When the curtain falls…
Well, the exhibits are all done. I’ve packed up my gear, rolled my big orange box upstairs, and finally got some sleep. Something about presenting information to a thousand people in the course of a few hours, getting to know new folks, hearing about the problems they have and the successes they have garnered makes me a bit too nervous to sleep the night before.
I take so many interesting things back with me, however. Here are some of the things that I learned…
- Some folks thought our logo was cool. Some had a hard time figuring it out. I might have to work on that
- We need to add IRS 990 fields to the data collection / service generation process - Vicki, Jan and I had a long talk about this and how much it would help, and its a really good idea.
- No one really gets the 704. It would appear that I am not alone in this feeling. Lots of folks don’t get it.
- The folks from CFAL are cool. We had some good chats, and are going to do more together going forward, along with the guys from CIL Management, in defining a standardized data transfer / collection process to help aggregate demographic, goal, and goal / service completion data in regional, state, and national groupings.
- Workflow can really help ILC’s. ILC’s should be run like businesses, even though they are not. Process can only help, and adaptive workflow would let ILC’s do things with thier data thier own way.
When I get back to sunny, hot Dallas, I am going to sleep through the weekend. Then, we’ll all start a chat on how we can best make a8ils work for Independent Living.
- Kevin
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4 Responses to “When the curtain falls…”
I for one found your Icon to be very entertaining, just not sure about the green color.
Wesley — July 19th, 2006 — Permanent Link
Hi. I found your product interesting. I think it’s interesting because I am working on something similar for CILs using LAMP[Linux(fedora), Apache, MySQL-5.x, and PHP-5.x]. I develop web-based apps using a business-systems approach, which is similar to your ‘workflow’ strategy.
My focus right now is on the 704 Reporting requirements. IMHO, nothing else is more important right now given IL’s PART rating and the RSA/OMB plan to develop outcome-based measures. Without software to (1) measure outcome-based measures, (2) ensure data validation, (3) promote standardized 704 reporting tools/formats, and (4) ensure security, the IL program is in a little trouble. Thus, my focus continues to be developing a solid relational database to capture the information RSA needs so they can provide long/short-term performance goals to OMB. The web-based front-end GUI will come after (XHTML, CSS). With the proper information, CILS will be able to help RSA improve the program’s PART rating. This should be everyone’s priority, IMHO, because RSA is not providing Centers with tools to satsify PART deficiencies.
chrisv — August 14th, 2006 — Permanent Link
Chris:
Fantastic! In this case, more cooks make better soup. We should get together sometime and share notes.
My primary goal with the application is Data Quality. Secondary was Data Quantity. Data Quality keeps the 704 reports and checks more simple, and allow the report to have more strict rules when it comes to rewriting it as often as the darn thing changes. Data Quantity, on the other hand, is a really huge issue for CIL’s.
Many of the CIL’s I spoke with in Washington knew that they missed a ton of reportable data because it took too long to record the simplest of functions. Example: Someone calls and asks a question. 5 minutes of phone call, 10 minutes of data entry to record the INR. In many cases, the INR will go unrecorded because the staffer working the phone is in the middle of something else and simply goes back to what they are doing instead of being able to quickly and simply record the call.
Drop me an e-mail sometime : kevin(at)activ8.us !
- Kevin
Kevin — August 14th, 2006 — Permanent Link
Thanks for the quick response. True, the more cooks the better. I’m a big open-source advocate. So, I know the more eyes there are on source code, the better the product.
Data quality is a big issue for CILs. There are so few centers trying to improve their data quality, yet it’s critical in the new PART Era. I visited numerous centers who invested significant amounts of money in ‘technology’ and were barely able to capture service delivery data. If a center was fortuante enough to have software in place to track activities, the software was not able to **do something meaningful** with the data. It could not produce relevant PART-related consumer outcome or performance metrics. Again, I’m taking a systems-thinking approach to develop a holistic solution for the problem. I’m modeling my ER-database model based on my proposed consumer outcome/impact logic model.
I think the I&R example you gave is indicative of the problem. Obviously, centers should record their activities and give themselves credit for what they do. That is an important starting point. After that, recurring service delivery data needs to be added to each consumer’s case file in order to show the outcomes and impact of services provided. This is the type of information RSA and OMB are looking for so they can ‘grade’ the IL program in terms of effectiveness. Software that abstracts the ideas of outcomes and impacts will be vital within the next year or so.
chrisv — August 14th, 2006 — Permanent Link
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