The Dominant Role of Case Management Technology in 2024
It’s 2024 and we’re way past the conventional ways of case management (if we aren’t, we should be!). Nonprofits around the world have embraced technological solutions and are already employing robust systems for case management that have helped them reduce overheads, minimize errors, and improve efficiencies by folds. With more time at hand thanks to case management solutions, these NGOs are able to intensify their fundraising efforts and serve more clients in a much-improved manner.
While most social services organizations are using case management technology to serve more people efficiently, some still aren’t. But this little cost-saving is impacting the scale and efficiency of their operations which could become in a matter of years. As for any other service, cutting-edge solutions with increasingly better features are appearing on the market and the forward-looking social services organizations are embracing them wholeheartedly.
Case management is at the heart of humanitarian work. Gone are the days when digital solutions were perceived to be corporate tools that helped large enterprises modernize their operations and ease access to business development. Today, these solutions are impacting all walks of life and changing the world as we know it, with social services being no exception. In this piece, we’ll explore the different ways technology is driving, impacting, and reshaping the present and future of case management.
How Technology Has Impacted Case Management
Case management solutions are reshaping the social services industry dramatically, bringing inefficiencies and enabling humanitarian services providers to expand the scale of operations without having to expand the physical infrastructure. While the first case management solutions reduced most of the routine tasks to mere taps and clicks, the new technologies are getting even smarter and come equipped with features that make case management a breeze.
A typical case management software helps NGOs keep track of the cases, follow and manage requests and appointments, track case files, and collaborate among designated entities. These tools also bring cohesion and stability to a nonprofit’s operations; they bring integrity to the services of humanitarian entities and align their Standards Operating Procedures (SOPs). And as opposed to legacy case management applications, the modern ones do more with less effort.
The new case management technology improves collaboration, provides real-time reporting and updates, decentralizes teams, and enhances communication. And as technology continuously evolves, it will go beyond predictable and continue to transform the way we work. For nonprofits, this will mean much easier and quicker adaptation and integration triggering both external drivers and internal strategies. The obvious result will be enhanced efficiency on all case management fronts.
How Nonprofits Are Using the Case Management Technology
Case management technology is helping nonprofits of all sorts and sizes a great deal. Be it protecting or settling refugees, saving women and children from sexual or gender-based violence, or helping people in social reintegration, case management technology helps humanitarian services providers automate their processes and serve more people in less time. Below are some of the benefits nonprofits of the world are reaping from case management solutions.
- New Case Filtering
Case management solutions make the opening of new profiles for an individual much easier for caseworkers. Attaching pictures, IDs, birth certificates, etc., and uploading details become a breeze. The system can then automatically store, name, and filter these profiles based on age, gender, and nationality. - Easier Approvals
If the new profiles or files need approvals before entering the pipeline, the modern case management software can do the task automatically. These files are streamlined and sent automatically to the right destination, expediting and streamlining the entire approvals process. And since the process is completely paperless, there’s no fear of loss or damage to the documents. - Status Monitoring
Usually, cases have to pass through multiple processes for which caseworkers need to create a checklist to ensure that no step is skipped. With case management solutions, caseworkers are able to generate an automated checker that keeps track of the process and ticks off what has been done, bringing ultimate ease to caseworkers’ duties. - Increased Privacy
Modern-day case management solutions employ advanced blockchain technology in their platforms. This makes the documents accessible to only specific personnel, stakeholders, and decision-makers of different agencies, ensuring the protection of individuals’ privacy. - Data Overview
Besides storing data, case managers have easy access to all the data they need in their work. By accessing this data in case pipelines, caseworkers can analyze priority cases, assess statistics, and take urgent action for faster and more effective case resolutions. - Easier Follow-Ups
Case management solutions help caseworkers keep full track of their cases by enabling them to set reminders for certain tasks in a case. They often need to analyze and monitor tasks after implementation and case management software makes it easier for them.
How New Technology Is Reshaping Case Management for Humanitarian Services
With the constant evolution of technology, case management solutions are also changing for the better with the passage of time. As legacy case management software phase out gradually, solutions with new and emerging technologies are making their way into the everyday workings of nonprofits. Organizations are increasingly adopting tech-based solutions to manage complex workflows and highly repetitive transactions from beginning to end.
Since the tech evolution is permanent and will continue to transform the social work landscape, here are some ways that future tech is reshaping case management for nonprofits:
- Easier Regulatory Compliance
Compliance is a must for any industry and social services are no exception. To comply with heavy government regulations, and maintain a certain standard, organizations must align their processes and prove their compliance through tedious documentation. Case management technology helps nonprofits to easily comply with all regulations and prevent knowledge workers from continuing specific tasks until regulatory requirements are met. - Matching People to Work
The evolving case management technology is increasingly making matching the right people to the right tasks much easier than before. The valuable data for each case and caseworkers’ instant access to it helps nonprofits to make the most of it for a case’s success. This valuable information is used to define the people performing the tasks as the case management solution’s simple framework orchestrates work. - Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
In many cases, there’s a lot of data involved which is very difficult to process or make use of if done manually. Some case management solutions of today employ technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to examine and recommend decision-making. These systems build proficiency in highly complex human decisions and suggest better ways to handle certain situations. - Securer Operations
No matter what the business, it demands security at all levels of operations. With the help of blockchain technology and end-to-end, software-based data encryption, case management software solutions are maximizing data security, which is crucial in the case of nonprofits or any other humanitarian organization. Only authorized caseworkers are able to retrieve, update, and share data.
How Covid-19 Has Accelerated the Penetration of Case Management Solutions
We’re in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented, and probably the worst health crisis the world has ever seen. The pandemic has shaken life and economy the world over, besides killing and infecting millions around the world. Thankfully, vaccines have been prepared in record time and finally, some light has begun to appear at the end of this dark tunnel. The effects are heartening and we’re already seeing the virus die down in many parts of the world.
But despite all its challenges and downsides, the COVID pandemic has shed light on the importance of digitization of tasks and processes. There’s been a dramatic digital shift during the pandemic where people – who, in compliance with SOPs had to practice social distancing, had to stay home – were doing everything online. Institutions and organizations that didn’t have the right digital infrastructure in place ended up scrambling for drastic measures to adapt to the new normal.
Faced with the continuing effects of the novel coronavirus, or Covid-19, the nonprofit sector has also started seeing case management technology as a necessity more than ever before. Nonprofit organizations have a great responsibility toward the communities they serve. And this impacts access to timely health and human services, resources as well as public health safety, and optimum outcomes. So, case management leaders are also poised to play a vital role in supporting humanitarian organizations in their responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
In this situation, case management solutions have started to appear more relevant than ever before. Enabling digital record-keeping decreases paperwork, centralized data management for remote access, real-time updates and quick access to information, efficient resolution of cases through effective collaboration, increased transparency and clear audit trails and enhanced and tailored customer care, case management technology is paving the way for more efficient human services in the future.