> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.officeridge.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Playbooks

> Document how your agency runs, train your team, and prove it during a survey.

Playbooks let you document how your agency runs, train your team, and prove it during a survey.

A playbook is a written procedure broken into steps. Staff work through it, tick off what they have
done, and — where you require it — sign to acknowledge they have read and understood it.

## Who can use it

**Everyone can read playbooks.** Every authenticated user sees the module, regardless of role,
module, or plan.

<Note>
  Playbooks are deliberately not gated by module. They are cross-functional procedures, so module
  gating would hide the billing playbook from a billing specialist who lacks operational permission.
</Note>

**Authoring** — creating, editing, publishing, and archiving — is limited to these roles:

* System Administrator
* Organization Admin
* Location Admin
* Compliance Officer
* Clinical Manager
* Human Resources
* Finance Manager

Office Staff, Client Coordinators, and EVV Maintenance staff can read every published playbook but
cannot author.

## The three views

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="My Playbooks">
    Procedures assigned to you, and how far through them you are.

    This is your working list. A playbook appears here when it is assigned to your role or to you
    personally.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Library">
    Every published playbook in your organization.

    Browsable by anyone, whether or not it is assigned to you. Assignment drives your personal list
    and notifications — it is not an access boundary.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Drafts">
    Unpublished and archived playbooks. Nobody else can see these.

    Only visible to roles that can author. Use it to work on a procedure before it goes live.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Categories

Playbooks are filed under one of eight categories:

| Category | Typical content |
| - | - |
| **Billing** | Claim submission, denial appeals, month-end close |
| **Compliance** | Survey preparation, incident handling, HIPAA procedures |
| **HR** | Hiring, credentialing, onboarding |
| **Clinical** | Care planning, assessments, supervisory visits |
| **Operations** | Day-to-day back-office procedures |
| **EVV** | Exception resolution, aggregator submission |
| **Emergency** | Drill execution, activation procedures |
| **Custom** | Anything else your agency needs |

## Scope and visibility

A playbook is scoped either **organization-wide** or to **specific locations**.

| Scope | Who sees it in the library |
| - | - |
| Organization-wide | Everyone in your organization |
| Specific locations | Only people working in one of the named locations |

<Note>
  Authors see every location's playbooks regardless of scope, because they need to maintain them.
</Note>

## Step types

Each playbook is a sequence of steps. Six types are available:

| Type | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Instructions** | Written guidance to read |
| **Checklist** | Items to tick off individually |
| **Attachment** | A file to read or download |
| **Video** | A video to watch |
| **Internal Link** | A link to the OfficeRidge page where the work happens |
| **Acknowledgment** | A signature capture confirming the reader understood |

<Tip>
  Use **Internal Link** steps to point at the page where the work actually happens — the EVV
  exception queue, the authorization list. It turns the playbook from a document into a workflow.
</Tip>

Steps can be marked required, and can create a task when a reader reaches them.

### Limits

| Limit | Maximum |
| - | :-: |
| Steps per playbook | 100 |
| Items per checklist | 50 |
| Attachments per step | 10 |

## Lifecycle

Playbooks move through three states:

| Status | Who can see it |
| - | - |
| **Draft** | Authors only |
| **Published** | Everyone in scope |
| **Archived** | Authors only |

Publishing creates a numbered version. Acknowledgments are recorded against the version that was
signed, so a later revision does not silently invalidate earlier sign-offs — and does not silently
inherit them either.

<Warning>
  Revising and republishing a playbook that requires acknowledgment produces a new version. Staff who
  acknowledged the previous version have not acknowledged the new one. Check your completion roll-up
  after any substantive revision.
</Warning>

## Progress and acknowledgment

Each reader's progress is tracked individually:

| Progress status | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Assigned** | On their list, not yet started |
| **In progress** | Some steps completed |
| **Completed** | All steps done, and acknowledged if required |

Where a playbook requires acknowledgment, the reader signs and their signature is stored with the
date and the version acknowledged. Authors can see the organization-wide completion roll-up.

<Tip>
  A signed acknowledgment against a dated version is exactly what a surveyor asks for when they want
  evidence that staff were trained on a procedure. Require acknowledgment on anything you would need
  to prove.
</Tip>

## Starter templates

OfficeRidge ships templates for the procedures most agencies need:

| Template | Category |
| - | - |
| **New Hire Onboarding** | HR |
| **EVV Exception Resolution** | EVV |
| **Medicaid Claim Denial Appeal** | Billing |
| **HHSC Survey Preparation** | Compliance |
| **Credential Renewal Process** | HR |
| **Emergency Drill Execution** | Emergency |

Each arrives as a full step sequence you can adapt. Start from a template rather than a blank page —
adapting is considerably faster than authoring, and the templates already reflect the sequence these
procedures actually follow.

## Writing a playbook

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start from a template where one fits">
    Six of the most common agency procedures ship as templates.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the category and scope">
    Organization-wide unless the procedure genuinely differs by location.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Break the work into steps">
    One step per decision or action. Use Internal Link steps to point at the page where the work
    happens.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide whether to require acknowledgment">
    Require it for anything you would need to prove at survey.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign it">
    Assign by role so new hires in that role pick it up automatically, rather than by named user.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish">
    Until published, only authors can see it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Assigning by **role** rather than by named user means the playbook reaches anyone who joins that
  role later. Assigning by user means updating the assignment every time someone new starts.
</Tip>

## Working through an assigned playbook

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open My Playbooks">
    Everything assigned to you, with your progress.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Work the steps in order">
    Tick off checklist items as you complete them.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Follow internal links to do the actual work">
    The playbook points at the page; the work happens there.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign the acknowledgment if required">
    This records that you read and understood the procedure, against the version you read.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Troubleshooting

| Problem | What to check |
| - | - |
| I cannot create a playbook | Authoring is limited to seven roles. See the list above. |
| A playbook is not on my list | Assignment drives My Playbooks. Browse the **Library** — every published playbook is readable. |
| A colleague cannot see a playbook I published | It may be scoped to specific locations they do not work in. |
| Completion dropped after I edited a playbook | Republishing creates a new version. Prior acknowledgments apply to the prior version. |
| A draft is not visible to my team | Drafts are author-only. Publish it. |
| Staff completed steps but show incomplete | If the playbook requires acknowledgment, completion needs the signature too. |

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Survey preparation" icon="clipboard-check" href="/guides/survey-preparation">
    What surveyors ask for, and how playbooks evidence it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Training and competency" icon="graduation-cap" href="/employees/training">
    Formal training records and competency assessment.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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