Here at ePACT, we’re proud to support recreation organizations across North America and provide them with a tool that helps them better collect, manage, and securely store critical information from the families they serve. If you’ve got questions about ePACT, we’re here to answer them so check out our Frequently Asked Questions!
What is ePACT?
ePACT is an online emergency network that helps recreation departments, YMCAs, camps, and other youth recreation organizations eliminate the paper forms used to collect emergency contact and medical information, waivers, and consents from families registering for their programs, activities, and other services.
Authorized staff can easily collect the right information from families, reducing administration time significantly, and ensuring quick and easy access in an emergency. ePACT also ensures that information is standardized, legible, and complete, so staff always have the information they need, and can focus on providing amazing service to families instead of worrying about managing information on unsecured paper forms.
How do families use ePACT?
Families create a single ePACT record to store all their critical information online. They build support networks by connecting and sharing their ePACT record with friends, relatives, and the organizations that support them. This single ePACT record ensures that the organizations families rely on always have the most up-to-date information, whether it’s a parent’s phone number, an alternate guardian, or specific medical requirements.
As part of our ongoing commitment to privacy and security, families own their own accounts and the information contained within them. This means they are always in control of the organizations and emergency contacts that they share their information with.
For more information read our Frequently Asked Questions for Families, or check out ePACT for Families.
How easy is it for families to complete information in ePACT?
Families can use the same ePACT record for every organization they’re connected to, and will simply provide additional information as required by those organizations. Families either log in to their existing ePACT account or create an entirely new one, fill out the information they would normally include on a paper form, and submit the completed record to each organization. And they can do so program-after-program, year-after-year.
When it comes to updating information, families only need to update in one place, and all the organizations and emergency contacts they’re connected to will receive new information in real-time, which saves everyone significant time over paper forms. Through user surveys, we’ve found that 93% of families find ePACT easy to use, and agree that ePACT makes them feel safer and better able to manage an emergency.
How secure is ePACT?
Organizations rely on ePACT to collect, manage, and store sensitive and confidential personal information, so we take the privacy and security of our users’ data very seriously – in fact, it’s our top priority. Not only does ePACT meet the same security standards as online financial institutions, but it’s also compliant with the following privacy legislation:
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA – Canada)
- Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA – Canada)
- Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA – United States)
In addition, ePACT is SOC2 Type II compliant, meeting specific requirements related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy when managing customer data. For a complete list of the standards ePACT meets, read ePACT’s Privacy & Security Compliance, as well as our Security and Privacy Policy.
Who can access information in ePACT?
ePACT allows your organization to completely control access to family records within the system – this is one of the many ways we protect the privacy of your members’ information. You can use ePACT to assign different administrator permissions that either allow authorized access to all member records, or only to specific groups that a staff member is responsible for.
ePACT also makes it easy to remove access to member information either when a program or camp has ended, or if a staff member leaves your organization.
How is ePACT different from our recreation or member management system?
Recreation, or member, management systems are typically used for program, class, and camp registration, member management, facilities management, and point of sale. While they’re capable of collecting additional information like health and emergency contact data, most systems aren’t HIPAA/FOIPPA compliant; do not provide offsite access to critical information; and often require parents to enter key information multiple times.
ePACT helps your recreation organization collect, manage, and report on all participant emergency and medical information; minimize risk and liability with HIPAA and FOIPPA compliance; ensure safe data storage and authorized user access; and access information securely, and in real-time, with the ePACT mobile app, even without internet or cellular connections.
Can we archive records in ePACT?
If your organization is required to store information for any length of time, ePACT’s Archiving Feature works in conjunction with your existing ePACT account, allowing you to archive participant records and store them securely in ePACT’s cloud-based system. Staff can easily search for specific records and download attachments that belong to any member archive for audits, reporting, or any other need.
Archiving also helps you dispose of records once they’re no longer needed – for example, if you’re required to keep information for 5 years, ePACT will automatically delete records from your database after that timeframe. This ensures information is properly destroyed, and your staff don’t have to worry about finding the right paperwork in a storage unit or filing cabinet filled with thousands of other forms.
Want to see how ePACT works? Schedule a free demo with our team here:
