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Technology Streamlines Hemophilia Treatment |
At Hemophilia of Georgia Inc., a new client management system (CMS) is boosting efficiency. The system allows pharmacy staff, nurses and social workers to dedicate more time to customer service and spend less time filling out forms, filing paperwork and moving client information from one desk to another.
CMS is a custom application that takes advantage of the user interface features available in the Microsoft Windows operating system. The Microsoft .NET platform leverages many new technologies, including a common application framework, managed execution environment, integrated security and object-oriented design principles.
But best of all, it is an all-encompassing program that allows the organization to access all information about a client, from what drugs they ordered from the pharmacy to the programs and services they utilize. The organization is a finalist in the Technology Innovation Award given by Accenture Ltd. through TechBridge for implementation of a new technology by a nonprofit.
The system has boosted pharmacy efficiency without incurring the cost of additional pharmacy staff, said Trish Dominic, Hemophilia of Georgia CEO. The system reduces the time on the phone for both the order-takers and the customer.
"We are providing great customer service," said Maria Manahan, vice president of finance and operations. "When the clients call us to place orders, we don't have to put them on hold while we gather their information. It is all in the system. We are able to process the orders quicker and as a result we increase the turnaround time and they are able to get products a lot quicker."
Prior to implementation, it took more than 15 minutes to take a client's order. CMS cut this time in half. The system helps the staff manage even basic client information, such as mailing addresses or insurance information.
Through the system's auto-dispensing feature, the program can automatically calculate dosages based on prescriptions and current inventory, thus giving the pharmacist more time to work with clients, Manahan said. Before, she said, the pharmacist would have to open the refrigerators and spend at least 10 minutes looking at vials and manually calculating the best dosage.
"At any given time we have as much as $1 million of inventory," Dominic said. "This system shows the pharmacist what needs to move and matches their need."
Manahan said they have not seen this feature in other programs, which makes the system attractive to other bleeding disorder groups nationwide. Last fall the Georgia organization took the software to similar organizations, and at least six are interested in buying it, Dominic said. The program cost about $45,000 to develop, and they are selling it to other organizations for $4,000 to $5,000 per organization.
The development of the software took eight months from start to rollout, and the nonprofit has been using it for nine months.
"This system covers the entire enterprise and how we do business," said Network Administrator Jason Shipp. "We now have one source of information and everyone shares that information."
The system allows for more medication reports to be sent to physicians and sends alerts to nurses and social workers when a home visit may be necessary, Manahan said.
Pat Whatley Showell, president and CEO of Families First, described its previous technology simply: "It was just a hodgepodge."
A new intake system was needed, which led to overall reassessment of the entire agency's needs. The agency decided to outsource its technology. Requests for proposals were placed with various vendors.
In the end, Atlanta-based Leapfrog Services Inc. won the contract to manage Families First's IT network. Families First then opted to add Nashville, Tenn.-based software developer Qualifacts Systems Inc., whose Web-based product, CareLogic, was custom-designed to meet Families First's real-time software needs.
A Web-based application was integral to the streamlining of the nonprofit. Social workers visiting clients in the field were freed from lugging paperwork and could enter real-time notes, available immediately to the agency.
"The implementation of [this integrated software] ... has really changed the way we do our business," Showell said. "It's been terrific."
Families First staff members agree, according to both Winter and Showell. Just two years ago a staff survey exposed agency technology as the No. 1 dissatisfaction among the organization's workers. This year, personnel ranked technology as one of the highest areas of approval.
