1. Access Drift Check

Access often changes less frequently than staff roles. A mid-year review helps catch outdated permissions before they cause confusion or privacy concerns.

What to check:

• Accounts still active for staff who have left
• Roles that no longer match current job assignments
• “Temporary” access that was never removed
• Permission differences across SIS, EHR, and other systems
• MFA enabled for all users with elevated privileges

Time needed: 10–15 minutes

Why it matters: Prevents incorrect visibility into student information and reduces the number of access-related tickets.

2. SIS ↔ EHR Sync Quality Check

A sync can appear successful while still creating mismatches. Mid-year is a good time to confirm that your records align across systems.

What to check:

• New students from the past month appear in the EHR
• One grade or homeroom selected at random matches across both systems
• Guardian records are linked correctly
• Sync logs have no recurring warnings
• Manual edits are not bypassing the SIS as the primary source of truth

Time needed: 10 minutes

Why it matters: Reduces downstream issues for nurses and admin who rely on clean, accurate data.

3. Guardian & Emergency Contact Review

Guardian information is often the least stable data in any school system. Families update information inconsistently, and mismatches can cause miscommunication.

What to check:

• Guardian emails match across all systems
• Duplicate guardian entries are merged
• Emergency contacts have the correct access level
• Each student has a verified primary guardian
• Permissions for viewing health information are accurate

Time needed: 10-20 minutes

Why it matters: Improves communication accuracy and prevents privacy mistakes when sharing health information.

4. Security Pulse Check

A mid-year review helps confirm that everyday security practices are still aligned with your current environment.

What to check:

• MFA active for all admin-level accounts
• Sensitive files not stored on local machines or shared drives
• Former vendor or contractor access removed
• Health documents stored only in approved, secure locations
• Staff know the correct process for reporting concerns

Time needed: 5-10 minutes

Why it matters: Maintains a reliable security baseline for all systems handling student and health data.

5. Workflow Alignment Check

Workarounds appear when tools don’t fully match real workflows. These small adjustments can create data inconsistencies that grow over time.

What to check:

• Nurses maintaining any side spreadsheets
• Teachers emailing health concerns instead of using the standard form
• Admin tracking items in shared documents instead of the SIS
• Manual EHR edits made to compensate for upstream data issues
• Staff unclear on which system holds the authoritative information

Time needed: 10 minutes

Why it matters: Identifies gaps between actual practices and intended processes, helping prevent “shadow systems” from forming.

Quick Tools You Can Use This Week

A. Integration Sanity Scan

Choose five students at random and compare SIS and EHR data for:

• Grade
• Date of birth
• Guardians
• Medical alerts
• Enrollment status

Any mismatch gives you a clear starting point for cleanup.

B. Access Triage

Export users with elevated permissions. Compare listed roles to current responsibilities and update them as needed.

This helps stabilize both security and data quality.