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PROTOCOL 360

Challenge...

A proliferation of IT systems has meant information relating to the same person is often held in multiple systems. Dependent upon the services they receive, Case Workers may well have to access a number of systems in an attempt to get a better picture of the circumstances of each client. This way of working relies on the Case Worker undertaking these searches – something which time pressured staff may not have the time to do. The result is that potentially only a partial picture can be painted with vital issues being missed, therefore completely compromising the decision making.   

Connecting the dots...

The drive towards a more person centred approach to service delivery means that the complete picture of a client’s circumstances becomes an essential requirement. The introduction of multi-agency working has moved this agenda on somewhat, but the scope of work to date has been restricted to a limited number of agencies often with a history of working together. Broadening the reach of multi-agency working means concerns about data sharing and client confidentiality are issues which have to be robustly addressed for solutions to be trusted and the benefits realised.

 Centralised v Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)...

One technical solution to gaining a broader understanding of a client’s circumstances is to put all the information held about that client into one database or data warehouse. The problem this creates is a ‘one size fits all’ model which causes the loss of functionality and process that systems designed for specific domains need and rely upon. This problem becomes exacerbated as the database has further domain data added.   

The SOA approach in contrast, utilises the functionality within existing systems. It can use elements from a range of systems and share and present this information via new and existing applications. This approach is intrinsically more flexible and therefore far more able to adapt to new requirements than the traditional single database approach.  

Introducing PROTOCOL 360 and configurable scenarios...

PROTOCOL360 is an event driven SOA that listens for and processes events from multiple systems. Significant events in the client’s circumstances are configured into 360 which detects when these scenarios have occurred and presents this information immediately to Case Workers via a Portal or via mobile devices. This approach provides an insight above and beyond what is available in individual systems and connects the dots in a way that searching individual systems could never achieve. The real time availability of this information means Case Workers can intervene early; this translates into a better service and potentially a less costly intervention. PROTOCOL 360’s data matching engine maintains the link between the records held in the various systems allowing an on demand access to a ‘Single Client View’. 

PROTOCOL 360...distilling the important from the incidental.

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