COA in Heaven: How the Council on Accreditation

Moved to the Cloud

Timothy Stockert, MBA, MSWDirector of IT

Council on AccreditationCOA is an international accrediting body for 1,500 child welfare and behavioral health care organizations. COA accredits over 50 different service areas including foster care, adoption, counseling, and financial education. COA works with private organizations and public agencies and the U.S. military.

• INDUSTRY: Non-Profit Services• # EMPLOYEES: 50• VOLUNTEERS: 1000• ACCREDITED ORGANZIATIONS: 1,351• BUSINESS LINES: Private, Public, Canadian, Military,

Hague Intercountry Adoption, After School Programs• GEOGRAPHY: International• CLOUD COMPUTING LAUNCHED: September 2007• CLOUD COMPUTING PLATFORM: Salesforce.com

What is Accreditation? Accreditation is a process by

which an organization

demonstrates to an

independent entity (COA) that

they are meeting nationally

accepted standards of quality

practice– Process can take between 12 and

18 months

– Implementation based on

documentation, interviews, and

observational site visits

– COA conducts over 350 site visits

annually

Application/ Agreement

Intake/ Assessment

Self-Study

Site VisitSite Visit Report

Commission Review

Notification

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Introduction of Salesforce

Paper Reduction

COA Standards Websites

Online and Telephonic

Surveys

Integration of Other

Applications

Reporting and

DashboardsOut-of-the Box Workflow and Automation

Volunteer Information

Portal

My COA Portal and

Unified Web

Properties

Social, Mobile,

Outcomes

COA’s Technology Timeline

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Going DigitalPre-Cursor to the Cloud

• Took 10,000 standards and put them online and made them publicly available

• Can be more responsive to changes in the field

• More transparent process

COA Standards Websites

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

“Stumbling” into the CloudGaining Operational Efficiencies

• Improvements in:– Communications– Transparency– Operational efficiencies– Costs

Introduction of Salesforce

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

No More Piles of Paper!Streamlining Processes and Going Green

Paper Reduction

• Tracking charts, applications, files, and other paperwork no longer needed!

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

As Easy at 1, 2, 3… Business Analytics at Your Fingertips

• Running reports on any and all data in Salesforce

• Creating dashboards to monitor critical business processes

Reporting and Dashboards

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

There’s an App for That!Introducing Third Party Apps

• The Story of COA’s Survey Process– External cost of over $50K for all

organizations excluding human resources. Includes:

• Minimum of 124,800 envelopes, pieces of paper, and stamps sent out by organizations each year

– COA internal cost for human resources and equipment to scan and verify each survey

• 1,200 paper surveys received at COA each week

– Data maintained in non-integrated Access database

Online and Telephonic Surveys

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Can I Just Push a Button?Simplification of Tasks with Automation and Workflow

• Web-to-Leads• Automated Emails• Email and Mail

Merge Templates• Automated Tasks• Solutions

Out-of-the-Box Workflow and Automation

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

More and More AppsEnhancing and Streamlining Business Processes

• Example of pay-as-you-go model and using interchangeable parts– CR installed and used– Difficult to develop new reports– Costly software– Uninstalled and began using Conga

Integration of Other Applications

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Web Portal Project and Unified Web Properties

• A web portal is a secure gateway to a “personalized” Internet

• Think…

My COA Portal and Unified Web PropertiesVolunteer Information Portal

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Web Portal Project Goals• enhance communications between COA, volunteers and

organizations• create a more transparent process which allows orgs and volunteers

to view, access and update accreditation data and information in real time

• streamline the accreditation process and reduce the overall cost of accreditation for organizations and COA

• improve automation and workflow at COA• Enable more efficient data entry so that data is entered by COA staff

only once and populates on all relevant pages throughout the entire website My COA Portal and Unified Web Properties

Volunteer Information Portal

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

VIP… Very Important PeopleGiving the Customer More Control of their Data

• Update and manage their own profile

• Search, filter, and register for site visits

• Enter all ratings for a site visit online and submit them to COA

• Push out mandatory training and communications

Volunteer Information Portal

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Marketing 101Simplifying the Customer Experience

My COA Portal and Unified Web Properties

• Redesign COA’s website with a simpler, more intuitive web structure and design, and integrate all websites onto one platform

?

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Interactive Website Driven from SFDC

• Standards populated from database; elimination of duplicate entries

• Searchable and filtered directory of resources (e.g., tools, trainings, events) online and in database; integrated payment solutions

• Searchable and filtered directory of accredited organizations directly from database; automatically put online once status changed in SFDC

• Searchable and filtered directory of recognitions for licensing relief, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements

My COA Portal and Unified Web Properties

Curr

ent

Proces

s

Organization fills out application in hard copy and sends check

Organization electronically enters all program and site information

Organization assembles and sends self-study documentation on a CD or USB drive via the mail

Organization receives email with information about their site visit and the team

Organizations receive a soft copy of their Final Accreditation Report via email

Organizations self-report occurrences/events and other changes by emailing a Word document

Future Process

Online completion of application and agreement with electronic signatures plus credit card processing or EFT

Organization accesses real-time data in COA’s database and simply updates program and site information from their previous accreditation cycle

Organization assembles self-study in their web portal and uploads documentation online

Organization can see information about their team members online and can see a copy of the site visit schedule being put together

Organizations can see all of their scores and areas for improvement online in their Final Accreditation Report

Organization’s self-report in portal. Data is entered directly into record. Workflow rules are used to inform relevant parties at COA about changes.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

My COA Portal

My COA Portal and Unified Web Properties

Application Intake Self-Study Site Visit Decision Maintenance

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Look into My Crystal BallDetermining Future Technologies to Enhance Your Business

• Creating a more social portal with Facebook, Twitter, Chatter and other social media tools. Allow our volunteers to view profiles, chat with each other, and collaborate

Social, Mobile and Outcomes

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Look into My Crystal BallDetermining Future Technologies to Enhance Your Business

• Employing mobile technologies to allow our volunteers to rate an organization on their Smartphone or Tablet

• Giving organizations the ability to send us messages and questions on their Smartphone or look up a best practice/standard via an app

Social, Mobile and Outcomes

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Look into My Crystal BallDetermining Future Technologies to Enhance Your Business

• Collecting outcome data from organizations and then sharing benchmarking data to help them improve services

Social, Mobile and Outcomes

My Organization COA Organizations

Rate (%) of Employee Re-tention: Or-ganization-Wide

0.88 0.9

87%

89%

Rate (%) of Employee Retention: Organization-Wide

My Organization COA Organizations

Rate (%) of Employee Re-tention: Bud-get under $500,000

0.88 0.85

83%

85%

87%

Rate (%) of Employee Retention: Budget under $500,000

Thank You!

Timothy Stockert, MBA, MSWDirector of IT

Council on Accreditation45 Broadway, 29th Floor

New York, NY 10006tstockert@coanet.org

212-871-1296http://www.coanet.org