Sample Projects
Some of the projects the JCS
consultants have worked on include:
Strategic
Planning:
Operations
Assessments:
Re-Engineering
and Process Improvement:
Project
Management and Information Technology:
Survey
and Analytical Research:
_____________________________________ Strategic
Planning Projects:
Strategic
Planning for a Network of Human Service Agencies:
JCS
was selected through a competitive bidding process
to assist a regional network of public and private
human service agencies with their strategic planning.
The primary goal of the project was to explore
ways that the six contiguous counties could consolidate
operations to share resources and reduce cost.
The project was complicated due to the fact that
the county human services departments are responsible
for a whole host of social services including
mental health, substance abuse, children's services,
and aging among others. Each program reports
to a different state department with different
billing and reporting requirements. In some
agencies, as many as 13 different computer programs
were required to satisfy their reporting mandates.
JCS helped the collaborative develop
a strategic plan to standardize and centralize
their information services into a single facility.
In addition to realizing significant savings,
the collaborative was able to hire a more skilled
IT staff, purchase a sophisticated wide area network
with centralized data management and provide a
much higher level of service to its members.
JCS provided planning, design and
project management services for the project.
Additionally, we wrote a successful grant and
received $650,000 to develop a data warehouse
to combine the service and billing data from all
programs. The purpose of the data warehouse
was to follow the clients both vertically and
horizontally throughout the system, to coordinate
care and monitor outcomes.
Strategic
Business Plan for ASO Start up:
JCS
Partnered with a Strategic Alliance Partner to
develop a Strategic Business Plan for the creation
of an Administrative Services Organization (ASO).
The plan was designed to create a collaborative
of public and private agencies to share IT resources.
Included in the plan was a description of the
purpose, benefits, resource requirements, job
descriptions, equipment and software recommendations,
and a detailed set of proforma financials.
The plan was implemented and the ASO has been
providing a valuable service to its members for
the past five years.
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Operational
Assessments Projects:
Operations
Assessment and Strategic Planning for a Regional
Access Center:
JCS
was selected through a national competitive
bidding process to conduct a Functional Analysis
of a regional access center. Mr. Johnson
and Mr. Schafer conducted the analysis and reviewed
the operations of the center's services including:
eligibility determination, referral management,
intake screening and assessment, crisis intervention,
pre-authorization, level of care changes and transfers,
continuing care and discharge reviews, utilization
management, case management, denials and appeals,
provider relations, QA/QI, corporate structure
and legal issues, privacy and patient confidentiality,
and information systems. The consultants
prepared a detailed report of the assessment including
a data flow model of the information exchange
among the state department, managed care organization,
access center and provider network. Short-term
stop-gap measures were recommended along with
a long-term strategic plan.
Operations
Assessment for a County Children's Services Board:
Mr. Johnson
conducted a detailed Functional Analysis of a
county children services board as part of a quality
improvement project. Working with the agency's
management and labor union, he documented the workflow
of all departments and created an inventory of
all forms and reports. The analysis was
used to identify security risks, information management
obstacles and opportunities for improvement.
Based on the analysis, a strategic plan was developed
that resulted in the creation of a records department,
copy center and information services department.
Operations
Assessment for an Administrative Services Organization:
Mr. Johnson
conducted a detailed Functional Analysis of an
administrative services organization (ASO) as
part of an enterprise-wide re-engineering project.
The project documented the workflow of all departments
and created an inventory and database of all forms,
reports and miscellaneous documents. The
report was used to identify operational inefficiencies,
information management obstacles, security risks,
and IT problems. Using the results of the
analysis, Mr. Johnson and the ASO staff successfully
completed improvements to enrollments, accounting,
auditing, satisfaction survey research and information
systems. The information was also used in
the design of a Website and to prepare a risk
management plan, strategic automation plan,
disaster recovery plan and new procedures.
HIPAA
Information Security Assessment of Social Service
Agency:
JCS
conducted a HIPAA Information Security Assessment
of a not-for-profit, social service agency.
The assessment tool, developed by JCS,
was used as the basis for a day-long series of
interviews to evaluate the organization's level
of preparedness for the HIPAA information security
standards. The agency was found to have
been very well prepared and only minor changes
were indicated.
Operations
Assessment of Three Recently Merged Social Service
Agencies:
JCS was
selected to assist three agencies with integrating
their operations after a merger. The resultant
agency was the largest in the state and included
programs in mental health, substance abuse, children's
services, mental retardation and developmental
disabilities. JCS completed a functional
analysis and made recommendations for standardizing
operations, documents and information technology
across programs and locations.
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Re-Engineering
and Process Improvement Projects:
Re-Engineering
Project for an Accounting Department:
Another project
conducted by Mr. Johnson was the re-engineering
of the accounting department of an Administrative
Services Organization (ASO). The ASO provided
business services to seven county agencies.
Their internal accounting system faced many challenges
including non-compliance with the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board GASB 34 standards and
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
Additionally, there was no documentation and the
accounting software was obsolete and not supported.
Mr. Johnson managed the selection and acquisition
of a new accounting software system. Additionally,
he arranged for training, redesigned the chart
of accounts, created budget templates and developed
a cross-walk between the systems. He worked
with the staff to develop new policies, procedures
and controls, as well as, set up remote access
over the Web. He directed the design of
new CAFR and internal reports and reorganized
the filing system. Mr. Johnson then created
an executive dashboard of financial key performance
indicators (KPIs) and an electronic library on
the ASO's Website to organize and store the reports.
The project not only brought the department into
compliance with national accounting standards,
but also increased productivity.
Re-Engineering Project for an
Auditing Department:
In another
re-engineering project, Mr. Johnson reorganized
the Medicaid auditing functions of an ASO.
This project involved organizing and filing audit
reports from the previous 5 years and hiring a
new Auditor to manage the operations. Working
together with the Auditor, new software was purchased
and implemented to collect the audit data and
produce the state mandated reports. Additionally,
Mr. Johnson directed the development of new procedures
and created an electronic library of reports and
documentation on the ASO's Web information
portal.
Re-Engineering
Project for a Records Department:
As part
of an enterprise-wide strategic planning process,
Mr. Johnson conducted a Functional Analysis of
a children's services agency (see description
above). The forthcoming report identified
significant issues with the management of their
case files. A project plan was developed
and two new Records Technicians were hired.
New policies and procedures were created and an
electronic index and imaging system was designed.
Performance metrics were created and used to monitor
progress on the filing and indexing projects.
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Project
Management & Information Technology:
Project
Management and IT Procurement Project for a State
Agency:
JCS was selected
through a national competitive bidding process
to manage the design, acquisition and implementation
of a state-wide managed care information system
for a state department of mental health and developmental
disabilities. The project was initiated
by the development of a detailed project plan
and Gantt chart, which identified tasks, resources,
timelines and estimated costs. A national
IT survey was conducted of other state departments
and a Strategic Automation Plan developed.
JCS assisted with the preparation of a Request
for Proposal, managed the due diligence process
and conducted a pre-procurement quality audit
of the vendor.
Information
Technology Acquisition for an Ohio County Alcohol,
Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board:
The County
Board has administrative oversight responsibilities
for 45 mental health and substance abuse agencies
throughout the county. They have a $50,000,000
budget and fund the delivery of over 55,000 services
to 25,000 clients each year. Johnson Consulting
Services, Inc. was engaged to assist with the
design, evaluation and selection of a $1,500,000
system for client tracking, agency reimbursements,
and budgetary accounting for the Board, as well
as, automating key behavioral healthcare agencies.
The project also included a county-wide information
network which linked the Board, its contract agencies
and the Department of Mental Health.
Information
Technology Acquisition for a County Alcohol, Drug
Addiction and Mental Health Services Board:
The County
Board has administrative oversight responsibilities
for 20 mental health and substance abuse agencies
throughout the county. They have a $30,000,000
budget and fund the delivery of over 5,000 services
annually. Johnson Consulting Services, Inc.
was engaged to assist with the design, evaluation
and selection of an $800,000 system for client
tracking, agency reimbursements, and budgetary
accounting for the Board, as well as, automation
of its lead agencies. The project also included
the design and implementation of a county-wide
network which linked the Board, its contract agencies
and the Department of Mental Health.
Information
Technology Acquisition for a County Auditor:
The County
Auditor is the fiscal agent for all county departments
and agencies. He provides accounting services
for over 30 departments that include 121 funds
and 161 cost centers. He manages a $150,000,000
budget and processes over 3,000 vouchers, 3,000
payables, and payroll for 2,700. Johnson
Consulting Services, Inc. was engaged to assist
the county’s data processing department with the
design, evaluation, selection and implementation
of a budgetary accounting system. JCS also
developed an Implementation Plan, managed the
acquisition process and helped design
an Open Systems compliant wide-area network.
Information
Technology Acquisition for a County Mental Health
and Developmental Disabilities Board:
This Michigan
Board operates on a $20,000,000 budget and provides
MH and MR/DD services to over 5,000 clients annually.
They support 21 programs at 30 different sites. Johnson Consulting Services,
Inc. was awarded the contract to assist the Board
with the design, evaluation, selection and implementation
of a new management information system. The
implementation phase of the project also included
a review of business processes and workflow.
Information
Technology Acquisition for a County Developmental
Disabilities Board:
This Board
is responsible for a $45,000,000 budget and provides
support, programs and services to over 6,000 clients.
They serve both children and adults through a
series of 12 programs and 40 different services.
Johnson Consulting Services, Inc. won the contract
to assist the Board with their automation process.
The project included conducting a state wide automation
survey, development of a Strategic Automation
Plan, preparation of an RFP and system selection.
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Survey
and Analytical Research:
Health care
Claims Cost Analysis Study:
Mr. Johnson
undertook a project to build a 500,000 record,
claims database and design the statistical analyses
required to identify the "drivers" of
cost in the system. Analyses were run to
identify outliers based on overall cost.
These high cost cases were then characterized
in terms of their diagnosis, procedures received
and demographic variables. Results of the
study were used to assure that appropriate care
management services were made available to these
populations. Future studies were proposed
to link outcomes and satisfaction to claims.
Regional
Consumer Satisfaction Surveys for a provider network:
Mr. Johnson
managed a process improvement project to redesign
the survey instrument, procedures and analyses
for a service bureau that conducted consumer satisfaction
surveys. The survey instrument was redesigned
to include additional items and domains (categories)
were created for similar questions. The
domains were tested for reliability using Cronbach's
alpha with an average alpha score of over 80.
New policies and procedures were also developed
and the surveys were distributed electronically
to all participating agencies. As a consequence
of the new administration procedures, the response
rate increased by over 600%. Statistical
analyses of the data indicated that satisfaction
was highly correlated with several of the new
domains created.
Regional
Referral Source Satisfaction Surveys for a provider
network:
Mr. Johnson
managed a process improvement project to redesign
the survey instrument, procedures and analyses
for a referral source satisfaction survey.
The survey instrument was redesigned to include
domains or categories of similar questions.
The domains were tested for reliability using
Cronbach's alpha which demonstrated an average
alpha score of over 80. New policies and
procedures were developed, as well as a referral
source database The surveys were distributed
via mail and entered into a database when returned.
Mr. Johnson then analyzed the data using SPSS
and provided reports to all of the participating
organizations. As a consequence of the new
administration procedures, the response rate increased
by over 200%. Correlational analyses of
the data indicated that satisfaction was highly
correlated with several of the new domains created.
This helped the providers identify the "drivers"
of satisfaction with the intent of providing a better service
to their referral sources.
National
Automation Survey of State Departments of Mental
Health:
As part
of a larger IT acquisition and implementation
project (see above), JCS conducted a national
IT survey of state departments of mental health.
The survey, conducted by phone and through a direct
mail questionnaire, provided valuable insight
into the automation process. New vendors
and applications were identified, along with information
on their successes and problems.
Regional
Automation Surveys of Behavioral Health and MRDD
Organizations:
JCS has
conducted numerous IT surveys for behavioral healthcare,
children's services and MRDD boards and agencies.
The projects typically involve the design of the
survey questionnaire, creation of a recipient
database, mailing of the survey, data collection,
analysis and reporting. The results are
used to identify appropriate vendors, learn about
new applications of technology and to build an
informal support network of IT resources.
Surveys have also been implemented on Websites, PDAs and laptops.
Customer
Satisfaction and Personnel Evaluations:
Mr. Johnson
has also designed and implemented Web-based surveys
for customer satisfaction and personnel evaluations.
Invitations to take the survey are sent via email
and the surveys can be taken online using any
Web browser. The results are immediately
available online to the client.
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