Practical Applications of Case Management Software for Practitioners in Health and Human Services - Information Communication Technologies for Human Services Education and Delivery - page 171

aDminiStrative burDenS care by collecting and using evidence on the ef-

fectiveness of clinical interventions. For example,
take a person receiving treatment funded by /an
insurance company following a car accident. In
earlier times, this patient may have been able
to receive physiotherapy, massage therapy and
chiropractic care simultaneously. This would be
a costly arrangement and, as these services were
provided concomitantly neither the insurance com-
pany nor the therapists themselves would know
what particular interventions were successful or to
what degree. By taking a managed care approach
and monitoring costs and services, insurance
companies might now recommend that service
providers begin with one therapeutic intervention
and only introduce other services after a period
of time where the efficacy is demonstrated or
where there is a demonstrable need and evidence
to provide additional services.
In the managed care environment, providers
are expected to have and adhere to explicit prac-
tice standards, to review the way their services
are utilized and to address quality improvement
in their work with clients. This places demands on
practice management and is only possible with good
electronic information systems. The managed care
revolution requires that agencies and practitioners
keep accurate patient records, manage their billing,
write clear statements about the client's problem
and set clear therapeutic goals and outcomes,
develop research skills and adhere to standards
of practice and established clinical protocols for
a variety of clinical problems. There are parallels
in the mental health system where Gregoire and
Jungers (2007, p.735) expect that counselors need
to provide 'a good treatment plan that includes the
following elements: a clear statement of the client's
problem, specific goals with measurable criteria
and time frames for completion of the goals, and a
clear statement of the means to be used to achieve
these goals'. The elements of a good treatment
plan fit with the components of the logic model
as described later in this chapter.

The process for applying and reporting on funding
adds to an agencies administrative burden. In a
study of not for profits in Ontario, Eakin (2007)
asked agencies to rate the complexity of funding
application and reporting processes from simple
to complex.A simple application proposal is short
with readily accessible information and straight-
forward program descriptions, whilst a complex
proposal has time constraints, requires specific
data that is not readily available and specificity on
programs and outcomes. In reporting on funding,
simple reporting processes require readily avail-
able information while extreme reporting requires
data that is difficult to obtain, requires exercise of
both management and clinical judgment, much ad-
ditional data and is demanding of staff time. Many
not for profit agencies rated the application and
reporting process as extreme with few rating them
as simple. This reporting process is made more
difficult when organizations receive funding from
multiple sources thus having numerous reporting
requirements.All this takes time and expertise that
few agencies are equipped to deal with.
Privacy legislation in Australia ( Privacy Act
1988) and similar provisions in other countries
require compliance with client information
management standards which take account of
the importance of data security and data quality,
provide capacity for individuals to access and
correct their personal information whilst empha-
sizing care in the use of sensitive information.
Management information systems such as case
management software programs allow organiza-
tions to collect and present information to funding
bodies whilst maintaining compliance with such
legislative demands.
In the health sector, evidence based practice
is a standard professional expectation. Evidence
based practice is the conscientious, explicit, and
judicious use of current best evidence in making
decisions about the care of individual patients
(Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes and Richard-