Integrated client information management: A systems approach incorporated by RVIB

Agencies involved in the delivery of services to people with vision impairments face mounting challenges as they operate within changing political and difficult economic environments. Increased demand for services and limited resources available to provide them place additional responsibility and burden on agencies, while Government departments and institutions responsible for their funding, demand ever-increased accountability and demonstrated effectiveness. Planning for future service trends, recording the details of present day interactions and meeting the varying and demanding requirements of reporting not only require access to large and diverse amounts of data but also the ability to make sense from it. This can be a complex and challenging task. Data, although a valuable resource, can also place additional strain on agencies, staff and the systems involved in its collection, storage, access, and use. Service providers require basic demographic and biographical information about clients and the ability to record and describe their services in terms that are meaningful to them. Managers require data, which allow for monitoring and measurement of current services as well as the prediction of future trends. Funding bodies and other external agencies require information and data, which can be used to acquit funding, audit processes and measure quality and quantity of service. Are solutions to these diverse and at times competing information demands at all possible and if so can they be provided in a practical and beneficial way? This paper will attempt to show that this is indeed possible by examining the implementation and use of an integrated client management system at the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, demonstrating how such a system can enhance service management, audit and evaluation and how wide ranging demands for information can be met through flexible system configuration and design.