# Turning on the Medications (eMAR) module

> How an admin enables Enmantle's eMAR, picks which certifications let staff record doses, and sets the grace window that colors doses due or overdue.

Canonical: https://enmantle.com/help/turn-on-medications-emar · Section: Medications (eMAR) · Updated: 2026-09-20

Enmantle includes a full **eMAR** — an electronic Medication Administration Record. It's the paper MAR your team knows, moved onto phones and the web, with every entry timed and audited. It is **documentation only, not clinical**: it does not check drug interactions, do dose math, or send alerts. It records who gave what, and when.

The module is **off by default**. Until an admin turns it on, there's no `Medications` item in the nav and no `Medications` tab on a client's profile. This guide is for administrators — the settings below are limited to `SUPER_ADMIN` and `ADMIN` roles.

## Enable the module

1. Go to **Settings → Medications**, or open `/dashboard/medications/settings` (the page is titled `Medications — Settings`).
2. Turn on `Enable Medications (eMAR)`.

That's all it takes to switch it on. The `Medications` nav item and the Client 360 `Medications` tab appear right away, and your managers can start [adding client medications](/help/manage-client-medications).

## Choose qualifying certifications (optional)

You can require staff to hold a specific certification before they're allowed to record a dose. This is the **certification gate**, and it's optional.

1. Under `Qualifying certifications`, check the cert types that should let staff record — for example, a medication administration certification your state recognizes.
2. Click `Save qualifying certifications`.

Leave every box unchecked to disable the gate entirely — then anyone with a recording role can pass meds.

Once certs are configured, a staffer needs an active, approved, unexpired qualifying cert to record. Enmantle sorts each person into one of three verdicts:

- `ok` — they hold a qualifying cert and can record normally.
- `needs-override` — an admin who lacks the cert may still proceed, but must type an `Override reason`, which is audited.
- `blocked` — a non-admin without the cert can't record; their slot cards are disabled and they'll see the banner `A qualifying certification is required to record administrations.`

> Setting the gate here doesn't create or track certifications. Add and renew staff certs the usual way — see [Adding staff and setting roles](/help/add-staff-and-roles). The gate simply reads what's already on file.

## Set the grace window

The **grace window** decides how long a scheduled dose stays "on time" before Enmantle colors it overdue.

1. Set `Grace window` to a number of minutes between `15` and `240` (the default is `60`).
2. Click `Save grace window`.

The grace window only affects the **coloring** of doses as `Due`, `Upcoming`, or `Overdue` on the [Med Pass grid](/help/passing-meds-med-pass). It never blocks anyone from recording — a dose an hour late is still fully recordable, just flagged.

## A note on what eMAR does and doesn't do

Enmantle's eMAR is a documentation system. `Controlled substance` is a **display-only badge** — there are no pill counts and no witness fields. All times are Eastern wall-clock, and every action is audited. Treat it as your MAR, not as a clinical decision tool.

When you're ready, hand your managers [Adding, editing, and discontinuing a client's medications](/help/manage-client-medications) and your DSPs [Passing meds on the Med Pass grid](/help/passing-meds-med-pass).