Glossary

Page updated: 4/8/25

A | B | C | D | F | N | P | S | T | U

A

Administrative functions: Functions that are not billable as a direct service but are necessary for the overall operation of the organization.

Examples of administrative functions include:

1. Executive management.

2. Finance and accounting.

3. Human resources.

4. Information technology (IT).

5. Expenses associated with the above functions, which can include:

· Wages and benefits paid to staff members who perform these duties.

· Associated office space.

· Office supplies and equipment.

· Utilities.

Annual costs: Provider organization’s total costs for the entire year. The reporting year must include 12 full months of business costs. For most organizations, this period is the most recently completed fiscal year, whether that be from January through December of the previous calendar year or another definition of a fiscal year.

Annual recipients: Total number of people served by a DWRS provider for a given cost reporting year.
Note: If a person receives two different services from the same organization (e.g., respite services and chore services), the reporting organization should only count this as one person on their cost report since the same person receives both services.

Authorized agent: A person who is the “controlling individual” or the owner of a program or licensed service provider. The authorized agent is the first person to sign in to the online cost reporting system. They can create provider user accounts for other staff members, and they are responsible to submit the cost report when it is finished. Their administrative sign-in or username has “admin.” in front of the email address.
Note: During the 2025 cost reporting cycle, some authorized agents do not have the “admin.” prefix in their usernames. This naming convention does not impact their ability to access or use the system. For more information, refer to authorized agents and provider users.

B

Benefit: Payments or gifts of monetary value; employer share of payroll taxes; employer share of health, dental, vision, life, disability or long- or short-term care insurance; employer contribution to retirement accounts; paid leave and/or tuition reimbursement.

C

Client program and support costs: Costs the provider incurs for people to access community services, including:

· Supplies and equipment.

· Participation costs for staff to help people access community activities.

· Items for reinforcement that are defined in the person’s support plan.

Cost category: A grouping of similar activities that share substantially similar characteristics to which a provider organization can attribute revenues and costs using a reasonable allocation methodology.

D

Direct care activities: Activities that are connected both to a particular service as a billable activity and to a specific person for the corresponding service.

Direct care staff compensation: All wages and benefits allocated toward an employee (e.g., direct care staff, administrative staff, supervisors) providing direct care activities.

Direct care supervisor (i.e., direct support professional supervisor): An employee whose primary responsibility (i.e., more than 50% of the role) is to supervise direct care workers. While a direct care supervisor may perform direct support tasks, this person’s primary job duty is to supervise employees and manage programs. A direct care supervisor may or may not be licensed, depending on the role.

Direct care worker (i.e., direct support professional): An employee whose primary responsibilities (i.e., more than 50% of the role) include providing support, training, supervision and personal assistance to people with disabilities. A direct care worker may or may not be licensed, depending on the role.

Direct care worker job titles include but are not limited to:

· Direct support professional.

· Residential aide.

· Job coach.

· Home health aide (HHA).

· Home care aide.

· Personal care assistant (PCA).

· Personal care aide.

Licensed direct care workers include but are not limited to:

· Licensed practical nurse (LPN).

· Registered nurse (RN).

· Physical therapy aide.

· Certified occupational therapist assistant.

· Licensed social worker.

· Licensed psychologist.

· Physician.

· Licensed counselor.

Dual-role user: A single person who acts as both the authorized agent and the provider user. In smaller organizations (and sometimes larger organizations as well), the authorized agent uses their authorized agent account to complete and submit the cost report. Every organization must have one authorized agent account, but they do not need a separate provider user account. For more information, refer to authorized agents and provider users.

F

Full-time equivalent (FTE): A measure of the workload of one full-time position that a provider organization can allocate to one person or to multiple people. For example, if a position is 0.5 FTE, a person in that position does half the annual work of a person in a full-time position. If a provider organization has two 0.5 FTE positions with the same title, the organization can report one 1.0 FTE position.

N

National Provider Identifier (NPI): A standard national unique identifier used to submit and process waiver health care claims and other transactions.

P

Program support: Time and activities that are not direct care activities but are related to providing direct care. Program support includes but is not limited to:

· Documentation.

· Service preparation activities.

· Sharing information between shifts to other staff members.

· Supervision.

Provider user: A contact created by the authorized agent in the online cost reporting system. Provider users are responsible to enter and save the necessary information in their organization’s cost report by following the instructions in this manual. Provider users may review, create, update and delete information in the cost report. They cannot submit the final cost report to DHS; the organization’s authorized agent must submit the cost report. The provider user’s username is an email address.

S

Support staff: Personnel employed during the reporting period as full-time, part-time, contract or temporary staff whose primary job responsibilities do not include administrative or billable direct service functions. Support staff include but are not limited to:

· Building maintenance personnel.

· Dietary/kitchen aide.

· Housekeeper.

· Janitorial staff.

· Security staff.

T

Trip: The point at which the provider picks up the first passenger to the point at which the provider drops off the last passenger, otherwise known as a route. A trip refers to the entire route. It does not refer to the miles driven from when one person gets on the bus to when that same person gets off the bus.

U

Unique Minnesota Provider Identifier (UMPI): A unique identifier, similar to an NPI, used to submit all claims to Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP). The UMPI allows providers to be paid for MHCP-covered services through the waivers.

Next step

Next, review authorized agents and provider users.