Afficere Case Management System (CMS) is a web-based application that was developed
for a large health care firm. The firm provides a full range of services for adults
and children with severe mental illnesses and/or developmental disabilities. These
services range group homes, day treatment, education, clinical and medical services.
Treatment ranges from fully committed clients to outreach programs for those clients
who need assisted living in the community. Clients range in age from 6 years old
through the elderly. The firm itself is located in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana,
New Jersey, and South Carolina states in United States of America.
Challenge
After researching the mental health care community for supporting software, it became
apparent that there was no software that encompasses all aspects of a patient care
needs. PrincipalSoft was asked to develop such software that was accessible across
all 5 states. The challenge was not only in the sheer size of the application but
the autonomous nature of each program and the programs operation. Each state has
differing regulations and requirements driving differences between programs. In
addition, the firm had a wide range of computer competency requiring an application
that was intuitive and well organized.
Solution
The project was started by understanding the firms processes across each program
and the associated regulations both at the state and federal level. Since the application
was to house mental health care information, HIPAA regulations on software were
thoroughly analyzed. Design of the system included prototyping in order to develop
a system that would be intuitive for the end users.
The resulting system is a very large, well organized case management system. The
modules are vertically aligned by the holistic client care disciplines with menus
tailored to each end users access needs. Security within and out of the system assures
client confidentiality and HIPAA compliance. The web based software was designed
to have a very small client footprint responding quickly via high speed Internet
access as well as slower dialup access.
The software consists of a major repository of client information, work flow management,
and statistical reporting. The repository maintains records on all facets of the
client relationship and services. This includes daily living requirements and notes,
treatment plans and assessments, educational plans and records, incident reporting,
medical records, clinical records, group home requirements and notes, government
and funding source reporting, and financial billing. Work flow functions include
triggered notifications based on client events, task lists, process completion notifications,
reminders, and scheduling of appointments. Statistical reporting provides the mental
health care community with highly valued analysis of a wide range of mental illnesses
and disabilities along with effectiveness of treatments and medications.
The web based software is targeted to be used by over 1000+ medical staff from various
different locations on daily basis. The system houses information of over 10,000
clients. The software is scalable to effectively support millions of records and
effectively provides critical information with a easy-to-use user interface.
