In this video, we cover configuration best practices for your Social Solutions Apricot 360 or Apricot Core case management platform.

Out of the box, Apricot is a highly configurable database platform. You can customize Apricot to be your organization’s unique case management app.

But Apricot’s flexibility leaves a few open questions…

• Is there a “right” way or “right” approach to configuring Apricot?
• What considerations should be made when designing Apricot?
• How are other organizations like ours using Apricot?
• Are there use cases I can draw on as examples?

These are good questions to be asking because Apricot database design is something you want to get right.

Apricot configuration choices impact user experience, data structure, and reporting and the best way to get your Apricot “right” is to know what Apricot is capable of. With that, it helps to have a few examples and use cases.

This video explores form and link design in Apricot 360 and Apricot Core for organizations providing direct services to clients, specifically:

• The importance of the enrollment form for active rosters and historical reporting
• How to implement universal intake and enrollment systems
• What to do if intake and enrollment aren’t universal but vary from program to program
• How to report on goal outcomes when goals vary from client to client
• How to configure Apricot for summary reporting on a client facesheet or print out

 

 
Video Transcript:
Welcome to this video on “How to configure your Apricot for case management (…or any direct service program).” I appreciate your interest in this topic. Thank you for joining us.

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My name is Jeff Haguewood, I’m an Apricot software consultant at Sidekick Solutions. At Sidekick Solutions, we help new and existing users make the most of Apricot software (including Apricot Essentials, Apricot Core, and Apricot 360). We do the heavy lifts in Apricot so you can focus on what matters most to you.

Today’s video is of particular interest to me because I feel strongly about the role client case management software plays in an organization’s technology stack.

Apricot configuration choices impact user experience, data structure, and reporting and the best way to get your Apricot “right” is to know what Apricot is capable of. With that, it helps to have a few examples and use cases.

Sharing ideas is the focus of today’s video.

During this video, we will…

• Explore the concept behind a “universal” program enrollment form
• Share four ways to track goals in Apricot
• Demo a “Client Summary Report”
• Highlight a few quick-hit configuration choices
• …and then wrap up with key takeaways and questions

Alright, let’s dive in…

[SLIDE]

Out of the box, Apricot is a highly configurable database platform. You can customize Apricot to be your organization’s unique case management app.

But Apricot’s flexibility leaves a few open questions…

• Is there a “right” way or “right” approach to configuring Apricot?
• What considerations should be made when designing Apricot?
• How are other organizations like ours using Apricot?
• Are there use cases I can draw on as examples?

These are good questions to be asking because Apricot database design is something you want to get right.

[SLIDE]

To begin, we can’t have a conversation about configuration without first addressing the steps we recommend for blueprinting Apricot before a build.

At Sidekick Solutions, we emphasize intentional system design. Although our blueprinting methods aren’t the only way to map-out an Apricot system, here are our recommended steps to validate your database designs.

1. Define your workflow using either diagrams or bullet point lists
2. Draft your report requirements as narratives (not as a spec)
3. Design form and link blueprint using either an ERD or spreadsheet
4. Draft form field blueprints using a spreadsheet (not in paper forms)
5. Validate form, link, and field blueprints by report narratives

This process doesn’t need to be followed to the letter, but the principle is still important: validate your design assumptions before a build using both your workflow and report requirements in a form, link, and field blueprint.

Using this method, let’s take a look at our configuration options by following our blueprinting method.

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Apricot designs for case management vary from organization to organization because workflow and report requirements vary from organization to organization. However, the general flow looks like this.

• Inquiry or referral
• Interview or eligibility
• Intake
• Enrollment
• Initial assessment
• Participation (services, activities, attendance, referrals, service plans, goals, etc.)
• Final assessment
• Exit or discharge

Broadly, we hope to report on the following things in Apricot with this workflow.

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• Historical participation by demographic category
• Participation by total duration and exit reason
• Goal achievement and progress by domain area
• Pre/post status at enrollment and exit
• Service delivery count by type and total time

When we translate the workflow and report requirements into a blueprint, it might look something like this.

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SPREADSHEET blueprint.

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ERD blueprint.

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FIELD blueprint.

Two quick points:

I am sharing these with you today so you can have something actionable to work from. You’re welcome to adapt these tools to meet your goals in Apricot.
I also hope these illustrate some ways to think about Apricot design and sketch out your ideal system prior to building an Apricot system. Again, we emphasize intentional system design.

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Our exploration from here will cover three primary components in a case management system:

1. Program enrollment form
2. Goal tracking
3. Client summary report

…then we will do a quick-hit, grab bag on other items to consider

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1. Program enrollment form

What is the program enrollment form?

The program enrollment form is a Tier 2 form under a Client Tier 1 that generally carries the following base information.

• Enrollment and exit date
• Program enrolling
• Staff assigned
• Location
• Exit reason

The program enrollment tracks a person’s current and historical status in a program as well as the enrollment duration. This record would be updated once at enrollment and once at exit (unless the enrollment was otherwise reassigned during active enrollment or some other interim action is taken).

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In my opinion, the program enrollment form is the most important form in any Apricot system (with some exceptions) because:

• Tracks current status – A program enrollment with a start date and no end date is active and can be used to track active caseload and program rosters.
• Tracks historical participation – A program enrollment with an end date was previously enrolled but is no longer active and will hold that way regardless of when you run reports in the future (the data is locked in time).
• Organizes activities or participation by program – Services, assessments, and activities get grouped by program for drilldown reporting (linking back to program enrollment form). Capable of reporting globally by client or specifically by program.

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Given the importance of the program enrollment form to the health of your database and accuracy of your reports, we highly recommend creating a universal enrollment workflow.

Some might refer to this as “universal intake” but the principle is the same. The goal is for all programs to use the same forms and workflow in Apricot but differentiate the records by program using the Program Enrollment record.

A universal enrollment form allows you to:

• Track multiple and repeat enrollments for the same participant
• Track and then report on continuity of service if clients move across programs
• Report globally across all of organization’s programs with specific reporting by program
• Provide for operational consistency so users follow the same path every time in Apricot
• Allow for unlimited scalability to add or remove programs without re-implementing your Apricot, building new reports, or migrating data

The quick test of whether you need a program enrollment is if your clients can enroll in more than one program or repeat enrollment in a single program. If that is the case, the accuracy of your reports will likely depend on a program enrollment form.

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Universal enrollment systems are supported by form logic, dynamic fields and queries, and enrollment supplements. This is how you get all of your program workflows running through the same form in Apricot.

• Form logic can be used on the enrollment itself to hide/require/shape data entry based on the program selected
• Form logic can also be used on forms linked to an enrollment by auto-populating the program value to the linked Tier 2 and using form logic off of that auto-populate value
• Dynamic dropdowns or lookup lists can be used to populate values in dropdowns for a particular program which allows you to run global reports on a single field instead of multiple fields
• Enrollment supplements are additional forms used to capture program-specific data that otherwise can’t fit on the enrollment form itself.

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Enrollment supplements are worth highlighting here because it meets the best of two worlds: universal enrollment and program specificity. Apricot systems are often modeled after a program’s paper forms. That means separate intake forms. As a result, there can be some friction when we combine those separate intake forms into a single workflow. We don’t want programs to lose their identity or uniqueness in this process. That is where enrollment supplements come into play.

• Separate form as a wizard link (or placed in an Apricot Workflow with a dynamic dropdown)
• 1-to-1 linking so the supplement is an extension of the enrollment form (do not allow multiples in reports)
• Data quality that addresses enrollments with incomplete supplements so there are no floating records

[DEMO]

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As a side-note, you might be wondering how enrollments work with activity-based services like referral coordination, emergency assistance, or one-time attendance. These services don’t need program enrollments because they do not carry duration. In fact, asking staff to complete enrollments for these one-off services can be time consuming and burdensome. If you offer these types of services, we still want to keep universal systems and shared resources. For example, we still want to count all referrals whether they are enrolled or not. You don’t want to create two referral forms: one for enrolled and one for non-enrolled. Instead you can use form logic to require the program enrollment link when enrolled and hide the program enrollment link when not enrolled.

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2. Goal tracking

Apricot is a database, so by default it wants to live in a quantitative world. How do we capture the qualitative components of our services like goals and goal progress?

In our experience, there are levels of goal tracking and how you want to report dictates which method you should use. Those levels are:

• Assessment of standard goals pre/post
• Status at closure (met/not met)
• Active status as of today (met/not met/in process)
• Progress over time (met/not met/in process/status of change)

I call them levels because as you move up a level the sophistication of the system grows, as does the commitment to data entry.

Before we get into each level, there are two principles to consider when tracking qualitative goals.

First, we need a place to put goals.

For the most part (except for Level 1, more on that in a bit), goals are something we want to count. As a result, a goal must be its own thing in Apricot. That implies a goal must be its own form and record. If we are going to enter many goals into Apricot, a case manager needs a central location to manage those goals. We recommend linking goals to some central record in Apricot like a Service Plan or Case Plan instead of using the document folder.

• Track narratives in your Apricot or reference out of Apricot data.
• Create a primary point of entry for goals and goal updates.
• Track multiple plans per client (linked back to enrollment)

We don’t recommend the document folder for goals because goals from different plans will mix together and be difficult to manage.

Second, if we are going to be counting goals, we need meaningful ways to count them.

We need to transform subjective goals into countable metrics. To do that we recommend using Outcome and Domain Areas.

Generally Outcome and Domain Areas will be served into Goal forms as a dynamic dropdown from a separate Tier 1, but they could be standard dropdown fields as well.
If you are tracking Outcome and Domain Areas on goals, you might also consider tracking Services, Behaviors, and Milestones by Outcome and Domain Area on your Service and Progress Note forms in Apricot. These areas become Tier 2s underneath Outcome and Domain Areas and can help you to reinforce an evaluation model in Apricot.

Now, let’s look at each goal tracking option.

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Level 1: Assessment of standard goals pre/post

• Use this when you need a pre and post evaluation on a standard set of program goals (not custom)
• Add to the enrollment/exit form to simplify reporting and only place there if there are a handful of standard goals

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Level 2: Status at closure (met/not met)

• Add new goals as services progress and then indicate achievement or non-achievement at closure (by goal)
• Since goals are evaluated at closure, these are best linked to an enrollment form so exit and goal tracking are in the same place
• Met/not met can be a simple radio button on each goal added to Apricot and again is only tracked at closure

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Level 3: Active status as of today (met/not met/in process)

• This is similar to status at closure except we are also tracking interim status, possibly with reports
• Goals should be linked to a service or case plan and goal status should include either met/not met/in process or a list of milestones toward completion/non-completion
• This is a popular form of goal tracking because you can aggregate a full profile of goals for a single client in a Client Summary report to influence next steps in service delivery

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Level 4: Progress over time (met/not met/in process/status of change)

• This method is the most difficult to implement because of the data entry requirement on end users
• Goals are tracked the same as Level 3 but an additional Goal Progress record is used to track incremental status toward goal achievement/non-achievement
• This method is used to track progress toward specific goals using a status check methodology that allows for charting progress

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There is one methodology that merges Level 1 and Level 2 that I left out of this presentation. We call this method: field sets.

If your programs track custom goals and you want the simplicity of Level 1 but the detail of Level 2, field sets might be attractive. Before you go this route, please be aware of the following potential pitfalls.

• Limited by number of goal sets
• Custom report expressions are required to count
• Counting goals horizontally and vertically in reports

It is rare that we recommend this style of goal tracking. Overall, we don’t recommend it because it often gets too restrictive for organizations that use it.

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3. Client summary report

This next configuration option isn’t form-based. It is a report.

Apricot reports arrange and present data differently than forms. Although you can look through form data to find information on a client, volunteer, or service provider, that data may not be organized in a way that is helpful. Case managers often want to refresh their memory about a client before a new interaction, status check, or intervention.

• What services has this client received to date?
• Have any referrals been made to other agencies?
• What are the client’s goals and what is the goal status?
• Have other case managers been involved with this client?
• What was the outcome of the last five contacts made with the client?

Diving through a client’s document folder to answer these questions is tedious and time consuming. Using the Tier 1 search isn’t ideal either. Instead, offer a single client view that answers all of these questions.

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The client summary report has become one of the most popular reports for our clients. It can also be called a “printout” or “profile” report. In total, it summarizes a client’s history in a single view. Because this report is so popular, I want to demo it for you today and show you how to build it.

[DEMO]

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4. Other configuration options

Although we don’t have enough time to cover an entire case management system end-to-end, I do want to offer some additional options to consider in your own systems. These are all quick-hit to give you ideas to chew on as you think about your own systems.

• Referrals or inquiries
• Service tracking
• Referrals to external partners
• Case notes
• Assessments

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Referral or inquiries

• Track conversion from initial contact to enrollment
• Track prospective clients that enroll versus those that don’t
• Accept inquiries or referrals online to reduce staff time
• Could be used for applications too

Key decisions:

1. Do you have enough information at referral?
2. Do you want to accept new clients online?
3. Does everyone that contacts you get enrolled?

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Service tracking

• Count by type and total time
• Flexible to expand for any service using universal methodology
• If counting can pivot with other data using Client ID

Key decisions:

1. Track services on a single form (single report, chronology)
2. Single per record (dropdown) or multiple (checkbox)

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Referrals to external partners

• Link referrals to partner programs for clear reporting (1-to-1)
• Track follow-ups, status, and outcome

Key decisions:

1. Do you want to know what happens after referral?
2. Specificity of data will determine learning on service gaps

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Case notes

• Tracking interaction, contact, and general notes
• Design choices seem inconsequential, but can be problematic

Key decisions:

1. Use single form with form logic (history in reports)
2. Wizard link the form for follow-ups on other forms
3. Consider report requirements when building

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Assessments, scales, and scoring

• Learn the five ways to track assessments in Apricot
• Reporting dictates which solutions you choose, so come learn

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As I mentioned earlier, I could continue on this topic for hours because there are so many neat designs worth noting. But I would like to quickly summarize a couple of key points to keep this actionable and then open for questions.

Here is what I hope you might take away from this video:

• Universal enrollment is a must-have for long-term success
• Select a goal tracking method, but be realistic in what it requires
• Develop a client summary report to reinforce program goals
• Be intentional with any configuration choices

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That concludes this video. To learn more about Apricot, you can explore our Youtube channel or visit our website. Also, if you like our approach to Apricot and would like to work with us, send an email to info@sidekicksolutionsllc.com. Our door is always open. Thank you.