Sherburne County Health & Human Services (HHS) invested in a new paperless file system,  and now it’s paying off.

 

The county spent more than $1.1 million to implement the Northwoods Paperless Solution this year in the six social services units in HHS.

 

HHS Director Mary Jo Cobb said it was apparent a few years ago the units would need to go paperless.

 

“We already had gone paperless in the financial unit and child support,” she told members of the county board last week.

 

The first phase of the project began in January. Along with training, staff and clerical workers scanned more than 1,500 files, some a few inches thick. There were 80 staff involved in the project.

 

“We made sure all the workers were involved in the scanning to get familiar with the program,” said Cobb. “We would be struggling if we had not gotten all the files scanned. And to make sure everything was done right, clerical staff are going through every file to cross check to make sure everything did get scanned in correctly before they shred those files.”

 

The project was completed in August, and Cobb said it has changed the way the units work. Social workers in the field no longer have to carry paper files. They use their laptops or iPads to access all the information that would have been in a paper file.

 

“The biggest piece that we were looking for was the repurposing of staff time,” she said. “For many years, staff have been saying they don’t have time to work with clients. They do the bare minimum and then have to do paperwork.”

 

The paperless system has freed up at least an additional 1,600 hours a month where people can work with clients rather than do paperwork, said Cobb. 

HHS Case manager Dan McCoss said the system has completely transformed his job.

 

“Sometimes I felt like the clients were lost in the shuffle because of the paperwork that’s involved,” he said. “Now my office is my iPad. Basically, that’s what this has created for us. We have everything in our files at the push of a button.”

 

HHS Supervisor Melissa Anderson said staff are no longer carrying around thick files everywhere they go. All the information is in the database, accessible to social workers and supervisors at the same time.

 

“For supervisors, the consultation  process has been streamlined. If a worker is out in the field they can call their supervisor and we have access to the same file they’re looking at,” she said. “It also allows me to review files without having staff bring in a file. I can spot check and review files for quality and training.”

 

Supervisor Jodi Heurung said the system helped during an after-hours crisis. She was the on-call supervisor one evening and received a call from law enforcement, who had picked up a runaway child.

 

“The child was going to be placed in foster care and they were asking for information,” she said. “I was able to pull up the electronic files and give the information to the officer. Without that, I’m not sure how that would have gone. Potentially, I would have had  to come to the office and find the hard file.”

 

Cobb said everyone in the units loves the new system.

 

“We asked people for comments,” she said. “They’re saying it’s the best thing since sliced bread.”