Practical Applications of Case Management Software for Practitioners in Health and Human Services - Information Communication Technologies for Human Services Education and Delivery - page 172

son 1996, p.71). It brings together integration
of clinical expertise and compassionate care of
patients with the best available evidence from
research. Whilst its utility in health care has
been clearly demonstrated, the development of
evidence based practice in the human services
is in its infancy. There are, nevertheless, promis-
ing ways in which this approach can be used for
improving knowledge about service and provider
users, practitioners, organizations, policy and
research (Johnson & Austin 2006). It is expected
that evidence based practice and research will be
increasingly used in response to greater account-
ability requirements made by funders leading to
specific demands for: outcomes measurement,
increasing availability of expertise and resources
for evidence based practice, and rising expecta-
tions that the not for profit organizations will
manage for results.
Managed care is practiced in Canada and the
USA and to a lesser extent in other countries.
There are, nevertheless, pressures on all not for
profit organizations to use aggregated program
data to demonstrate their effectiveness. Local
foundations are an increasing source of program
funding for the not for profit sector. On one hand
foundations with tax exemptions are expected to
demonstrate results to governments and in turn,
foundations demand efficiencies and outcomes
from recipient organizations. Governments are
result oriented, requiring information from the
not for profits sector about their program, prog-
ress against objectives and specific results. They
now demand that funded programs demonstrate
achievement of particular outcomes and outputs as
well as effective, efficient and efficacious services.
Many organizations are required to achieve these
requirements and conduct their own evaluations in
order to receive ongoing funding. If not for profits
do not have the internal capacity to undertake
these evaluations, they may need to hire external
consultants, an expensive exercise. Large not for
profit organizations receive funding from multiple
sources including federal, state, regional or local

organizations with increasingly complex, and pos-
sibly overlapping reporting requirements. Unless
organizations have, or are able to purchase the
analytical and research capacity to separate inputs,
activities and outcomes from various programs
and transform this data into specific results, their
ongoing funding may be jeopardized.
Despite these demands, governments and
private funders in the US were generally dissat-
isfied with the research data that organizations
provided to justify grant proposals and support
evaluations (Stoeckler 2007, p.111). Funding is
not a right or entitlement in the non-government
sector. Acceptance of funding means responsibil-
ity. Funders expect that services will be directed
and targeted to those most in need. It is assumed
that there will be fiscal responsibility, account-
ability for funding and measurement of outcomes.
Quality standards are expected, these including
use of service protocols, adherence to practice
standards, appropriate use of qualified staff,
participation in quality assurance, and meeting
accreditation standards. Finally governments
expect that, wherever possible, practice is based
on demonstration of effectiveness. Whilst these
are the funding bodies' expectations it does not
mean that these bodies will necessarily pay for
costs associated with achieving accountability.
In summary, funder demands for greater ac-
countability are outpacing the technical and re-
search capacity of the not for profit sector resulting
in many agencies being unable to meet the specific
accountability and program evaluation demands of
funders. How then can case management software
be used to address funders' demands for program
monitoring purposes and to develop and address
the effectiveness of services? Case management
software is a tool providing an organization the
capacity to manage, evaluate and monitor pro-
grams, research and plan services. The utility
of the software is a significant human resource
consideration. It may be necessary for agencies
to spend money to save money, in other words to
weigh up the costs and benefits. The training and