This case study from April 2015 has been reposted from the EndGame website.

Best practice clinical management tools and decision support services for health care professionals.

Opportunity

Rataora uses web-based software to provide clinical management tools and decision support services for health care professionals.

Given the high annual cost of alcohol related injury claims in New Zealand, ACC commissioned Rataora to begin screening alcohol related injuries in the ED of Wellington Hospital. Patients can then be referred for further assessment and treatment as necessary.

Before EndGame got involved, Rataora’s Director Don Smith had been working on developing a case management system for a number of years and had several customers using the product. But, as Don relates, “The software system was not able to deliver the types of reports that customers needed. I asked around for what could be done and Rod Dury (from Xero) suggested that I talk to Andrew Butel and the team at EndGame.”

“Every time EndGame comes up with a solution that exceeds our initial expectations.”

Don Smith Founder,

Rataora

Solution

Once EndGame understood the aims and purpose of Rataora’s case management system, the team suggested that case data might be better shown as a timeline, rather than the conventional case notes stored within separate folders. This allowed the casework for a client to be presented in a single screen as a graphic.

“For me the greatest advantage was that it was very easy to see progress and ‘silence’ — time periods where there are no notes, indicating there had been no contact with the client. This has now become the most powerful feature of the system. As far as I am aware, no other case management software has these features,” Don says.

EndGame rewrote the code for Rataora’s system within three months, and has continued to work with Rataora as it expands. “What has happened has been a dynamic partnership where my colleagues at the Medical School identify what it is we need, discuss this with Andrew and his team, and come up with new and improved practice. EndGame consistently produces results that exceed our initial expectations. This is because they know the new developments in software systems and are prepared to include these into a solution for us.”

Product Features

EndGame designed Rataora’s new software with a simple user interface to provide easy access to client data. The dashboard displays case notes, appointments, client forms, and other files all displayed on a single timeline through CaseStream technology. Presenting the data this way means case workers can see important client information at a glance and spot risks earlier.

The dashboard also displays the client’s management plan — a list of ‘to do’ tasks with due dates that can be viewed by all workers on the case. Using a real time electronic decision support system (EDS), case workers can be alerted when significant events take place or tasks are due, such as a high test score, an approaching anniversary date, or a significant time lapse since the last contact with a client.

As a web-based service, the structure is ‘client centric’ so that rather than refer clients to other services, case workers are invited to access the client’s file within Rataora and record their case notes together with the notes of other professionals working with that client. This makes for a secure system which ensures client information is not sent between workers in open systems like email or fax.

Being web-based also ensures the service is fast, secure, and any software updates are quickly made available for all users.

“It will be interesting to see where this goes in the future. I expect it will set further benchmarks for best practice by working in partnership with other clinicians and public servants, as we have been able to do in the last 4 years. It’s exciting.”

Don Smith

Founder, Rataora