How to add or update many facilities at once

Load a list of facilities from one Excel file, or correct many existing facilities in one pass. Nothing is saved until the review is accepted.

Before starting

• An account with administrator rights on the STS, or on a standalone installation. A LIS has no Bulk Upload button
• The facilities in an .xlsx file, at most 20,000 rows

Choose the situation that fits, then follow its steps from top to bottom.

Add new facilitiesUpdate existing facilities

Prepare the file

1. Go to ADMIN → Facilities.
2. Select Bulk Upload.
3. Select Download blank template.

4. Fill in one facility per row. Keep the columns in their order, and leave the heading row in place.

   Column	What to enter
   Facility Name	Required
   Facility Code	The national unique code. Left blank on a testing lab, InteLIS generates one. Saved in capitals. The review shows any change
   External Facility Code	A second code used by another system
   Province/State, District/County	Required. A name InteLIS does not hold is added as a new province or district
   Facility Type	Required. 1 Health Facility, 2 Testing Lab, 3 Collection Site. The type name, such as Testing Lab, is also accepted
   Address, Email, Phone Number	Optional
   Latitude, Longitude	Optional. Latitude between -90 and 90, longitude between -180 and 180
   Status	active or inactive. Blank adds the facility as active

Upload and review

5. Under How should existing facilities be handled?, keep Add new only. Rows that match an existing facility are skipped.
6. Drop the file on the page, or select browse and pick it.
7. Select Review Upload. Nothing is saved yet. The review expires after 24 hours. After that, upload the file again.

8. Read the Result of each row:

   Result	Meaning
   New	The row is added
   Skipped	A facility with this name or code already exists
   Error	The row cannot be saved. Details gives the reason

9. Select the Warnings tile above the table. Read each warning. Rows with a warning start unticked.

   Warnings on new rows

   Warning	Risk
   Name is almost the same as existing facility	The facility is added twice
   Name is close to a facility in the same district	The facility is added twice
   Name looks like the facility in another row	The file lists the facility twice
   Coordinates are the same as existing facility	The facility is added twice

10. Tick each warning row that is a genuinely new facility.

11. Select Import ticked rows. To discard the upload instead, select Cancel.
12. Confirm the prompt about rows with warnings, when it appears.

Finish

13. Read the summary. Not saved must be 0.

    If rows were not saved

    A row is not saved when its name, code or external code is already used by another facility. Select Download rows not saved. Correct the rows, then upload that file from step 5.

14. Link the new facilities to their test types. The file carries no test types, so the new facilities are on no request form yet. See Link many facilities to a test type.

Prepare the file

1. Go to ADMIN → Facilities.
2. Select Bulk Upload.
3. Select Export existing facilities. The export has the upload layout.
4. Edit the rows that need a change. Delete the rows that need none. A blank optional cell keeps the value already saved.

Upload and review

5. Under How should existing facilities be handled?, choose how a row finds its facility:

   Option	Effect
   Match by name and code	Updates only when the name and the code belong to the same facility. The safest update
   Match by code	Updates the facility with the same code. Use it to rename facilities
   Match by name	Updates the facility with the same name

   Rows that match nothing are added as new facilities.

6. Drop the file on the page, or select browse and pick it.

7. Select Review Upload. Nothing is saved yet. The review expires after 24 hours. After that, upload the file again.

8. Read the Result of each row:

   Result	Meaning
   Update	The row changes the facility. Details lists each field that changes
   No change	The row matches the saved facility
   New	The row matched no facility and is added
   Skipped	The row cannot be matched with the option chosen
   Error	The row cannot be saved. Details gives the reason

9. Select the Warnings tile above the table. Read each warning. Rows with a warning start unticked.

   Warnings on updated rows

   Warning	Risk
   Facility Name changes a lot	The row matched the wrong facility
   Facility moves to a different Province/State	The row matched the wrong facility
   Coordinates move the facility a long way	The row matched the wrong facility
   Facility Type changes	Forms and lists that depend on the type change
   Facility Code of a testing lab changes	The code is part of the sample codes the lab generates
   External Facility Code changes	Other systems matching on the old code no longer find the facility
   Facility will be made inactive	The facility leaves every active list

10. Tick each warning row whose change is intended.

11. Select Import ticked rows. To discard the upload instead, select Cancel.
12. Confirm the prompt about rows with warnings, when it appears.

Finish

13. Read the summary. Not saved must be 0.

    If rows were not saved

    A row is not saved for one of two reasons:

    • Its facility was changed by someone else after the review.
    • Its name, code or external code is already used by another facility.

    Select Download rows not saved, correct the rows, then upload that file from step 5.

Confirm it worked

Check	Expected
Summary	Not saved is 0, and Added plus Updated matches the rows ticked
Facilities list	A sample of the changed facilities shows the new values
Request form	New facilities appear once linked to their test types