Activity Validator & Exception Approver

If you have been designated an “Activity Validator ” in TTPS, your role is to determine if the activity track information is accurate and whether the track is formally approved or denied. You validate, return for revision or deny activity tracks based on your understanding of Undergraduate Medical Education, scheduling guideline maximums, the Compensation Terms, and exception service providers. In doing this, you are responsible for:

• Being the first signature for approval to pay;  
• Reviewing the accuracy of the tracked activity, event and service provider information; 
• Validating the activity took place and services were received from service provider; 
• Validating service provider eligibility and adherence to scheduling guideline maximums;
• Checking validity of track within your business domain; and 
• Reviewing contested tracks to determine escalation or revision process and communicating them with the service provider(s).

A full explanation of the responsibilities of all roles in the TTP process can be found in the TTP Roles and Responsibilities document.

What to Consider When Reviewing Tracks

You are required to review all activity tracks associated with the part of the curriculum you are responsible for administering. You must review each track for accuracy, including activity, event, and service provider information. When you are validating a track where a service provider is eligible for payment but does not have a dollar value assigned, check the track details in order to confirm that the service provider payee is valid. If the service provider payee is invalid or pending validation, return the track to the Activity Tracker to make the appropriate changes and resubmit. Following your review, you must make a determination and take one of the following actions:

• Approve the track if it is valid;
• Return the track for revision by an activity tracker who will resubmit it; or
• Deny the track if there is a reason why the track should not have been created.

If you deny a track, it will be stopped in the process. It does not return to an activity tracker or move on to an Activity Validator. It is kept as a record in the system. The system will not provide an Activity Tracker with notifications regarding denied tracks, you will need to contact them if the situation requires a follow-up.

If you do not action on an activity track, it will remain in your queue until an action is taken. If you do not action on a track by the time the validation and authorization period expires, the track will not be captured in the service provider’s statement for the current quarter, and any associated payments will not be made on time.

Service Provider Review

When you approve an activity track, service providers are able to view them. The track state will change to say “Pending Review” at this point. Service Providers will be prompted via email once every financial quarter to review their tracked activities. All of your approvals should be completed before this deadline. However, they are able to view them in the system at any time after the first time they sign in to TTPS.

Service Provider Inquiries

If a service provider has any questions or concerns, they will be able to submit an inquiry about specific activity tracks and provide a reason for their inquiry. It will be your responsibility as the Activity Validator to review these queried tracks. Inquired tracks will appear in your home page queue:

To view the comment submitted open the track and navigate to status log. Upon review you will determine if the track requires revision.

What is One Time Payment Processing

All MD Undergraduate Program (MDUP) teaching and tracking are expected to be performed in the Teaching Tracking Payment System (TTPS) in order for payments to be processed through Workday. This process outlined below is an exception to support unique tracks for clinical faculty members that cannot be captured through the system. The Faculty of Medicine (FoM) Education Unit must receive pre-approval from the TTP Business Support Analyst (ttp.support@ubc.ca) and the respective MDUP Site Administrative Director before proceeding with payments outside of TTPS. 

Please contact TTP Support (ttp.support@ubc.ca) for more information on how to process teaching and payment for tracks that need to be performed outside of TTP for MDUP either due to Clinical Faculty (CF) being in two different faculties and FoM not being the primary Faculty, or other special circumstances. 

If you have been designated an “Exception Approver” in TTPS, your role is to determine if “Service Provider” (e.g. clinical faculty member) payment arrangement exceptions from the Compensation Terms are formally approved or denied. You approve, deny, or return for revision expectation usages on an activity track. In doing this, you are responsible for:

• Ensuring the appropriate use of exception service providers;
• Analyzing and verifying the reason for the exception to the Compensation Terms;
• Completing your review and approval within the designated time periods;
• Escalating recurring exceptions that could be integrated into normal policies and procedures; and
• Ensuring required updates to service provider profiles are communicated to Capture Support.

A full explanation of the responsibilities of all roles in the TTP process can be found in the TTP Roles and Responsibilities document.

What Happened Before Your Review

If you are reviewing an activity track, an activity tracker has indicated that one or more of the service providers included in the track is being compensated in exception to the payment arrangement recorded in TTPS. Activity trackers are required to provide a reason as to why they have entered the service provider as an exception.

What to Consider When Reviewing Tracks

You are required to review any tracks that have service providers with exception payment arrangements indicated. Exception payment arrangements may include education contracts, or instances when a service provider has multiple payment arrangements. There may also be other examples unique to your unit. The activity tracker will have made a comment explaining why they made this exception. For each track, you must review the exception reason, make a determination and take one of the following actions:

• Approve the track if the exception case is valid;
• Return the track for revision by an activity tracker who will resubmit it; or
• Deny the track if there is a reason why the track should not have been created.

If you deny a track, it will be stopped in the process. It does not return to an activity tracker or move on to an Activity Validator. It is kept as a record in the system. If the situation requires a follow up, you have to contact the activity tracker.

If you do not take action on an activity track, it will remain in your queue until an action is taken or the validation & authorization period expires. If you do not action on a track by the time the validation and authorization period expires, the track will not be captured in the service provider’s statement, and any associated payments will not be made. In this case, the track state will change to “Expired – System Closed” and the track will remain as record in the system for your reference.

If there are frequent exception cases for certain service providers, you can request that a comment be made on their profile so it is easier for you and the activity tracker to determine if it is a valid exception case. You can submit your request to the appropriate Department HR user.  

If you approve an activity track, it is sent to the Activity Validator for final approval. The track state will change to say “Pending Validation.” If the Activity Validator approves, the track appears on a service provider’s statement. At this phase the track state will say “Pending Review.”

Activity Validator Returns Track 

An Activity Validator may determine that an activity track needs to be returned for revision. In this case, you would be required to re-approve any exceptions associated with that track before the track can continue on to validation and appear on the service provider’s statement.

Service Provider Submits An Inquiry

Service providers are able to query their activity tracks with the Activity Validator, who may return it to the Activity Tracker for revision. If an activity track with an exception is revised you will be required to review and approve the changes made by the Activity Tracker by the deadline.