Rainbows United, Inc. Begins Their Digital Journey

For more than 47 years, Rainbows United Inc has been serving the Wichita community and provides many vital services for children with special needs from birth through age 21, as well as services for their families. Rainbows United provides autism services, community-based education, early care and education, early intervention, family support and respite, mental health, targeted case management and specialized foster care services. Nearly 96% of their services are provided in the family’s home or other community settings.

The challenges

Prior to their partnership with Netsmart, Rainbows United operated on paper with seven disparate databases that did not interact, and they did not have an electronic health record (EHR). In order to regain efficiency and simplify the documentation process, a technology partner who offered an integrated EHR and mobile capabilities was vital.

Most of the providers were taking notes on pen and paper during the home visits. When they arrived back to the office, sometimes hours or even days later due to multiple scheduled visits, they would type up the stacks of paper notes. Once services provided were documented, they printed out the notes and added them to the client’s paper file, initiating the billing process.

We needed our care providers to gain quick and secure access to accurate information when they provide care and services. Netsmart had the answer for us.

Debbie Mai, Vice President of Programs and Services

“One of the worst parts about the old workflow was the masses of paper; it would pile up so quickly with some of the children’s files being 6-8-inches thick,” Vice President of Programs and Services, Debbie Mai, said. “A therapist can’t take that entire file with them to the child’s home. They take some pages, ultimately generating more paper, and then they don’t have a historical view of the individual’s record when there.”

In addition to inefficiencies and time-consuming workflows, duplicate data entry posed a high risk of human error. Some providers were using iPads to document services, however they still had to come back to the facility and duplicate the data into the file. Reentering data from the original notes leaves room for unintentional errors, which not only affects the accuracy of the individual’s and family’s services and client safety, but also the organization’s billing activities. Generating more piles of paper causes a delay in the billing process, which can impact the overall financial health of the entire organization.

“This previous manual workflow was not going to take us to the next level,” Mai said. “We needed an electronic platform that allowed Rainbows United to go out into the community and serve our clients and their families. We needed our care providers to gain quick and secure access to accurate information when they provide care and services. Netsmart had the answer for us.”

We are able to truly work as a team in this partnership. Because of this, we have the technology to help us today, grow with us tomorrow and take us to the future.”

Debbie Mai, Vice President of Programs and Services

Power in partnership

Through their partnership with Netsmart, Rainbows United now has the ability to view the complete record for all services provided and the mobile solution will resync with the EHR automatically once connected to the internet. After implementing the myEvolv EHR and mobile solution CarePOV myEvolv Anywhere in May, care providers complete a one-time documentation process in a single workflow during the home visit. What was once a manual, inefficient and timely process, is now an automated process saving time and allows the care team to focus on providing care anywhere, anytime.

“We want access to current information and forms while in the home,” Mai said. “With myEvolv Anywhere, we now have the technology we need in order to work with the family. The case manager doesn’t have to worry if he or she have all of the notes or past documentations with them; it’s all right there anywhere they go.”

Rainbows provides 10 different services to children and families, and often many are enrolled in multiple programs at once. For example, a child might be seen in the infant/toddler services, in early childhood mental health and also in targeted case management. Most of the staff work outside of the facility, therefore they may not have known a child was receiving multiple services. Before implementing Netsmart myEvolv EHR and mobile solution, providers were not able to see the full picture of a child’s care plan or history of services.

Through myEvolv Anywhere, Rainbows United can now see the child and family’s entire record and access assessments, forms and required consents. Instead of the parents or guardians having to sign a document multiple times, now they sign once, electronically. Rainbows United can document for services, collect signatures, assign billable codes and meet state requirements, all in one workflow. The streamlined process saves time and provides more efficient workflows when going from home to home providing care. What was once a manual, inefficient and timely process is now an automated process that saves time and allows the care team to focus on providing care anywhere, anytime.

“The system talks to itself. We’re all able to see all historical service plans and previous diagnosis of the child in one place.” Mai said. “Plus, when we bring in new staff and they have a new caseload, the technology shows the history of the child and family. They’re able to begin providing services and seamlessly continue the care path.”

The journey continues

Rainbows United is excited about what’s next with myEvolv Anywhere. Mai said the ability to schedule new appointments, reschedule previous appointments, along with drafting notes on the fly will continue to increase staff satisfaction and will allow them to further optimize the mobile workflow. Having a list of accomplished and to-do items allows users to see what all they’ve completed while keeping pending responsibilities at the forefront.

In addition, Rainbows recently adopted KPI Dashboards for clinical, financial and operational analytics. They will have the ability to create user-defined views and filter aggregated data by program, service type, client access and much more.

“With children constantly entering and exiting programs, having a way to quickly view those numbers live is essential for Rainbows United,” Michelle Eastman, vice president of marketing and communications said. “This tool will act as our magic button to give us visibility into what is happening live in our organization.”

Rainbows United looks forward to utilizing all of their implemented solutions and continuing their partnership to further enhance and grow care delivery in their community.

“We are able to truly work as a team in this partnership,” Mai said. “Because of this, we have the technology to help us today, grow with us tomorrow and take us to the future.”