Strategy/Creating Referrals Tracking Database

[Jeannine]

Hello everyone,

I am new to Access 2007 as I have not used Access in over 10 years so I am having to relearn everything. I have been taking some free online courses and looking resources as much as I can to help me and whilst it does give me knowledge to learn as I go, there are some things that I need to get done for my boss now that I've convinced her Access is more efficient for our needs when it comes to tracking certain things in our business.

We are a small OT and Rehab Company so one thing that we receive a lot of on a daily basis are Referrals. We have different types of referrals which come from different types of companies with their specific clients, who need a certain assessment done for them.

What I am having issues with is knowing how to design, organize and formulate my database. I know I'd like to use forms to make data entry more easy because we deal with a large number of referrals that will have come through in a year. I also know what it is I want to SEE in my Query/Report when it comes to tracking and this is what we would type out in Excel every day. What I don't know is how to put together tables to create the final look I want for the Query or Report and whether I should use a Query or Report and can I create a form from the query to enter in all the data that would go in multiple tables and/or do I require multiple tables? I've been trying to learn about relationships, junction tables and it is still leaving me confused on what to do.

Here is the Field List of what should be in my Tracking Database (meaning the final result of what it is I want to see for tracking purposes)

Client Name Client ID Client Ph# Client Address Client City/Community



Customer Referrer Role Referrer Name Referrer Ph#

Services Requested Date Referral Rc'vd Assigned Therapist Date Referral Assigned Target Date for Referral Date Acceptance Form Submitted Date of Assessment Memo Field for notes

Should I be creating 3 separate tables then - One Customer/Referrers, one for Client Info and then one for Referral ID & Info and should I create a junction table to have a many to many relationship so that I can see all of this information in one query/report?

I am not sure what the best method is to proceed. Right now, I have 1 table with all of these fields in it and I just plug in the info for each record but this is exactly the same thing that I was doing in Excel 2007 and I know there is a more efficient way so until I learn more on my own, I am seeking help as I need to get this going for day to day function in my office to run smoother and quicker.

I've tried to attach my sample database but it says it is too large.

Thank you!
Jeannine

[ssanfu]

Welcome to the forum...............

You are correct. If you use Access like a spreadsheet, you should be using Excel.
All data entry should be through a form. Output (printout) would be a through a report.

Here is a link to a similar question (Advice for a Newbie, trying to learn?) from Sept 2014....
https://www.accessforums.net/showthr...379#post244379

Design first, then get on the computer.

Pay attention from Post #11 on.
Post #18 has a link to Rogers Access Library tutorials. Take the time to actually work through them. Should take somewhere around an hour.

You also need to read up on normalization. The most important thing is to get your table structure correct.

Be aware of reserved words.
Use only letters and numbers (sometimes the underscore) in object names. NO spaces, punctuation or special characters.

Do not begin object names with a number. The Access Gnomes sometimes get really persnickety when object names begin with a number.
See this thread http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...g-with-numbers
And http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...-tables-fields


OK, get busy... you've got a lot to read.