Suspicions of mismanaged funds, low transition rates and a high number of deaths have plagued the Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration grant in Oregon over the past six months.  The program has transitioned just 278 people and spent over $20M since program inception. In the past year, 83 people were moved out of nursing homes (24% of their goal) and 15 died.  Over 20% of the money was spent on housing: “home remodeling and refurbishing of adult foster homes, apartments and private homes” and on a major building project, according to the Lund Report.  Applying simple math, the $20M spent equates to over $73k per person transitioned.

How does Oregon’s progress compare to other MFP programs across the country? According to the just published Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) survey, 2010: A Snapshot Report, finding affordable housing to transition people to has been, and will continue to be, the most significant challenge for the 26 states who participated in the study.

All state MFP programs got off the ground slowly in 2008, and spent considerable time and money finding and preparing homes for seniors, developmentally and physically disabled and mentally ill individuals to move into.  The pace picked up significantly over the past year, especially for seniors and the physically disabled.   Across the US the goal was to transition nearly 38,000 people; to date only 9,000 transitions have been completed, or 24% of the original goal (another 4,000 are underway).

Oregon performed higher than the national average, reaching 28% of its goal of 1000 transitions over the initial 5 year grant. The average monthly cost of care for a transitioned person was $5600, according to the Kaufman study; again using basic math (and not accounting for when people left the nursing homes, or other important factors), the average monthly cost for an Oregonian MFP grant recipient was $1217.

The investigation results into the Oregon MFP program should be released soon. At a glance, it appears that Oregon’s program is actually fairing a bit better than other states in terms of the number of people transitioned and the average cost per person. In addition, Oregon’s expenditures on housing are in alignment with other MFP program efforts to meet housing availability challenges.  Let’s hope the issues are appropriately resolved in Oregon, and that the program can get back to the good work of transitioning people out of institutions and into homes.

Does Self-Directed Care Increase The Risk of Fraud and Lower Quality?

In Ohio, a proposed state plan option that allows seniors to hire their own health care aids has been challenged by home health agencies that provide the very same services.   In a Columbus Dispatch article dated January 25, 2011, the agencies claim that allowing consumers to choose their own providers will increase fraud and lower the quality of care to the over 32,000 Medicaid-eligible consumers in the PASSPORT program.

The question is, is there truth to this claim? Have other self directed care programs reported such an increase in fraud, and has quality declined as a result of allowing consumers to choose who will be allowed in their own home to provide services?

A review of previous and existing programs around the world actually shows otherwise.  An analysis of Case and Counseling programs in New Jersey, Florida and Arkansas in 2004 found that “participants … had fewer negative outcomes, such as falls or incidents of abuse or poor quality care.”  In a 2006 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report, “initial concerns about possible Medicaid fraud and abuse as well as adverse effects on participants’ health proved unfounded.”  In Harry R. Moody’s 2009 book, Aging: Concepts and Controversies, he reports that in California studies show no differences in the quality of care or in the occurrence of abuse, neglect, or other negative outcomes.

Conversely, in each of the studies mentioned above, consumers expressed greater satisfaction with services received, that providers were more often on time, cost less per hour and were willing to work more frequent and more flexible hours than previous agency-provided workers.

Recently elected Ohio Governor John Kasich is reviewing the plan and the concerns voiced by the agencies,  and is expected to make a decision by February 14.  Let’s hope he too reviews the data, and draws the same conclusions.

Medway Council needed a technology solution that would empower social care recipients to manage their own support, and that would provide a high degree of interaction between care management teams, care providers, and individual clients.

>> Read the case study

Elda is a feisty 93 year old widowed grandmother in Washington State still living in her own home. Despite a hip replacement, she still swims nearly every day. Elda ‘s motto is “life is short”, and she is determined to enjoy it to its fullest. She wants to stay in her own home, surrounded by her favorite books and pictures she’s collected over the years. A big window looks out over a treed lawn, and every morning she loves to sit at her kitchen table eating breakfast and enjoying the view. Elda needs help with raking the leaves, with some light housekeeping and meal preparation, but for the most part she remains independent.

Elda knows a neighbor who is willing to perform lawn services for her, and the daughter of a friend who will provide the housekeeping chores. A local church program can provide home delivered meal services. She wants the services performed by people she knows and trusts, and who brighten her day and take the edge off the loneliness she sometimes feels.

Did you know that within this decade, for the first time in recorded history there will be more people on this planet over 65 than there are under 5? Did you know that within 30 years the number of senior citizens will double from today to over 1 billion people, representing 14% of the world’s population? Did you know that over 85% of older adults surveyed state they wish to remain in their own home and never leave?

No longer are people like Elda willing to tolerate services being delivered in a one size fits all manner; people want more options and direct control over choosing the services they need from the providers they select themselves. The complexity of orchestrating care to people across this intricate web of care settings compared to traditional institutional or program centric models is daunting. How is society going to be able to adjust and make this seismic shift in the delivery and management of care to this ever growing number of people?

And so that is what this blog is about. We’ll explore the ways that people can be empowered to keep control over their own lives, including the ability to manage their own care to the fullest extent possible. We’ll look at the pros and cons of this person centered model, and the successes and challenges experienced by people and organizations around the world who are self directing care today.

Cheers,

Tonya

Find out at booth 60 how technology can help you deliver significant productivity and efficiency benefits with tools that empower the public to take control of their lives

* Enable consumers to directly participate in their own care
* Provide participant self-service
* Deliver better customer care
* Increase staff productivity and reduce costs
* Collaborate across care settings and providers
* Meet the Money Follows The Person (MPF) grant reporting requirements
* CareDirector, the ONLY IT solution specifically designed for self-directed care

BOOK A ONE-TO-ONE MEETING WITH ONE OF OUR SOCIAL CARE EXPERTS
Discuss the features of CareDirector to suit your specific needs with one of our representatives.

MEET WITH OUR TEAM AT BOOTH 60
Tonya, Dianne and Michael will be happy to show you how you can enable consumers to directly participate in their own care.

PICK UP A CHOCOLATE OR TWO!
Don’t forget to stop by and enjoy a delicious treat.

ABOUT CAREWORKS
CareWorks is a specialist provider of social care management solutions for person-centered and self-directed care. We have developed CareDirector, a social care case management system that enables adults and individuals with disabilities to participate directly in their own care. CareWorks is the only software company in the world to offer a social care solution based on world leading customer relationship management technology from Microsoft.

We are looking forward to meeting you in Atlanta.

Implementing the Affordable Care Act

CAREWORKS – PERSON-CENTERED SOLUTIONS THAT TRULY ENHANCE THE NAVIGATION OF HEALTH AND LONG TERM CARE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Read how CareWorks fulfils the data collection and IT components of the Affordable Care Act

> Optimizes Options Counseling and Assistance
> Streamlines Benefits Determination
> Provides Person-Centered Planning and Care Transitions
> Measures and Improves Quality Assurance
> Facilitates Outreach and Collaboration
> Supports Nursing Home Transitions

CAREDIRECTOR – ENABLING CONSUMERS TO DIRECTLY PARTICIPATE IN THEIR OWN CARE

CareDirector is an adult social care and disabilities case management platform that enables consumers to participate directly in their own care, and allows partner agencies to collaborate securely across programs. It is the first and only social care solution based on world-leading customer relationship management technology from Microsoft. The result is a higher quality more flexible information system that you can quickly adapt to meet your changing needs.

• Read a customer testimonial
• Read more about CareDirector
• Learn more about applying Microsoft Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to social care

LET US SHOW YOU HOW WE DO IT – REGISTER FOR OUR WEBINAR

Please join us to learn more about CareDirector and how we can help you successfully respond to the Affordable Care Act Funding Application.

Date: Thursday, July 8, 2010 – 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. EST – REGISTER NOW

The Grant Application due date is July 30, 2010. If you are interested in exploring the possibilities of CareDirector further, please contact Tonya Harmon now at 202-470-0914.

CareWorks invites you to attend the annual Microsoft Worldwide Government Solutions Forum to be held on 19-20th May. This year the Forum visits the beautiful World Heritage site of Bergen in Norway.

The event examines the new challenges that the current economic climate brings to delivering effective citizen services. Citizens are expecting a higher standard of service from their local and regional governments; but budgets are tighter than ever and fiscal and regulatory scrutiny is increasing. In social care, we are very familiar with those challenges in meeting the needs of an ageing population through citizen self-service and self-directed support.

The event also showcases solutions and the local and regional governments like Bergen in Norway and CareWorks customer Medway Council in UK, who are delivering real benefits to their citizens through the innovative use of technology.

CareWorks will present its social care management system, CareDirector,which enables citizens to direct their own support. As an invitation-only forum, the event will bring together senior delegates from across the local and regional government community and include presentations from internationally respected experts worldwide.

We hope to see you there.

More information about the Microsoft Worldwide Government Solutions Forum
Please call us if you are interested to attend – Tel: 02890 327 329

West Berkshire Council Adult Social Care, Berkshire NHS Healthcare Foundation Trust and CareWorks have implemented a fully integrated client record information system that facilitates seamless provision of care between the community mental health team and other social care teams.

West Berkshire Council’s Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) is one of the first in the country to have access to a specialist integrated IT system. The integrated client record information system developed by CareWorks facilitates seamless provision of care between the community mental health team and other social care teams. It has resulted in better team working, the development of better, more tailored care and also provided management benefits.

The community mental health team are a specialist jointly managed team of people from West Berkshire Council and the Berkshire Health Care Trust who work together to provide services for people who suffer from severe and enduring mental illness or severe emotional distress / disturbance. West Berkshire CMHT have been using the new CareWorks system since February 2009.

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WATCH VIDEO CASE STUDY
Find out how West Berkshire Council and CareWorks are transforming social care

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Before it was developed, health and social care staff had two separate client record information systems. Information had to be put into each system separately which duplicated information and created a risk of introducing errors. With the new system all Community Mental Health Staff including those who work out of hours have access to the most up to date information from a single central point.

As no off-the-shelf product was available, West Berkshire Council Adult Social Care engaged CareWorks to develop a bespoke product, CareWorks RAISE Mental Health. The new system had to take into account health and social care’s different rules about reporting, recording and sharing data and classifying referrals. It had to address deep seated concerns from healthcare staff about keeping data safe and secure. The project involved more than developing software. Data had to be transferred accurately from the old systems and all staff had to be trained in using the new system and reassured that it would meet their requirements.

Health and social care staff now have a single system for recording and sharing information. It has helped care planning and team working as well as the development of a person-centred service that can respond rapidly to need. It provides vital management information to support mandatory reporting and payment by results. Finally, it has also paved the way for other teams to look at joint working and information sharing. The Council’s use of CareWorks RAISE Mental Health was recognised as the regional winner of the NHS South Central Innovative Health and Social Care Technology Award 2009. The Health and Social Care Awards have been running for 8 years and aim to highlight and celebrate innovation and excellence in frontline health and social care.

Joe Mooney, West Berkshire Executive Councillor for Community Care said: “The new system has already brought significant improvements for both staff and service users. Staff now benefit from the ability to access and record accurate up to date information from a central system. This allows them to plan a safe and effective support plan for the service user. The service user receives a specialist personalised service that adapts and responds quickly and efficiently to their needs.”

• To request an online demo of CareWorks RAISE Mental Health, please fill in our enquiry form

Medway Council goes live with CareDirector

CareWorks is pleased to announce that Medway Council has gone live with CareDirector. Medway selected CareDirector to help them drive the personalisation agenda in adult social care services. This first phase implementation took less than 2 months to complete. 400 care professionals are now using the CareDirector case management system to offer responsive more personalised services to Medway’s adult social care users.

Medway’s vision to deliver citizen-focussed care services was awarded the Best Inclusion / Social Care Project award by Microsoft for their inspiring use of technology to fundamentally transform how social care services are delivered.

• Watch how CareWorks and Medway are transforming social care
• To arrange an online demonstration of CareDirector, please fill in our enquiry form

CareWorks recognised as market-leading social care software provider at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards

Today, CareWorks announced it has been selected as a finalist for the 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards for Public Sector, Health. CareWorks was chosen out of an international field of over 2,000 top Microsoft partners as delivering market-leading social care management solutions built on Microsoft technology.

“With an aging population and recession stretching public resources the world of social care is changing. We created our CareDirector solution to empower the public to direct their social care” said Michael Dolan, Managing Director, CareWorks. “We’re very pleased to gain international recognition for our unique customer service approach to the transformation of health and social care services”.

“This award was created to recognize our partners who have delivered innovative solutions built on Microsoft technologies that address the unique needs of public sector customers.  CareDirector is an outstanding example of just such a solution!“ said Linda Zecher, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector.

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions over the past year.

Allison L. Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Corp commented “Congratulations to the 2009 WPC Award finalists who have demonstrated a superior level of expertise as well as a focus on delivering customer value. We look forward to seeing these partners fulfil their limitless potential as they continue to provide customers with world-class Microsoft solutions.”

About CareWorks

CareWorks has created CareDirector, a social care management system that enables the public to direct their own social care. CareWorks has taken a different approach, moving away from the proprietary systems that have traditionally been used in social care management, to one built on an industry standard customer service platform from Microsoft. The result is a higher quality, more flexible system that can be quickly adapted to evolving needs. CareWorks is the first and only social care software company to offer a social care solution based on world leading customer relationship technology from Microsoft. It is a social care specialist with 12 years experience and an unrivalled understanding of the revolution taking place in the delivery and management of social care.

For additional information, please contact:

David Bordas
E: dbordas@careworks.ie
Tel: 02890 327 329