A pathway is a named set of steps that describes a service, program or milestone plan, for example a vocational rehabilitation service with Discovery, Job Development and Job Coaching steps, or a program's semester requirements. An administrator builds pathways once in Pathways, then Library. Team members then start a pathway for a participant from the Pathways tab on the participant's profile and record, per step, who supports it and when it started and ended. Step status reflects dates, recorded outcomes and, with Pathway Workflows enabled, required work. Pathway reports, authorizations and invoicing build on these records.
Participants are labelled Clients, Students, Residents or Explorers depending on the account type. This article calls them participants.
Who can use pathways, and where
Pathways are available to every account type and are on by default for new accounts, except family accounts. Umbrella accounts see only reports and the Progresses list. Pathways is turned on for your account by the Equip team. If you do not see Pathways in the left sidebar, ask us to enable it.
On the web, a role needs the Pathways module at Viewer to see a participant's pathways, Supporter to start and update them, and Administrator to build pathways in the Library. Scope of support decides which participants' pathways you see at all.
The new mobile app displays existing pathways for team members, including linked activity and assigned step forms. Start or edit progress, dates, supporters and data fields on the web. The Library, authorizations and invoices are web workflows.
Participants can view their own pathways in the new mobile app when Pathways is enabled and they have an enrollment. Their view omits team-only linked activity, captured-date tiles and form-assignment actions.
How it fits together
Pathway Library: the definitions. A pathway has a name, description, categories, optional custom fields and one or more steps. Each step has a name, an optional code and description, optional custom fields and, on Manual service steps with authorizations on, Billable, Price and Price By.
Pathway progress: one participant's round of a pathway, with the account's configured dates (Receive Date and Meeting Date by default), an optional Case, the steps included in that round, and pathway-level data fields. A participant can have several rounds of the same pathway over time, but unresolved required work in an earlier open round blocks a new enrollment.
Step progress: one included step in that round, with a Supporter, Start Date, End Date and step-level data fields. The web labels are Not Started, In Progress, Complete, Incomplete and Skipped. A Manual parent with required work is not complete until that work is resolved. Skipped is offered only on sequential pathways.
Authorizations and invoices, when those features are on: funder authorizations attached to a round, with a rate and units per step line, billed and paid dates, and invoices generated from them.
Pathways, then Progresses: every participant's steps in one list, with filters and Edit Progress.
Availability: Step types, substeps and Sequential require Pathway Workflows to be enabled for your account. If these options are missing, contact the Equip team. Configure them on the web in Pathways, then Library, with the Pathways module at Administrator.
With Pathway Workflows enabled, Task steps finish from their tasks. Form and Assessment steps finish from a qualifying response when Auto Complete is on; with it off, they show Ready to complete until a team member selects Mark as Complete. A Manual parent is complete only when it has an end date and all required substeps are resolved. Optional substeps do not hold it open.
Steps to start and update a pathway
Open the participant's profile and choose Pathways in the left menu.
Click Start Pathway. The button is hidden for inactive participants.
Choose the Pathway. Choose the Case if the participant has one, and fill in the dates your account tracks; Receive Date defaults to today.
Under Pathway Steps, toggle each step for this round to Included, and set its Supporter, Start Date and, once finished, End Date. Required substeps are included with their parent. On work-based steps, complete the linked work instead of entering an end date before it is done. Fill in any custom fields.
With authorizations on, click Add Authorization to attach the funder's authorization now, or come back later.
Click Start Pathway. Equip confirms with "Pathway progress started successfully".
Later, click Update Progress on the round to change dates, add steps, change supporters or data fields, then click Update Progress. Equip confirms with "Pathway progress updated successfully".
Limits and what the errors mean
"This pathway is already in progress": the participant has an open round of that pathway. Resolve the earlier round’s required work or close it before starting another.
"End date cannot be recorded without a start date": enter the step's Start Date first.
"Each authorization must have at least one step selected": tick at least one step under Authorized Step Details, or remove the authorization.
"Case must belong to this participant": the Case chosen is not one of this participant's cases; pick again.
Choosing a supporter on a step assigns that participant to the supporter, so a designated supporter gains access to the participant's records.
Turning a step off under Pathway Steps and saving deletes that step's dates, supporter, discharge and recorded custom field values for the participant. Equip warns only when custom field values exist.
Delete Progress on a round is permanent. Linked notes, forms and goals are unlinked, not deleted. A round with an invoice cannot be deleted.
Editing a pathway in the Library changes it for everyone already on it: renames show everywhere, a deleted step deletes every participant's progress on that step, and a deleted pathway deletes every round of it. See Create a pathway and its steps.
FAQ
Who can use pathways?
Any account with Pathways turned on, which is every account type except family accounts. Within the account, a role needs the Pathways module at Viewer to see a participant's pathways, Supporter to start and update them, and Administrator to build them in the Library.
Can Higher Ed programs use pathways, or are they only for service providers?
Both. A pathway is any sequence of steps: services with authorizations for a provider, or program milestones, course requirements and supports for an inclusive higher education program. Billing fields only appear when the authorizations feature is on.
Does every pathway need multiple steps?
No. Create the pathway, then use Add Step for one or more steps. There is no Single Step / Multiple Steps picker. Pathway Workflows adds Manual, Task, Form and Assessment types, substeps and Sequential when enabled for your account.
Can a participant be on the same pathway more than once?
Yes. Resolve the earlier round’s top-level steps and required substeps, or close the round when eligible, before starting it again. Incomplete and Skipped outcomes resolve work without completing it; optional substeps do not block another enrollment.
Are authorizations required to use pathways?
No. Authorizations and invoicing are separate features on top of Pathways. Without them the progress form has no Authorizations section and steps have no billing fields.
Why does my account say Students or Clients instead of participants?
Equip labels participants by account type: Clients, Students, Residents or Explorers. Pathways work the same for all of them.
What happens if I delete a pathway or a step from the Library?
Every participant's progress on it is permanently deleted, with no way to restore it, and Equip does not block the delete while participants are enrolled. Check Pathways, then Progresses first, and leave an unused pathway in the Library rather than deleting it.
Related
Create a pathway and its steps
Who can see and edit pathways, authorizations and invoices?
What do the pathway step statuses mean?
Can a participant run the same pathway more than once?
Add an authorization to a participant's pathway
Add custom fields to a pathway or step
Assign a form to pathway steps
What does Pathway Centralization add?