Intake and Access
Communio is a recognised subject matter expert in establishing models for improved intake and access to health and human services.
We believe that standardising intake and assessment mechanisms is a key enabler for proactive management of service delivery.
We have extensive experience in establishing the requirements, strategies and systems for single point of intake and access contact centre and multi-channel environments. Our experience shows that the right intake and access model can provide quantifiable benefits which address common service delivery issues.
* Standardised intake mechanisms can result in improved demand management, with a frequent outcome of centralised intake being a clearer understanding of the location of need, the priority of need and eligibility for service. This enables alignment of priority service delivery capability with locations of greatest need.
* Standardised intake systems can result in greater consistency and quality of service delivery. Particularly in the health services context, provision of a centralised triage point with uniform operating procedures can result in improved consistency of assessment and advice. Centralised triage is often conducted by clinicians or staff with specialist expertise, resulting in improved quality of service.
* Often, there are inconsistent intake and assessment processes between services or locations, with consumers receiving a different response depending on which number they call or service location they visit. A standardised intake and assessment model can provide greater equity of access and more equitable and timely service delivery, particularly for consumers in rural and remote areas.
* Standardised intake mechanisms can provide organisations with more timely and accurate reporting, leading to improved performance measurement and planning. Frequently, services have disparate information systems or use paper-based systems, resulting in little or no reliable information relating to need or intake activity. Services also often have no decision support tools and lack an accurate and current service provider directory to facilitate appropriate referral processes.
Some of our recent intake and access improvement work includes:
* Development of a pre-implementation plan for the $20million Better Government Access program managed by the NSW Government Chief Information Office to improve government service delivery.
* Development of an economic appraisal for NSW Health to improve consumer access to mental health services through the establishment of a state-wide access line staffed by mental health clinicians. Communio identified the quantifiable benefits of the initiative, the current program costs and savings, the project implementation costs, the projected ongoing operational costs of each delivery option and future funding options. The Economic Appraisal included assessment of the net benefits of the initiative against a number of likely scenarios and identified the best, mid and worst case funding implications.
* Development of a business case for NSW Health to provide older patients and patients with chronic disease a single point of access to the community health and community service system.
* Planning and delivery of the Queensland Government Health Contact Centre including design of the call centre model and development of the supporting strategy, modelling and analysis of call volume projections and staffing levels, development of the capital and ongoing operational budget, approved in full by Cabinet, development of the operational KPIs and evaluation framework, implementation of the call centre technology, recruitment and training of staff, development and implementation of the 13HEALTH marketing and communication strategy, provision of a full project team for implementation and deployment of the call centre and ongoing quality improvement and implementation of supplementary services.
We believe that standardising intake and assessment mechanisms is a key enabler for proactive management of service delivery.
We have extensive experience in establishing the requirements, strategies and systems for single point of intake and access contact centre and multi-channel environments. Our experience shows that the right intake and access model can provide quantifiable benefits which address common service delivery issues.
* Standardised intake mechanisms can result in improved demand management, with a frequent outcome of centralised intake being a clearer understanding of the location of need, the priority of need and eligibility for service. This enables alignment of priority service delivery capability with locations of greatest need.
* Standardised intake systems can result in greater consistency and quality of service delivery. Particularly in the health services context, provision of a centralised triage point with uniform operating procedures can result in improved consistency of assessment and advice. Centralised triage is often conducted by clinicians or staff with specialist expertise, resulting in improved quality of service.
* Often, there are inconsistent intake and assessment processes between services or locations, with consumers receiving a different response depending on which number they call or service location they visit. A standardised intake and assessment model can provide greater equity of access and more equitable and timely service delivery, particularly for consumers in rural and remote areas.
* Standardised intake mechanisms can provide organisations with more timely and accurate reporting, leading to improved performance measurement and planning. Frequently, services have disparate information systems or use paper-based systems, resulting in little or no reliable information relating to need or intake activity. Services also often have no decision support tools and lack an accurate and current service provider directory to facilitate appropriate referral processes.
Some of our recent intake and access improvement work includes:
* Development of a pre-implementation plan for the $20million Better Government Access program managed by the NSW Government Chief Information Office to improve government service delivery.
* Development of an economic appraisal for NSW Health to improve consumer access to mental health services through the establishment of a state-wide access line staffed by mental health clinicians. Communio identified the quantifiable benefits of the initiative, the current program costs and savings, the project implementation costs, the projected ongoing operational costs of each delivery option and future funding options. The Economic Appraisal included assessment of the net benefits of the initiative against a number of likely scenarios and identified the best, mid and worst case funding implications.
* Development of a business case for NSW Health to provide older patients and patients with chronic disease a single point of access to the community health and community service system.
* Planning and delivery of the Queensland Government Health Contact Centre including design of the call centre model and development of the supporting strategy, modelling and analysis of call volume projections and staffing levels, development of the capital and ongoing operational budget, approved in full by Cabinet, development of the operational KPIs and evaluation framework, implementation of the call centre technology, recruitment and training of staff, development and implementation of the 13HEALTH marketing and communication strategy, provision of a full project team for implementation and deployment of the call centre and ongoing quality improvement and implementation of supplementary services.
