eImagine and Indiana State Department of Health Create INSTEP Application for Newborn Baby Healthcare
Background
INSTEP is the Indiana Newborn Screening Tracking and Education Program. The application was developed by eImagine for the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Newborn Screening (NBS) Program in order to help ensure that all children born in Indiana receive the best possible care related to newborn screening. Newborn screening is a special test that helps identify newborns who are at risk for certain genetic, metabolic, and other physiological conditions. This test is mandated by Indiana state law for all babies born in Indiana. The test is typically done by a sample of blood collected before the newborn leaves the hospital.
Challenges
Indiana has around 80,000 births a year across more than 100 qualified birthing facilities and midwiferies. Collecting comprehensive data on such a large number of individuals is an arduous task. To provide the necessary public services regarding newborn screening, the ISDH NBS department was utilizing a variety of disconnected manual methods such as Microsoft Access databases, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, paper forms, and fax machines. Follow-up work was very time consuming, required a large number of staff, and comprehensive reporting was near impossible. Birthing facilities, required to comply with state reporting laws, were also frustrated with the amount of manual work required on a daily basis as they had to provide their own tools and methods for tracking newborn screening information.
Solution
The State of Indiana turned to eImagine for a high-tech solution to these challenges. In 2009, eImagine was contracted by ISDH to help design and create INSTEP—a web-based application to replace all the manual processes involved in newborn screening tracking. Primary development for the first phase of INSTEP was completed in April of 2010 and following a very successful pilot the program launched state-wide the following August.
INSTEP is a custom-built .NET 4.0 web application written in VB.NET. It provides a rich, interactive user experience utilizing the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit in combination with the third-party tools Telerik RadControls and Grape City ActiveReports. INSTEP interacts with the state-wide ISDH Gateway portal, which provides single-sign on (SSO) functionality and a variety of other Application Programming Interface (API) functions to access the vast ISDH Repository, an Oracle database. INSTEP is fully integrated with a number of other state resources, such as the Indiana-contracted newborn screening lab, birth certificates, death certificates, and professional licensing data provided by Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA). Thanks in part to eImagine’s work on INSTEP, Indiana is one of the leading states in high-tech public healthcare.
Results
Birthing facilities and hospitals use INSTEP to report and track newborn screens performed, and document screens that were delayed or missed. The data is sent to the state in real time, where the NBS department provides immediate follow-up for care when necessary. The information is linked to birth certificates, lab results, and other data to provide a full comprehensive view of a child’s medical profile. INSTEP also allows tracking of long-term data for individuals born with NBS conditions. State-contracted specialists can log in and enter follow-up data for patients who are in treatment (many conditions are lifelong). eImagine is working with the state to expand INSTEP to provide access to primary care providers and other physicians, so they can provide better treatment to individuals with newborn screening conditions. INSTEP has the capability to send health level 7 (HL7) messages to health information exchanges (HIEs) and Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs), a feat which many other states have not been able to accomplish. Because of INSTEP’s flexible, modular design, it is used as a platform to rapidly adapt and extend in response to the changing newborn screening laws.
eImagine continues to be involved in the latter phases of INSTEP development, consisting of adding additional features and other enhancements. In 2012, it is expected that all Indiana birthing facilities in Indiana will be trained and using INSTEP to report newborn screening information to the state. eImagine and the state of Indiana have received nationwide recognition for INSTEP’s success. INSTEP has been such an overwhelming success that ISDH plans to expand it to encompass all applications in the Newborn Screening and Genomics department at ISDH.
An Indiana State Agency Turns to eImagine and Microsoft SharePoint to Improve Document and Resource
Background
In 2010, the Indiana Office of Technology published documentation expressing a state-wide push for using SharePoint for all agency document and resource management. While areas of one of the State Agencies had a few existing SharePoint sites, the sites had limited functionality and use. Also, there was SharePoint knowledge within the agency, but it had been distributed throughout without a designated expert resource.
This urgency in the push to utilize SharePoint also meant that the IOT could stop supporting this agency’s other organizational methods at any time. Because of this, they began looking for an immediate and efficient way of transitioning from older methods of document and resource management to using SharePoint.
Challenges
eImagine already had a consultant in place at the agency prior to this push towards SharePoint. While not hired for SharePoint, the eImagine consultant was a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in SharePoint, so eImagine’s role in the SharePoint initiative was a natural move. A strategy was immediately drafted to assist this agency in evaluating and addressing this need for transitioning. Once the task was taken on, it soon became a key concern to find a rapid and easy-to-use way to safely transfer a large number of resources from numerous file shares and other organizational systems.
Solution
eImagine helped its client overcome its challenges by developing a migration strategy using features of SharePoint not currently utilized by our client that made the process easy and understandable for any user of file shares. Identifying this user-friendly and rapidly deployable strategy was key to successful implementation. eImagine further developed templates for sites that could be based on program areas, and also developed a full pilot program that was successfully implemented. eImagine found a way to implement and optimize the solution to help transfer resources and further daily use of SharePoint.
Results
eImagine’s strategy was approved by upper management and the pilot program was extremely successful. Currently, the agency-wide SharePoint implementation and migration is pending completion of the pilot program. From analysis of the pilot program, it is clear that the strategy has already helped one program area of the agency successfully and quickly transfer all resources from file shares to SharePoint. eImagine’s focus on staff certification and exposure to broad skill-sets has been instrumental in this success.
eImagine and Microsoft CRM assist Telecom Placement Incorporated in eliminating inefficient project management processes
Background
Telecom Placement Inc. (TPI) handles installations for all aspects of cable infrastructure and manages internal and external parties for all phases of the construction process. Before reaching out to eImagine, TPI was losing money through missed target dates, penalties and lowered revenue capture for early completion bonuses, and on-time permit submittals.
Challenges
TPI’s previous system had limited system interface and reporting capabilities. All management of target dates and cycle times for project and activities, deadlines and exceptions were handled manually, requiring significant effort to track and manage all parties for both standard and exception flows.
Another challenge eImagine faced was the need for simplicity in our solution. We needed a solution that addressed workflows, reporting, key events, and was proactive in management. In addition, the solution required training and ongoing support for continual use. TPI was losing money to inefficiencies in paper processes and our solution revolved around significantly decreasing, or eliminating this. The difficulty was in trying to manage all of these work processes for all parties.
Solution: Microsoft CRM
eImagine’s XRM solution allowed TPI to automate installation and repair requests which allowed for on-time permit approvals and issuances, detailed and accurate reporting and efficient and timely billing. eImagine also analyzed existing manual workflows and reengineered these processes to automate core processes and alert TPI staff and related parties in situations where due dates were at risk. Reporting for work-in-process, exception management, and operational and managerial reports were developed and run on a scheduled and ad-hoc basis with email delivery and notification.
Results
By using Microsoft’s XRM platform as the basis for this solution, eImagine was able to deliver a powerful but extensible solution quickly and economically to help TPI realize its business objectives. All analysis and development was conducted closely with TPI including periodic demos and reviews of the system with documentation and training as key deliverables. This will ensure TPI can extend the system with additional customization for entities and workflows, and reporting in the future. The key to this success was getting to know the company, and really understanding its needs.
National Mortgage Bank Turns to eImagine & Microsoft SharePoint to Manage Loans More Efficiently
Background
When an international mortgage bank needed a more efficient solution for managing its loan applications, it turned to eImagine Technology Group. eImagine delivers a broad suite of Microsoft Business Solutions, custom application development, infrastructure and staff augmentation services for companies in all industries. Its clients range from national and international financial institutions to the Department of Defense to local and national non-profit organizations. Despite being in different industries, with vastly different business requirements, eImagine’s clients all share a common goal: to manage resources more efficiently and ultimately drive down operating costs.
Challenges
Upon assessing its mortgage processing reporting capabilities, the bank identified several critical inefficiencies in its existing tools and business processes. The most glaring was the inability to view loans at a high level to identify which had been processed and which were outstanding at any given point in time. This was complicated by the fact that data was coming from offices across the globe in different time zones, with one branch alone processing an average of 300,000 loan reports every hour.
The bank’s past response to this challenge was to assign a full-time employee to run the same reports, hour after hour, day after day in an attempt to approximate real-time reporting. Summarizing these reports at a high-level for review by the appropriate management required the manual manipulation of dozens of spreadsheets.
Solution: Microsoft SharePoint
More than just a document management tool, SharePoint became the platform on which the bank processes and manages its mortgage reporting. eImagine implemented and optimized the solution to help the bank take full advantage of SharePoint’s robust collaboration and management tools.
This solution has enabled the bank to:
- Integrate data from multiple systems, offices and databases into a single reporting solution
- Generate real-time reports of backlogged mortgages
- Access top-level mortgage processing data in dashboards with drill-down capability
- Streamline reporting processes and generate reports in minutes, not hours
- Eliminate staff overhead
- Assign access to reports on a need-to-know basis
- Track key performance indicators
Results
Through the implementation and customization of Microsoft SharePoint, eImagine helped its client:
- Increase staff productivity
- Gain real-time access to data for better strategic decision-making ability
- Better allocate resources and track the performance of various lines of business
- Increase business process efficiency
- Reduce operating costs
- Eliminate the risk of a single point of failure in staffing