National CACFP Week

March 20, 2013 by 2 Comments

This week is National CACFP Week.  No one will dispute that our nation’s children need nutritious food to grow to their healthy, full potential.  This article from Time magazine highlights how difficult this can be in a childcare setting.  All across the country these small businesses are challenged with balancing the need for nutritious food and the need to keep their child care businesses operating in the black.  The CACFP can help them bridge the funding gap, but as this article illustrates, the complexity of the program can be difficult for child care providers to navigate without advocates and mentors to help them along the way.  Our software is one of the ways that participants can help manage the complexities of the CACFP.  But even with good tools in place it is still important for us to advocate for measures that make program participation easier and make the program itself more accessible to those who need it most.

Filed under Center Sponsor, Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu CX, Minute Menu HX, Minute Menu Kids, Provider Tagged with

Household Contacts Using Minute Menu HX

August 30, 2012 by Leave a comment

The Claimed Attendance Detail by Child report in Minute Menu HX is a great solution to conducting household contacts. This report displays a complete list of meals claimed for a specific child organized by date for a claim month.

We suggest first creating a message in Microsoft Word that can be printed directly onto the printed Claimed Attendance Detail by Child report. Because the Claimed Attendance Detail by Child report can often take up most of the printed page, we suggest creating the message in a text box that can be rotated to print alongside the detail on the report. To do this, follow the steps below. Read more of this post

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu HX Tagged with , , , ,

Announcing the hx2go mobile app

June 11, 2012 by 4 Comments

This fall we’ll launch hx2go, our new app that lets you use your iPad, Andriod tablet, or laptop to record your visit info, sign the documentation, and automatically update your Minute Menu HX database with the visit details.

Convenient – hx2go is pre-populated with provider and child data, your food list, and your review questions.  When you’re done, review data is automatically imported into Minute Menu HX.
Familiar – A look, feel, and flow that you and your staff are used to, in a more convenient mobile form.
Efficient – No air card or printer required… just a tablet or laptop.
Available in Offiline Mode* – No wireless connection necessary.  hx2go can synchronize your review data when you get back to the office or when you connect anywhere WiFi is available.
Paperless – Perform your entire visit without printing anything! Providers and sponsors sign directly on your tablet screen, and automatically receive signed, electronic copies of the review record as soon as the review is recorded.
More Secure – GPS location and timestamp recorded automatically at the time of the review
Flexible – Sponsors can add their own review questions and fields. Customize to your specific process and needs.

The hx2go launch will include updates to Minute Menu HX to accommodate this new flexibility and enhanced review functionality.

We’re already at work developing this unprecedented mobile app, and we’ll be selecting a small group of beta testers later this summer.  If you are interested in participating in beta testing this product, please email hx-support@minutemenu.com. We’ll be looking for users with either iPad or Android tablets to participate.

We hope that you are as excited as we are about this new product! We’ll keep you posted as the hx2go mobile app becomes available later this year!

*Functionality may be limited in offline mode (i.e. review records will be available only after device reconnects and uploads review data).

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu HX

Important Information Regarding your Minute Menu HX Database

February 20, 2012 by Leave a comment

Minute Menu HX is now compatible with SQL 2008.  SQL is the Microsoft database product that Minute Menu HX uses to handle the data you input into Minute Menu HX, and SQL 2008 is the most current version of that software.

Our records indicate that your agency may currently be using full SQL 2000 for your database.  As part of upgrading Minute Menu HX to SQL 2008 compatibility, we will have to stop supporting SQL 2000 as of June 15, 2012.  SQL 2000 and 2008 have some conflicting technical features that make supporting both versions impossible for us in the long term.  We will be dropping support for SQL 2000 in the release following the June 15 deadline.
Read more of this post

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu HX Tagged with ,

Minute Menu Assists with CNIPS State Upload System in CA

March 25, 2011 by Leave a comment

Over the past two years, Minute Menu has collaborated closely with the California Department of Education to greatly reduce the headache associated with the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) rollout for both sponsors of family child care providers and child care center organizations.  Much of our work was behind the scenes with the state, to help ensure that sponsors would not have to manually enter information into the new CNIPS database.  We are grateful to the state for giving us the opportunity to assist them on ways to streamline the process.  And the state has also provided us with a way to ensure Minute Menu customers can automatically upload claim and provider/center data each month… saving time for our customers each & every month.  We have also worked closely with reviewers and auditors in the state to help them answer questions about specific reports and software best practices, and have provided training to the state agency as well.  Many thanks and much kudos to the state agency, and the sponsors and center organizations who’ve worked closely with us and the state throughout this process.  This kind of collaborative process goes a long way toward helping everyone achieve the mission of feeding kids with lower administrative costs.  For those in other states who would like our assistance with similar information systems projects in those states, or would like similar training for state agencies, please let us know.

Filed under Center Sponsor, Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu CX, Minute Menu HX Tagged with , ,

Meet Lori Johnson: Professional Online Claims Booster!

August 20, 2010 by Leave a comment

Early this year, Lori Johnson joined us as our new Junior Implementation Specialist. She’s part of a team that works to make sure that both new and existing clients get the most out of their Minute Menu HX software.  Since January Lori’s been working hard with sponsors just starting on Minute Menu HX to get them going and to get their providers claiming online as fast and as problem-free as possible.  She’s been doing a fantastic job, and we wouldn’t expect anything less.  Before Minute Menu Systems, Lori worked for a CACFP sponsor in Indiana that has a phenomenal 96% of their providers claiming online!  Lori was a big part of achieving that feat and loves sharing her experience with other sponsors and strategizing with them over how they can increase their online claiming percentages, too.

Recently Lori has also started working with sponsors who already use Minute Menu HX to help them create plans to move even more providers online.  We’ve helped sponsors achieve 10-20% increases in just a few months, even if your agency already has online claimers.  If your agency is interested in working with her, she’d love to hear from you, too!  Give Lori a call at 972-671-5211 or email her at lori@minutemenu.com.

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu HX, Minute Menu Kids, Provider

Did You Know? Merging Provider Accounts & Importing Children into Minute Menu HX

February 10, 2010 by Leave a comment

Do any of your providers use 2 separate Minute Menu Kids accounts—1 to submit their claim and a different account to use the Pro invoicing and tax tracking features?  We can help combine the accounts so that providers only have to use 1 login for everything—and their personal accounting data remains private.  Also, if a provider comes on to your program and already has a subscription to Pro—either because they bought it themselves or it was purchased by another sponsor on their behalf—we can help import their child information into your system and save the provider additional data entry time.  (Please note, we cannot import children from incoming providers who only used the free WebKids version.  They have to have the Kids Pro system with child data that belongs to them, not to their former sponsor, in order to import the children.)

The process of combining the accounts is called “merging.”  And merging can have its pluses and minuses.  The huge advantage is that providers don’t have to do double entry into 2 systems to keep their accounting and food program records.  The one consideration before merging is that historical menu & attendance data on the provider’s side may be lost.  The sponsor’s data—what you have in your system—will replace any menu & attendance data that the provider may have recorded under the 2nd login.   So, when a provider wants to merge accounts, just refer them to tech support.  We can evaluate both accounts and determine what old data (if any) they will lose.  We also have the provider give us approval before we do the merge and advise them to archive their old data on paper before it is removed in the merge.

When a provider comes to your agency and already has a subscription to Pro, we can import the child data from their Pro billing records into your Minute Menu HX database.  If we do this import, all children will import in Pending status.  You will then need to do a one-time “cleanup” to temporarily activate and then withdraw any duplicates that you may already have entered into your Minute Menu HX database and any children that the provider no longer has in care.

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu HX, Minute Menu Kids, Provider

Did You Know? Translate Scannable Menus into Any Language with Free Template Download!

November 6, 2009 by Leave a comment

Minute Menu HX scannable forms come in English and Spanish, but many Sponsors also service providers whose primary language might be Russian, Hmong, French, or any other language.  We’ve provided a menu template that can be used to translate the labels and text on the menu into any language, and you can download it for free from the Sponsor area of our website.  To take a look:

-          Go to www.minutemenu.com

-          Log In with your Minute Menu HX login

-          Click on Documentation

-          Scroll down to the Scanning/Forms section

-          Click where it says “Translate Menus Into ANY Language with this Template”

This tool can help you bring automation to providers who you may currently have to accept manually-validated claim documentation from currently.  With templates you can ensure that all of your claims, regardless of the provider’s primary language, are subjected to the same strong, automated integrity checks as the rest of your claims!  Instructions on how to use the template are included in the document.  So, take a look and see if it’s something that might help you to better serve your providers!

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu HX Tagged with ,

Sponsors Who Purchase “PRO” Features Keep Providers 44% Longer!

November 6, 2009 by Leave a comment

Based on the data that sponsors have entered  in to Minute Menu HX, Sponsors who purchase access to Minute Menu Kids Pro (with its excellent accounting and tax tracking features) keep providers for an average of 14 months longer than Sponsors who don’t.  Here are the statistics:

Average Length of  Program Participation for Providers Now Withdrawn:

Sponsor Provides Pro: 46 months

Sponsor Does Not Provide Pro: 32 months

Average Length of Program Participation for Providers Still Active:

Sponsor Provides Pro: 75 months

Sponsor Doesn’t Provide Pro: 52 months

Sponsors have told us the many reasons why they choose to purchase Kids PRO for their providers, including:

- helping their providers professionalize their business

- encouraging the providers to maintain records

- strengthening “partnership” with providers

- competitive advantage in outreach

Any way you slice it, the statistics are there.  And while your providers can purchase Kids PRO for themselves, we very deep discounts for Sponsors who purchase Kids PRO for all of their online claimers.  For as little as a one-time $49 subscription fee, Sponsors can give these valuable tools to their providers for as long as that provider stays with their agency!  No renewal fees, ever.

Feel free to call us or email Natalie@minutemenu.com if you are interested in how you can provide these PRO features to your providers!

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu HX, Minute Menu Kids Tagged with ,

CCAP Results Are In

August 14, 2009 by Leave a comment

The Child Care Assessment Project (CCAP) was designed to assess whether the USDA regulations that were implemented to address the problems found by OIG during Operation Kiddie Care (http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/kidcare.pdf) have been effective in increasing CACFP program integrity.  The good news is that overall the rules have worked, and the CCAP report states that “almost all sponsors assessed by CCAP were aware of the many new program requirements in the two rules, and had made a genuine attempt to come into compliance with those requirements.”

The report did state areas where more improvement is needed, and the good news is that Minute Menu HX already assists you in these areas!  The report listed the following needs for improvement:

–Too many providers fail to keep up-to-date meal counts and menu records;

–Too many sponsors are not fully meeting the regulatory requirements for monitoring providers; and

–Too few sponsors appear to be employing the serious deficiency process for providers as intended.

Minute Menu HX has ways to help sponsors address all 3 of these concerns, included in the software at no extra charge.  For more information on how your agency can proactively address these new USDA “hot issues,” email us at hx-support@minutemenu.com or call 972-671-5211.

You can read a copy of the full report at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/care/Management/pdf/CCAP_Report.pdf

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu HX Tagged with , ,

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