One of the best aspects of working with people with disabilities is watching them get the help and services they need, and seeing their lives improve as a result.

However, it’s common to see people struggle to get the outcomes they deserve. Sometimes this is due to obvious reasons but often it can be because of invisible barriers.

For example, if you have clients that struggle with the physical act of filling out forms, they may not get the services they need because they can’t complete the paperwork. Whether paperwork presents a challenge because of comprehension or manual dexterity issues, or whether the sheer time it takes makes it overwhelming for the person to fill out forms, the amount of paperwork required to access services can present a stumbling block for some people.

This is a clear-cut area where you can potentially help your clients. But what happens when you’re just not sure why they can’t access the services they need? How can you help them overcome barriers that you can’t even pinpoint?

The first step is to implement an intelligent information management (IIM) system that helps you get a clear and comprehensive view of all your clients, the support they’re receiving, and their outcomes. You can also use this system to record the barriers your clients have encountered in accessing the services they need.

Storata has created an IIM system specifically for NDIS service providers. It’s based on M-Files, which treats documents based on what they are, not where they’re saved. So, using the Storata solution, it’s simple to find the documents you need, when you need them. You can link documents to each other based on context and content, and find all the information you need with a quick search. It’s a reliable, scalable, flexible platform that makes document management and workflows easy.

The Storata IIM system even lets you run reports that show you exactly how many of your clients are struggling to access the services they need, and which ones are facing similar barriers. This can help reveal a systemic issue that could potentially be affecting other clients, even if they haven’t specifically identified that barrier as affecting them.

For example, if a large enough proportion of your clients have reported that they have trouble accessing services because public transport is inadequate in their area, then you can use that evidence to lobby the government to improve public transport. Or, you could use that evidence to support a business case to provide transport for clients. This can be of enormous help to those clients who were only prevented from getting the help they needed because of transportation issues.

Getting all your information into a single system

The trick to uncovering this crucial information is to get all of your documents and data onto a single platform, regardless of whether they exist in internal or external systems.

By overlaying a single search function to access all of these disparate documents, then applying built-in reporting capabilities, you can uncover all sorts of information about your clients. And, once you have a complete picture of how they’re accessing services and what outcomes they’re achieving, you can start to apply this knowledge across other clients. Things that were invisible will quickly become clear as day, and you can start to develop strategies to overcome barriers and improve outcomes.

This isn’t limited to finding out what’s standing in the way of your clients’ outcomes either. You can also use this information to find out which of your staff members gets the best outcomes for their clients. Then, you can leverage their capabilities and know-how to help other staff members get the same high-quality results for their own clients. This can potentially lift the level of service across the board.

Storata can help you achieve this through its partnership with M-Files, using a unique metadata approach that automatically links all relevant documents. So, if you search for one client, you’ll be able to instantly see every single document that relates to that client, giving you a comprehensive view into that client’s situation.

And, if you want to run reports based on certain parameters, the solution lets you do that simply and quickly so you can see all of the factors that are affecting your clients, including both visible and previously-invisible barriers.

To find out more about how Storata and M-Files can help you make the invisible visible, helping your clients achieve better outcomes, contact us today.