entered. 

If the user clicks “OK”:

• The pop-up disappears.
• The SSN field is not underlined in red.
• The user can save the profile with the invalid SSN.

Updated: Allow Entry of Non-Numeric Characters for Unknown/Refused SSN Digits

Clarity, including the DIT and Operational API, will now allow users to enter a non-numeric character for any digits of a client’s Social Security Number (SSN) that is unknown or refused by the client, and the system will automatically convert those non-numeric characters to an “x.”

• If a non-numeric character is entered for all 9 digits of the SSN, the “Quality of SSN” field defaults to “Client doesn’t know” but is editable.
• If any digit in the SSN has a non-numeric character (such as xxx-45-6789, 123-xx-6789, 12x-x5-6789, 123-45-x789, etc.), and there are no more than 8 non-numeric characters in the SSN, the “Quality of SSN” field defaults to “Approximate or partial SSN reported” but is editable.
• If the ‘Consent Refused’ toggle is enabled in a client profile, Clarity will automatically convert the 0s for the SSN to ‘x’s when the profile is saved.

Users should now use "x" to enter missing SSN digits. HMIS New End User trainings have been updated with this guidance.

Bitfocus will also implement a script and update the following SSN criteria :

• SSNs with ‘000’ for the first three digits are updated so that the first three digits are ‘xxx’.
• SSNs with ‘00’ for the middle digits (i.e., digits #4 and #5; the second grouping of digits) are updated so that the middle digits are ‘xx’.
• SSNs with ‘0000’ for the last four digits are updated so that the last four digits are ‘xxxx’.
• SSNs that are ‘000-00-0000’ are updated so that they are ‘xxx-xx-xxxx’.

For additional information on what was included in the new August feature release, visit the Bitfocus article on the feature updates:

https://help.bitfocus.com/clarity-human-services-august-2024-feature-updates