Kevin's Blog

 Posts Tagged ‘Service’

I’m leaving today…..

As much as I enjoy the non-stop action and incredible history offered by New York I am happy to be heading home to warmer waters.

Spending time with so many awesome people that use Therap, I cannot help but be infected by their enthusiasm, passion for supporting people with disabilities, and their conviction that with Therap they will do everything better.  I cannot help but be excited by this, because I am constantly motivated by an effort to help our field do better.  This attitude comes with great respect for all those who came before, and the amazing strides services and supports for people with disabilities have taken during my 20 years in the field.  But like all the folks who use Therap, I know we can still improve.  After the intensely positive Therap conference in Fishkill, I know we are improving.  Thanks everyone for keeping me in turbo charge mode….Let’s do this!

“ISP” is a pretty familiar acronym in our field.  Here is Hawaii we know it means “Individualized Service Plan”.  These type of acronyms often make our lives easier by not having to say or type out the long name the stand for, but at times they can confuse communication and limit our thinking.

In the Therap system, the ISP Data module and see how easy it is to create custom individualized goals and objectives, break these down into as much detailed steps as desired and measure them in the language and format that best demonstrate the ability of the agency and their staff to achieve real and measurable results for the individuals they support.  Because of all this, it is easy to take a look at this module and say OK I know what this does, but from my experience this would be limiting your thinking and the full potential that the module has to help your organization.

Many of our long term customers all across the US have already figured out something that Hawaii users are just starting to take advantage of.

Here is the secret…..the ISP Data module is a powerful tool for capturing, managing, sorting, and crunching all kinds of data, in addition to ISP specific goals and tasks.  For example, if there is a form that someone in your organization fills out on a regular basis, daily, weekly, monthly, whatever…and you at some point pull this information together into a summary (or wish you actually had the time to get to this) then chances are very good the ISP data module can flexibly adapt to improve the way you capture this information and eliminate yet another paper form.

As an example, in Hawaii we are using this module to capture care coordination functions, productivity data, fire drills, safety awareness, job coach activities, just to name a few.  It can be challenging to wrap your head around this at first, but once you do you will capture more data in less time and you will be able to make use of this information.

If you have not taken a peek into the Global Library it is worth a careful look.  There are literally hundreds of examples of different application for the ISP module.  Give me a call and I will happily walk you through all of this and give you specific direction and examples.

Aloha everyone,

I am looking forward to spending some time in Anchorage and the surrounding area at the end of this month.  I am very grateful to the folks at AADD (Alaska Association of Developmental Disabilities) for including me on their agenda.  I will be highlighting the reasons why organizations instantly benefit from using Therap.  The tools and resources built into Therap make doing business much easier at every point along the way.  Of course hundreds of agencies, including many in Alaska, already know this.

Looking forward to reconnecting with folks I have met a talked with, and meeting  new people.  I will be around Anchorage all week, if we are not already scheduled to get together give me a call.  I will be happy to stop by to learn about your unique business and service model and show you how Therap can eliminate headaches and provide you with powerful new options.

If you don’t see me, it might be because I am so bundled up in jackets trying to stay warm.  I will try to bring some Hawaii sunshine with me.  Do I really need to rent a snow machine?  or was that guy pulling my leg…? 

I have been spending a little time recently with one of our newest customers here in Hawaii.  It is so much fun they are a great group of people who are quickly mastering the Therap system.  After just a few short weeks in the system they are already writing ISP’s.  Keep an eye out for some of their work in the Global Library, you are sure to find some good things there in the future.  Keep up the great work friends!!

Therap is an amazing company for many reasons.  One of the things that impresses me the most  is how Therap has managed to stay so far ahead of the curve on technology that maximizes efficiencies and quality of life outcomes for provider agencies in our field.  Therap has been ahead of the trend to put computers and internet access into service centers and residential programs, so as agencies are making this leap forward Therap is already there with a fully matured service and technology package with features and depth most agencies have only dreamed of in their data management and reporting.  

When it comes to non-center based services in the community, as usual, Therap is ahead of the curve.  Therap is again ready with agency wide integration with easy remote access any where the internet is available, all with cutting edge HIPAA privacy and security.  Now that the internet is widely available in even remote communities (refer to the many commercials bragging nationwide coverage) the technology is fully in place to support non center based service models to have the same quality and quantity of documentation and data as center based services.   The challenge for many agencies today is how to take this inevitable step into the future and include internet based documentation in their community based services.  Below I address some of the options for supporting this technological leap forward. 

1. One of the biggest challenges often cited is that the direct support professional workforce does not have consistent internet access in their lives.  Some thoughts on this:

• Will your least innovative staff set the limits for your organization moving into the future?
• The internet is one of the most powerful tools for adult learning available today, does it make sense to not have this available for supporting the learning of people with developmental disabilities and their staff?
• Also given the speed and flexibility of current technology developments, I am told we are only a few years from having the portable electronic devices (phone +++) (found in the pocket, or purse of every direct support professional) able to fully access the internet in same way our home computers and laptops do today.

2.   Computer Work Stations- existing agency locations can usually be easily adapted to provide staff with a drop in internet connected workstation.  How about reaching out to community partners and other organizations to support a workstation?

3. Public Computer Access – public libraries, coffee shops, and many other places now provide computer workstations for little or no charge, Therap’s security features make this a safe option for submitting documentation.

4. Existing Computer with Internet at DSP Home – Many(the majority?) of direct support professionals already have internet access at home, several agencies have tapped into this resource and have done creative things like providing staff with 5-10 minutes of flex time 5-10 minutes each shift to allow staff to log on from home and quickly complete their daily documentation.

5. Existing Computer without Internet at DSP at Home – Provide a small stipend for to pay for a small percentage of staffs internet connection.  This can also help when staff see their mileage checks shrinking because they are not driving pieces of paper several miles every week to the main office.                   

6. Purchase Netbooks - in this new technology, portable computing with internet access comes at a very low cost

• No Microsoft Office or other licenses required
• Access free wireless hotspots
• Offer to allow staff to keep in exchange for providing their own internet access
• Develop a sharing program for the netbook where staff can meet up and input their data

7. Computer Donation/ Recycling – Reach out to your community and local businesses letting them know your push forward and open the doors for donations of old computers.  Once again licenses for Microsoft are not required when all they will be used for is Therap documentation on the internet.  Be sure to recycle your own computers internally.  Sounds like a possible employment opportunity for a person with a developmental disability in here.  

8.  Paper Work Arounds -  while waiting for staff and technology to catch up to Therap and your organizational push to modernize you still can:

• Print out blank forms from Therap and have staff input the information into Therap at a later time at a workstation
• Or have other staff input the information into Therap at a later time
• Scanning in documents to Therap is another potential employment opportunity for a person with a developmental disability.

Thanks for taking the time to read this work in progress.  Please add your ideas and I will work on compiling this all into a resource as we move into a future of community based services paired with internet based documentation.

Aloha!

For those that don’t know, I am based in Hawaii on the Island of Oahu.   Believe it or not we do work hard over here and even though I am so close to the beach I don’t get there nearly as often as I’d like.  Here is a picture of my backyard.

I extend a warm Aloha to you all, and I encourage you to visit Hawaii when you have a chance.  Seriously how many of you would come to a Therap Conference in Honolulu? I have met so many great people in my short time with Therap and I look forward to meeting many many more.  Keep an eye out for more Therap users from the Northern, Western, and Southern edge of the US coming on board soon.