Interested in learning more? We have partnered with SDP to host a free webinar. Watch the webinar recording!
The importance of informational continuity
Today, ASO’s main function is record-keeping. At SDP, we are working hard to create and perfect a platform that allows for simple and efficient data entry while making information easy to find and organize.
Here is an excerpt from the reference framework “Improving Access, Quality, and Continuity of Community Services” published by the Ministry of Health and Social Services of Quebec in 2023: “To ensure a response tailored to the user’s context, build trust, work in intrasectoral and intersectoral teams, and coordinate and integrate community services, it is necessary to receive information on an ongoing basis. Information continuity is “the availability and use of information about past events […] including other visits, test results, recommendations, or informal care and services. The way in which practitioners and professionals use information is of paramount importance in linking past health and social service events to the patient’s current situation and in adapting care and services to patients’ needs” (109). Information is the thread that links care and services from one practitioner to another and from one service to another (110).
This passage provides a clear definition of information continuity while highlighting the desired impacts of such continuity. It outlines the reasons that motivate us to offer a record-keeping solution that accurately stores information and presents it at relevant times. Information continuity allows for greater continuity of care by ensuring that all practitioners involved at different times have all the relevant information to provide the best services. The importance of this aspect should not be underestimated, as several studies show that greater continuity of care is associated with better outcomes:
– Pereira et al. (2016) reviewed several academic papers reporting that greater continuity of care provided by family physicians was associated with better outcomes in terms of physical health, appreciation of care, trust, earlier diagnoses, reduced mortality rates, etc.
– Engström et al. (2023) report in their literature review on clinical continuity that it is associated with better outcomes in the care of people living with mental health issues. Among other things, they mention a reduction in suicidal thoughts and actions, a decrease in emergency room visits, and a contribution to a better quality of life.
– de Cruppé et al. (2023) share the results of their research, which indicate that better continuity is linked to a significant decrease in the severity of symptoms in people living with psychiatric issues. Social functioning is also positively linked to the continuity experienced by the patients included in the study.
In this article, we will explore the different ways ASO supports informational and clinical continuity in your organization.
The client file: the backbone
In ASO, the file of the person using the services is the backbone to which all information about them is attached. The file provides quick access to the person’s identification information to ensure that we have the right file and offers several ways to view relevant information:
- Go to the interventions tab to see the latest contacts that our resource has had with this person and consult useful entries.
- Open the calendar tab to see a calendar-format display of interventions, participation in group interventions, warnings, overnight stays, etc.
- Open the file summary tab, which provides a personalized summary for each resource, summarizing essential information about the person’s trajectory.
In most organizations that use ASO, the very first step in an intervention is to search to see if the person already has a file in ASO. This search is done in the main search bar (which is always visible at the top of the screen) and can be completed with any information that the resource deems relevant:
- Last name, first name
- Phone number
- Date of birth
- Health insurance number
For this search to be effective, the information in each file must be up to date. With ASO, you can change the identification information in a client file as many times as necessary, and the information will then be updated for the entire team in their future searches.
For example, some resources allow anonymous use of their telephone intervention service. A file could therefore be created where the person’s name is simply “Anonymous” and the person’s telephone number is entered. This file will then be retrieved during future calls from this telephone number and all telephone interventions will be placed in the client’s file. Once the person has established a relationship of trust with the resource through several calls, they may be open to receiving in-person services. At this point, the caseworker asks the person to complete their file with the information required to receive the new services. Once the person’s name is entered in the file, all interactions associated with the file will also have the name updated and will remain in the file. The same applies to any other entry linked to the person’s file: accommodation file, attached file, follow-up file, assessment grids, intervention plan, etc.
Intervention plans
The intervention plan is a tool that is used regularly by many of our clients, regardless of the populations they serve. Establishing an intervention plan with the person’s participation and in accordance with best practices aims to set concrete goals with the person and to record the means that will be used to achieve them. The follow-up of each goal can also be completed with the intervention plan. Many resources also systematically review intervention plans after a certain period of time or on a predetermined date. ASO offers a dashboard that displays intervention plans whose review date is approaching to facilitate the monitoring of plan updates.
In addition to being a tool that allows all resource workers to view and follow the guidelines for better continuity, ASO ensures that an active intervention plan is automatically opened when the person’s file is opened.
Recommendations
Recommendations are simply alerts that appear in the form of a pop-up window when the file is opened. This is a way to ensure that critical information is quickly visible without having to create an intervention plan. Like intervention plans, each recommendation can be disabled so that it is preserved in the history without automatically opening the entry when the file is opened.
Sources
de Cruppé, W., Assheuer, M., Geraedts, M., & Beine, K. (2023). Association between continuity of care and treatment outcomes in psychiatric patients in Germany: A prospective cohort study. BMC Psychiatry, 23, 550. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05153-7
Engström, I., Hansson, L., Ali, L., Berg, J., Ekstedt, M., Engström, S., Kärrman Fredriksson, M., Liliemark, J., & Lytsy, P. (2022). Relational continuity may give better clinical outcomes in patients with serious mental illness – A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 22, 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03601-x
Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. (2023). Améliorer l’accès, la qualité et la continuité des services de proximité. Gouvernement du Québec. https://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/publications
Pereira Gray D, Sidaway-Lee K, White E, Thorne A, Evans P. Improving continuity: THE clinical challenge. InnovAiT. 2016;9(10):635-645. doi:10.1177/1755738016654504
The views expressed in this article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent those of CharityVillage.com or any other individual or entity with whom the authors or website may be affiliated. CharityVillage.com is not liable for any content that may be considered offensive, inappropriate, defamatory, or inaccurate or in breach of third-party rights of privacy, copyright, or trademark.
