Using entity filters to filter your dashboard
Entity filters are an out-of-the-box hierarchy filtering option, separate from the standard survey filters covered in Filtering your dashboard. They map directly to your organization's structure in SmartSurvey, making it possible to collect and analyze feedback consistently across a large organization.
This is especially useful for organizations with a formal structure spanning multiple levels, such as an NHS trust reporting on Friends and Family Test (FFT) feedback across hospitals and wards.
What is the entity hierarchy?
Your entity hierarchy reflects the structure of your organization, with each level nested inside the one above it. The exact levels and names depend on how your organization has set things up, but a typical NHS example looks like this:
- Trust: the top level of the organization
- Location: a hospital or site within the trust
- Ward/Team: a specific ward or team within a location
The entity filters do not combine with the dashboard filters. Therefore when you apply a filter from the entity filter, it will over ride the dashboard filter and vice versa.
Filtering by entity
Select the checkbox next to any entity to filter your dashboard to that entity's data. You can select entities at any level of the hierarchy, and from more than one hierarchy at once.
One-click hierarchy selection Selecting an entity higher up the hierarchy, such as a location, automatically selects all the entities beneath it. For example, selecting a hospital under Location automatically includes every ward and team within it, without needing to select each one individually.
Editing the sub-filter After a one-click selection, you can refine it by deselecting individual entities beneath it. In the filter panel, a partially filled checkbox at the top of a section shows that some, but not all, entities within that level are currently selected. This lets you start broad and narrow down, rather than building the filter one entity at a time.
Combining entities across hierarchies You are not limited to one level or one branch of the hierarchy. You can select specific entities across Trust, Location, and Ward/Team at the same time, building a precise combination that matches exactly the data you want to see.
Applying and clearing filters
- Select Apply at the top of the filter panel to apply your current selections to the dashboard
- Select Clear at the top of the filter panel to reset every entity filter across all levels
- Each section also has its own Clear link, which resets only that level of the hierarchy