As organizations adapt to evolving environmental factors (at the time of this post, COVID-19) and work settings, the needs of individuals and families within our communities remain. Both community-based nonprofit organizations and public sector agencies are looking to mobilize programs and services in a virtual setting to address those needs.

We’ve heard from a number of organizations that are transitioning center-based, home visiting, group, and face-to-face services to a virtual setting. In this video, we explore the challenges many organizations face as they make this transition and pair those use cases with features and functionality offered within the Social Solutions Apricot 360 and Apricot Core platforms.

The Social Solutions Apricot suite of software can help organizations overcome the challenges of working remotely and deploying virtual solutions for client engagement and service delivery.

The video embedded below and the associated slide deck present scenarios and solutions that are relevant to both community-based organizations, public-sector agencies, and collaboratives.

Topics include:

• How to onboard new users quickly with appropriate access in Apricot
• How Apricot can support virtual procedures where those same procedures are normally completed in-person
• How to mobilize community data collection and reporting at scale in Apricot
• How to complete virtual intake and gather consents and signatures using Apricot Intake web forms, secure web forms, and Apricot Connect

 

 
Video Transcript:

Welcome to this video on “How to enable remote work” and “deploy virtual solutions for client services” in Social Solutions Apricot software.

[SLIDE]

My name is Jeff Haguewood. I’m an Apricot software consultant at Sidekick Solutions. Sidekick Solutions is an Apricot Certified Implementation Partner. We partner with new and existing users to help them make the most of Apricot software, including services for implementation, reporting, integrations, and system administration.

In this video, we will:

• Explore why Apricot is a great solution for remote work
• Cover common challenges to client engagement in a virtual setting
• Demo Apricot features that address the challenges of remote work

Alright, let’s dive in.

[SLIDE]

The transition from in-person to virtual service delivery depends on technology solutions (software) that enable operations for data collection, intake, and client engagement. The purpose of this video is to support your organization or agency’s efforts to deliver virtual solutions for client engagement.

[SLIDE]

Now, this presentation won’t cover the full stack of technology you may need to work remotely. Additional tools may include video conferencing, company-hosted text messaging services, and potentially document eSignature services. With that said, Apricot does cover a wide range of use cases to address remote work and virtual client services.

[SLIDE]

Before we dive into those use cases, why is Apricot such a strong platform in this context.

• Apricot allows you to rapidly deploy new solutions so you can start collecting data, reporting, and learning
• Once those solutions are in place, Apricot can scale up from an initial pilot to more users, more data, and deeper analytics…quickly
• Apricot is a cloud-based platform that enables web-based data collection, collaboration, and reporting; and as a cloud product is natively secure
• Apricot is automation-ready, meaning it can be configured to support efficient data collection, data processing, workflows, and analytics
• Lastly, Apricot comes out of the box with a full suite of customizable reporting tools and analytics solutions; you don’t need to purchase add-ons or separate software to explore the insights of your data

[SLIDE]

To meet the needs of virtual deployment, we need software to address…

• Onboarding staff quickly with appropriate system access
• Enabling staff data entry to not to collect paper documentation outside the office
• Addressing broad community-based data collection efforts at scale
• Completing intake efficiently when participants aren’t in person
• Receiving client documentation when clients can’t print or scan documents

[SLIDE]

Out-of-the-box both Apricot 360 and Apricot Core give us a range of solutions to support remote work and virtual client engagement, specifically:

• Secure web forms
• Intake web forms
• Connect
• Signature fields
• Direct messaging

Before we demo these features in Apricot, let’s talk through how Apricot solutions can address each of the challenge areas presented when delivering virtual services.

[SLIDE]

First…

How to onboard new users quickly with appropriate permissions and system access that doesn’t constrain a user’s ability to deliver services virtually.

Apricot is going to address this with…

1. Group-level security and permissions that allow for compartmentalization
2. Assignment of admin roles for users to self-develop solutions for rapid deployment
3. Guest user access to scale limited-use access for mentors, volunteers, or other contractors

[SLIDE]

We want to balance:

• The ability to scale user access up quickly
• While also ensuring proper permissions and security

In addition, when you move more capabilities into a virtual setting, that means users will likely need more access to Apricot functionality.

Here’s a way of thinking about permissions as you scale up your platform:

• Sites and programs maintain record-level security, the tightening around records assignment
• If Sites and programs are used to restrict record level access, use Referrals to transition client data from program to program
• Role-based permissions to ensure team members are working on only those items relevant to them
• Admin roles to provide users more access to reporting or form design to allow “self-serve” and democratize system access

[SLIDE]

Second…

How to support standard operating procedures and data collection when staff work remotely, so not to collect paper outside of your physical office.

Your team’s relationship with Apricot will evolve.

As a supervisor, manager, or administrator, you may need to consider…

• Building more data collection systems to reduce off-system paperwork
• Triaging user requests in Apricot
• Surfacing more information in dashboards and reports

[SLIDE]

Users will rely more on technology when working remotely. That is good, but it may be a shift from your team’s normal day-to-day experience with Apricot.

• Do we need data capture that enables supervision or process that is normally done off-page?
• Do we have adequate systems for managing and addressing user feedback?
• Does our team have the appropriate actionable dashboards and reports that surfaces information to help them manage their work?
• Do we have enough reporting in place to ensure staff can work effectively in independent situations where they can’t reference a physical case file?

[SLIDE]

Third…

How to address needs for broad, community-based data collection that responds to emerging events or ongoing needs, that’s easy to deploy and scale

Solution:

1. Intake web forms OR secure web forms for anonymous or identified data collection
2. Real-time analysis of incoming data sets
3. Import, warehousing, and correlation within Apricot, especially with Apricot 360

[SLIDE]

Fourth…

How to efficiently complete a participant intake when the intake session isn’t in person, instead the session is done virtually (video conference or phone call)

Now, there will always be the option for your staff team to enter the data manually in Apricot, but we can streamline this process using Apricot Intake or Apricot Secure Web forms.

Solution:

1. Secure web forms for profile-level intake
2. Intake web forms for profile-level and program-specific intake
3. Web form plus Connect for multi-step intake

[SLIDE]

Finally…

How to receive consents and signatures as part of intake or during services when clients can’t print or scan a document

Solution:

1. Secure web form or consent on intake
2. Intake transition to Connect for signatures and consents, enables “identity”
3. Email or text message directly to the client
4. If we are using an existing Apricot build, there are bolt-on solutions for existing Apricot configuration:
5. Web forms with linking to profile
6. T2 virtual interactions log
7. Electronic signature software plus upload or T2 document form

Let’s walk through three use cases that explore these features in more detail.

[DEMO]

[SLIDE]

That concludes what I wanted to cover for this video.

The big takeaways are that Apricot can support:

• Community mobilization and data collection
• Virtual intake and building an electronic record
• Enable staff in the remote setting

[SLIDE]

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 for watching.