County Launches Mobile App for Support Services

This Genus Technologies customer is the human services division (“Division”) of one of the top 50 most populous counties in the US. The Division’s core mission is to improve the health of all county residents and provide needed support services to the local populous.

To receive those support services, county residents had to go to their designated offices to fill out applications and/or submit supporting documentation. Other times, field workers gathered the documents from residents and were then responsible for handling the documents until they were received in the scan center. The Division recognized the burden and risk of this information collection process and created a long-term vision to replace its outdated systems. This included technology that would remove barriers to services and help residents receive all the support services they need. 

CHALLENGES AND GOALS

In order to replace the very manual process of transporting and processing documents, the Division chose a mobile enablement project in its Long-Term Support program to begin executing its vision. 

In the support program, human services field workers meet county residents who need services in their homes. The field workers often need to collect applications and supporting documents, make a copy and then submit them for scanning by the county’s central services department. The scanned documents are loaded into the county’s IBM FileNet electronic case file system of record. Residents cannot receive services until the needed documentation has been entered into the case file system.

This intermediate step from application to submission extended the time it took for residents to get needed services, burdened field workers with unnecessary responsibilities for handling and returning documents, and wasted field workers' time on non-productive tasks. 

Streamlining the process with a mobile application eliminated the burden of document handling and would allow the Division to offer services faster and meet the Division’s core mission.

The Division decided to have field workers use county-owned phones on-site in residents’ homes to capture images of key documents. The goals were to:

• Expand and improve county services to residents
• Increase convenience, safety, and access to services for county residents
• Expedite submission into the electronic case file in a safe, secure, and cost-effective manner
• Use connectivity to allow field workers to deliver services in non-traditional ways while preserving security for resident and county data

SOLUTION SELECTION

The Division turned to its existing Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax) application – TotalAgility as the foundation for its solution and selected Genus Technologies as the professional services partner to deliver the mobile application solution. Genus was selected for its expertise and proven successes with TotalAgility and IBM FileNet solutions. This knowledge was crucial for the complex integration with the county’s electronic case file system.

Genus utilized Tungsten Automation's Mobile Software Development Kit to provide the mobile document capture functions. The Division took a phased approach to introducing the solution Genus created to the field workers. After testing, the county selected a group of “power users” with high documentation submissions needs. Following the success of the pilot project, the county rolled out the mobile application to all 450 of its social workers, along with the training necessary for field workers to use the new mobile app Genus created.

SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

The Division saw nearly instant positive results with their mobile capture solution, including:

• Faster validation of benefits for residents — (minutes vs. days)
• Reduced security risks of the paper document chain-of-custody
• Eliminated paper document retention and destruction requirements
• Enablement of more effective referrals for other available services
• Real-time submission and processing confirmation with batch and tracking information
• Increased worker and resident confidence in the system
• Creation of an effective model to handle forms and exception handling forthe county’s 3,500 document form set
• Data security and regulatory compliance including HIPAA requirements
  
  

The implementation of the mobile capture solution yielded immediate benefits, including faster benefits validation, enhanced security, elimination of paper document retention, and more.

Software Solution

• Tungsten Automation's TotalAgility
• Tungsten Automation'sMobile Capture
• Tungsten Automation's Mobile Capture SDK

SUMMARY

Genus Technologies collaborated with a prominent human services division in a populous US county to transform its document handling processes. The division aimed to enhance resident services and streamline the application submission and document processing procedures. To achieve this, they initiated a mobile enablement project within their Long-Term Support program.

The existing system required field workers to physically collect, copy, and submit documents, causing delays and inefficiencies. Genus leveraged TotalAgility as the foundation for a mobile application solution, allowing field workers to capture documents on county-owned phones directly in residents' homes.

The implementation of this mobile capture solution yielded immediate benefits, including faster benefits validation, enhanced security, elimination of paper document retention, and increased worker and resident confidence. The system also facilitated referrals for additional services and ensured data security and regulatory compliance, showcasing the tangible impact of Genus Technologies' expertise in improving document handling processes.