Summary
Hawaii Department of Health, Honolulu Elderly Affairs Division (EAD) is the primary agency for aging services in the State, including service to population of City and County of Honolulu (comprising 90% of the State’s elder population). EAD realized the need to improve processes to handle the growth of the aging population and increase quality of services. Some management information systems (MIS) and information technology (IT) was acquired but not fully or properly implemented. In addition, the other three counties of Hawaii had developed variations on handling of aging services, and the State was challenged to reconcile disparate processes and reports. The four counties sought guidance on process improvements and MIS/IT upgrades that could substantially improve operations.
Role
MataiNet's initial study “MIS/IT Development Plan” included a review of all existing major processes of each of the four counties’ aging services agencies. Services included patient care transition support, meals and transportation, and a variety of daily living activities, among others. Coordination with external entities was also assessed. MataiNet's recommendations were widely accepted, and we led the effort to implement pilots with the greatest perceived return on investment.
Outcomes and Innovations
- One of the greatest opportunities for process transformation was to abandon legacy and custom solutions in favor of a modern MIS which was already partly – if not consistently – in use
- Successful in convincing all four counties to adopt a common minimum intake data set, which facilitated universal tracking and reporting
Processes
The current state of processes and systems was first identified and evaluated. Opportunities for improvements in outcomes based on MIS/IT systems changes were defined, and cost/benefit analyzed.
Platform/Tools
- MS Office suite
- Synergy “SAMS”, “Omnia”, “BeaconIR”, and other selected MIS modules