Stewards of Change Provides Hope for Interoperability in Human Services and Beyond

Since starting Handel IT in 1997 I have seen a growing demand for information sharing between different entities with which our customers interact. Whether it is a juvenile intervention program that needs information from the judicial system, or a school or a tribe who needs to share enrollment data with their social services department; the trends are clear. Our customers believe that interoperability is a key ingredient for providing better services to the clients that they serve, for giving their employees better tools, and for creating better results overall for all stakeholders. Over the past 15 years we have seen major advancements in information technologies, and with that, a growing group of people are supporting the concept of inter-agency information sharing. One has to look no further than to the most popular social media sites to realize the benefits of information sharing (of course, one also has to look no further than some of these sites to see some of the potential caution one has to take with regards to information sharing). Today, technology is no longer a barrier to interoperability. Over the past several years I have come to learn that the biggest barriers to interoperability come from government regulations, politics, and just people in general who are adverse to the concept of sharing “their” data.

Handel’s view of information what an information sharing scenario may look like in a juvenile justice program.

With this mindset, it was a great experience and a great honor as well, to be invited to the 2012 Stewards of Change Conference at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. This year the 7th Stewards of Change Conference was titled “From Field to Fed III: Advancing Health and Human Service Interoperability Amid the Challenges and Opportunities of Healthcare Reform.” The roughly 100 invite-only attendees represented Federal Government, State Government, County Government, and Industry. Being a part of this three-day symposium gave me a whole new outlook on how far we have come in changing interoperability in human services from a dream to a reality. Videos and commentary about the conference are accessible on the Stewards of Change Web Site. Perhaps one of the highlights for me was the ability to hear how motivated some of the key players across Federal and State Government are to make this happen. In opening remarks, George Sheldon, Assistant Secretary for Administration for Children and Families, commented on the need for creating common eligibility determination systems across programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF. His sentiment is that it is ultimately about serving the client better and by connecting systems we can accomplish just that. We have already removed the technology barriers. Now we need to remove what Sheldon refers to as “mindset” barriers. We need to move from a mindset of “my information” to “our information.”  Mr. Sheldon’s comments resonated from other attendees, State CIOs, heads of State Health and Human Services, and other key players throughout the conference. It was truly refreshing to discover that these groups of key decision makers are getting behind an initiative that has been a fundamental belief here at Handel for many years.

Upon return from Stewards of Change conference, it is even clearer to me where we are moving, and how Handel and our RiteTrack platform is aligned for where the industry is moving. One thing is certain:  Information sharing and interoperability between different departments is going to be a reality of our future. Number one, because we owe it to our clients in order to provide the best possible services. Number two, because the world is coming to expect this from us. Our clients can share their vacation video on YouTube, their photos on Facebook, but their social workers can’t get access to their education records. As one conference attendee put it, “My credit card company knows more about me than I know about the clients I am supposed to serve.”

While we don’t have a completely clear picture to what the future may hold when it comes to sharing information, we have a few ideas of what it may entail. Two ideas seem to prevail. One is the concept of a common client index, or a common person registry. The other is the concept of web-based client portals. These concepts are familiar to RiteTrack customers. For many years now RiteTrack has been grounded in the philosophy of a “hub and spoke” model, where the “hub” represents a common client index. In a tribe this is the enrollment system which tracks all members enrolled in the tribe. To get services from the tribe, a person typically (but not always) has to be enrolled in the tribe. The various “spokes” represent the different services that the tribe offers, whether TANF, General Assistance, Indian Child Welfare, or other programs. While the central enrollment data (basically client demographics and contact data) may be shared across programs, the data specific to a particular program (i.e., TANF) is not shared unless a specific request for sharing is made. The concept of a client or citizen portal is one which we have experimented with and the one we are currently doing for a few of our customers. We are convinced that the concept of accessing your own data inside a RiteTrack system will become (someday soon) as common as checking your bank account online. Why shouldn’t our clients be able to review their service history, see what programs they are eligible for, complete assessments, and see their service utilization online?

I remain confident that in the coming years, we will overcome the current obstacles to information sharing. Here at Handel we are excited to be part of driving the change. If you would like to discuss interoperability and information sharing, please do not hesitate to contact me.. Perhaps one of the highlights for me was the ability to hear how motivated some of the key players across Federal and State Government are to make this happen. In opening remarks, George Sheldon, Assistant Secretary for Administration for Children and Families, commented on the need for creating common eligibility determination systems across programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF. His sentiment is that it is ultimately about serving the client better and by connecting systems we can accomplish just that. We have already removed the technology barriers. Now we need to remove what Sheldon refers to as “mindset” barriers. We need to move from a mindset of “my information” to “our information.”  Mr. Sheldon’s comments resonated from other attendees, State CIOs, heads of State Health and Human Services, and other key players throughout the conference. It was truly refreshing to discover that these groups of key decision makers are getting behind an initiative that has been a fundamental belief here at Handel for many years.