March Minutes

ITAC MEETING MINUTES
For March 21, 2007

Attendees:
Niamh Darcy, John Killebrew, Darryl McGraw, Robert Michaud, Gloria McNeill, Shannon Schelin

Wake County:
Velvadine Wallace, Lib Wanner

The meeting began at 9 a.m. Lib Wanner welcomed everyone to the group and briefly discussed the agenda for today’s meeting.

Human Services System Model:
Lib stated that in the fall of 2006, the business analysts and system administrators in Human Services were consolidated into the IS Department. She stated that part of that consolidation involved working with Human Services on strategic technology planning. She stated that the strategic goal for Wake County Human Services and its partners was to effectively collect, analyze & use data to achieve improved outcomes for the services rendered. She stated that these services include Mental Health, Public Health, Social Services, and Substance Abuse. The data collected for these services is both common to many programs and services and unique to specific programs and services. She also mentioned that the community partners and other service agencies access this data.

Lib stated that a data management model has been developed that leverages the common data collected in our unique program and service areas, and puts it in one place that is secure and accessible. She stated that the main interest is to have common data in one centralized location that can be accessed by staff and community partners as needed. She stated that the common data will be secure and accessible only to authorized personnel.

Lib then asked the group what they thought of the data management model. Darryl stated that he understood the concept and it made sense to him. Gloria agreed and stated that they have the same type of model at the university. Robert stated that the ongoing VA and DOD have a common medical record system. He stated that they are migrating to similar architecture for medical specialty requirements. Niamh stated that they use a similar model at RTI. She stated that it’s important to know the schedule for updating data and to be aware that all data is not real-time. John stated that the elements looked right to him.

Lib then asked the group about their experience with case management systems. Niamh stated that they use a product called Kami (Microsoft-based). John stated that BellSouth had a customer relationship system from Siebel. Robert stated that the customer relationship is good for both product and services. Lib then stated that the City of Raleigh has ramped up its 311 service, which is a customer relationship system.

Lib then asked the group about the security for common data. Darryl stated that at Wake Tech they assign roles to each user through multiple systems. Niamh stated that Wake County would need to know all the sub-components before assigning roles, and that we need to think about the different kinds of data being used and who needs to see it.

Lib then asked the group about the accessibility of data for the community partners. Darryl replied that it should be OK if they use role-based security. Niamh stated that Wake County could ask the community partners to sign a confidentiality agreement. She stated that the US aid approved these documents as a policy. Robert stated that front-loading the documents would be a good idea. Lib then asked if Wake County should rotate the passwords every 60 or 90 days. Robert replied that we should build in a robust audit and enforcement system, and either 60 or 90 days would be OK with that in place.

Lib asked if the group had any other advice for the data model. There was none. Darryl stated that he thought Wake County was right on target.

Lib mentioned that the topic for next month would be Performance Metrics. She stated that this is a new area for IS and asked that if anyone had any knowledge and/or documentation in this area, send her an e-mail. Darryl stated that Wake Tech measures client satisfaction levels. Both Darryl and Robert stated that they are struggling in this area, also.

Lib asked the committee if they had any other suggestions, questions or comments. There were none. Meeting adjourned at 9:36 a.m.