InfoPath in the real world - Care Services

I’d like to continue talking about the use of InfoPath in the real world by talking about Children’s Electronic Social Care Record. If you’ve been following local events in the UK over the past months, you may be aware that we’ve had some problems in identifying children who are at risk and working to protect them. In answer to this problem, Microsoft Gold Partner Deverill created a solution using SharePoint and InfoPath.

The situation was such that social services care team staff were being put under pressure to have more visits to children who were at risk. For each visit, staff had to fill out a thirteen page paper form. This form was manually handed to an administration team to be processed, which took days and could include many errors. As staff were being told to go on more visits, the increase in administration was going to be unmanageable.

Deverill created a solution using WSS 3.0 and InfoPath. The social care staff were equipped with tablet PCs with InfoPath installed. The original paper-based form was converted to an electronic form with handwriting recognition capabilities. The staff could fill out the form on the tablet, which would automatically save the form to a portal area on the network. The administrative team could then access this portal area to progress the case and collaborate. This has significantly reduced the amount of administrative work needed per form, removed the need for a typing pool and made report data more readily available. The data is now more accurate and entered more efficiently, allowing for significantly improved care levels in the community.