case management systems

Selecting and Implementinga Case Management System

Adam Fenstermaker

extendedReach

Agenda + Full Disclosure

• How Good Systems are like Old Washing Machines

• “The One Trick Pony” vs. “The Hammer”

• extendedReach

• Panel discussion

Social Work

• Caseworkers operate fairly independently

• Contract-based / rules

• Funding organizations with possibly multiple agencies

• Remote / On the Road

• Detailed – lots of information!

“The Information Pyramid”

Amount of Information Required

Caseworkers

Supervisors

Funding

Leadership

Support the bottom of the pyramid to succeed

The Computerization of Social Work

• These factors make the industry prime candidate for technology

• Specifically Internet/ web-based

• Value in connections – both within and outside of your agencies

Drivers to Technology

• Improved efficiency

• Competitive advantage

• Contract compliance

• Balanced Scorecard/measuring – internal measures

• Reduced cost of technology

• Better tools = better casework

• Access to information as needed

• Focus on casework not on paperwork

• Don’t let kids fall through the cracks

Most Importantly

The Transition

• Eventually all social work activity and reports for all programs will be documented in a computer system

• How will your agency transition into this period?

• Early vs. Late Adopter?

Where are You Now?

• “Real Old School”

• “Just Old School”

• “New School”

Look At

• How your workers record information

• Where the information is kept

• How the information is distributed

Real “Old School”

• Handwritten case notes

• Activity logs handwritten on form or kept in Excel

• Reports typed into Microsoft Word and kept on network drive

• Centralized spreadsheet or Access database

“Old School”

• Some limited use of forms/MS-Word/e-mail

• Mostly centralized data entry into a central database or billing system by support staff (admin, finance)

• Management reports distributed by e-mail / paper

“New School”

• Direct access to system by caseworkers

• Real-time data

• Built-in document management

• Dashboards

• Easy-to-use for everyone

• Web-based

The Good News

• These “New School” systems are affordable

• They are how things will be done

• They provide quick ROI

• Internet growth of late 90’s

• Compared to gold rush

• Now in a period of innovation

Impact of the Internet

• More like early days utility industry (Jeff Bezos – Amazon.com)

• Didn’t run out of gold

• Utility industry – killer app was “light bulb”

• For Internet, it was email and dot-com web apps

The “Killer App”

• 1890’s – Electric fan

• 1905 – First vacuum – 92 pounds

• 1908 – Washing machine

After the Light Bulb

• About this evolution point with Internet

• Applications on the Internet are like Electric Appliances of Early 1900’s – but will keep getting better

• “Computerization” and “Internet” will be synonymous

Where We Are Now

Purchased vs. Hosted (Software as a Service)

YesYesYesYes

-YesYes

YesYes

Purchased

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Yes--

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Hosted

Annual Application Maintenance

Upgrade / Maintenance ComputersSalary Technical Support PersonnelServer Hardware and SoftwareDatabase Backup/Restore ServiceMonthly Application Subscription

Application License

Annual Database MaintenanceDatabase Server License

Ability for Applications to Interact

“HomeMatch” demo

“One Trick Pony” vs. “The Hammer”

• The story of the one trick pony

• Specialized vs. Generalized

• Don’t expect one piece of software to do everything

Advantages of Specialized Software

• Reduced implementation time

• Reduced cost

• Increased functionality

• In Internet-based environment – can’t be a master of everything

• Over time specialized software will interact with other specialized software

Flexibility

• When implement software – have a choice –change the process to meet the software or change software to meet process.

• Focus on 3 touch points

• Agencies that are most effective are flexible in the process and have the ability to do either

Things to consider

• Support for your workflow

• Security

• Integration with your financial system

• Make sure you aren’t implementing an “Old school” centralized data entry system.

Specialized Software - Demo

Dashboard Reporting

Example of specialized software

The extendedReach Story

• 1999 - Developed first foster care system for Bethany Christian Services.

• Most systems were financial/operations based

• 2001 - Developed Early Impact System for Bethany – caseworker focused

• The stack of paper

• 2003 –extendedReach – Early Impact System

• 2005 –extendedReach – Foster Care System

Where we are now

• 12 organizations (11 in Michigan; including DHS)

• 26 locations across 6 states

• 660 users

• 12 different programs

• Continue to expand

Some of Our Customers

Child and Family Services of Northwestern Michigan

Lessons Learned

• “Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant”

• “Better Together than Apart” – even though everything isn’t always fair

• Focus on the caseworker

Takeaways

• Affordable solutions are here today – and will continue to improve and expand

• Don’t accept solutions that don’t meet your specific needs quickly and easily

• Opportunities ahead to improve quality of care and efficiency

• Don’t accept “Old School” solutions

Other Resources

• “Implementing a Client Management System” by Eric Musum

Questions and Answers

Followed by Panel Discussion