Letter from the CEO

The KaleidaCare Year in Review

September marked the first year of the new management team’s tenure at KaleidaCare.  We set out to rebuild the company around a business plan that involved getting back to basics:  Improving Customer Relationship Management, Focusing on Child and Family Service Agencies, and Investing in product development and technology. The results have been very encouraging:

1. 35% increase in the number of customer agencies
2. 40% increase in revenue
3. Expanded Development Capability resulting in
4. Four new major modules including electronic document storage, electronic billing, an online training management system and revenue maximization
5. Significant enhancements to existing modules such as foster parent payment reporting
6. A business services division launched

Through all this growth, we had some challenges, and overcame them with the support of our customers and the dedication of employees who believe in our mission.  With a strong team in place, with the base of relationships we enjoy, we are looking forward to the future with momentum on our side. We are looking forward to more effectively serving the agencies that care for the most fragile members of our society.

  Thank you for your support,
  Alistair Deakin,
  CEO, KaleidaCare Management Solutions

Revenue Maximization Module Update

Ten agencies have purchased our Revenue Maximization module to date; 8 in Georgia, 1 in Tennessee and 1 in Virginia.  More than half of them are utilizing these tools currently, while some are in various stages of the implementation and training process.  This module enables agencies to create a paper or electronic bill directly from their Kaleidacare system.  Information that is required for the claim is pulled from the Case/Session Logs, Client Basic Information, Client Payer and Authorization, therefore making it easy for therapists and staff to focus on providing services instead of completing extra billing paperwork.  We have continued to add new enhancements to this module, especially to our Validator which now prevents more than 63 types of billing errors.  In Georgia, the Electronic Bill will be able to be sent to Georgia State Medicaid/ACS and/or APS for State Contracted Services.  Our Development Department is currently planning for additional Payers that Georgia and other States need.

What’s New at Kaleidacare?

KaleidaCare Solutions is now offering Document Storage and Retrieval!  Agencies can store and manage their files online (with the same level of confidentiality you have come to expect of us).  With this new feature, you can access Word documents, Excel, PDFs, photographs, and more from anywhere at any time.  Storage space begins at a level of 10GB, which is about equivalent to filling a pickup truck with papers!  And with our Assignments and Menu tools, you can customize who can have access to what.  For more information, please contact your Account Manager.

KaleidaCare is excited to introduce KaleidaCare University.  This new offering can be imbedded in your current KaleidaCare database, and offers a comprehensive suite of training and education opportunities for all of your staff.  Up to date trainings are provided as part of the offering, and in addition, each organization has the ability to add and build agency-specific training offerings.  Ask your account manager to set up a demonstration of how KaleidaCare University works, and how it can assist your organization in providing and documenting training for your staff and foster parents.

Is your organization spending way too much time and energy on the business side of providing services?  Is it time and energy that you would prefer to be spending in direct service provision?  If so, call and ask your account manager about KaleidaCare Business Services.  This new offering by KaleidaCare, allows you to turn over your back office work to trained professionals at KaleidaCare Business Services.  We can customize a plan for you that include Accounting and Financial services, Billing and Collections, Information Technology services and Human Services and Payroll.  Let KaleidaCare Business Services work for you, so you can work for your clients.

Also new this month will be the first of our bimonthly web trainings on various components of KaleidaCare Solutions.  Trainings will be hosted on a variety of topics for all levels of users (and suggestions are welcome!).  Our first training will be held on Thursday, October 25 at 1:00 p.m. CST, and will give an overview of the use of Staff Tools (including information on adding new staff members, review of Staff Role Types, Assignments, Discharging staff, Data Points, and Reporting Tools).  Subsequent training schedules will be emailed to System Administrators on a monthly basis.

Development Updates

The development department has been focusing on some rather large enhancements lately.  As you know, we’ve recently released our Document Storage and Retrieval functionality and KaleidaCare University.  Among other things, we are currently working on Home Tracking functionality, which will allow agencies to track homes through inquiry, orientation, the application process, training, and finally, licensing.  We are partnering with key agencies to ensure that this functionality will meet everyone’s needs.  Additionally, we are working on Ticklers for our Agency Documents.  This functionality will allow agencies to denote (for each agency document template) whether the next due date will be automated (e.g., the first of each month) or manual (the user chooses), and whether the user can override automated next due dates.  Agency documents will then appear on the Tickler report as each document nears or passes its due date.

To manage this workload, we’ve hired two new developers.  Matthew Sigman began working with us about six weeks ago.  He joined our team with a degree in Computer Science and over five years of programming experience.  Matt brings his technical and creative problem-solving abilities to our group.  He has already completed a number of projects for us, and we expect that he will be helping out with the Home Tracking project in the near future.

Ray Zimmerman will begin work with us in mid-October.  He also brings a degree in Computer Science and about five years of programming and database experience.  He will be in training initially, and then will probably begin helping with projects leading to our new reporting functionality.  We expect that this functionality will allow agencies to create ad hoc reports, providing additional flexibility and report customization.

COA Accreditation

One of KaleidaCare’s customers, Omni Visions, Inc (“Omni”), serves clients in three states through Foster Care, Adoption, Community Support Programs, In-Home and Community Based Services, Multisystemic Therapy and Services for Special Needs Adults.  Omni uses KaleidaCare to oversee clients, treatment and outcomes in their 21 offices.  Recently, Omni has had their COA Onsite visit and is In Process of accreditation.  Shane Frazier, Omni’s MIS Coordinator, stated KaleidaCare was key to ease their accreditation process.  “We were able to instantly pull reports to demonstrate our activities like our weekly contact with a foster family, monthly in-home contacts and face to face visits after placement within the specified time frame.  We added COA specific compliance sections to some of our documents, easily and quickly.  Now we can undeniably confirm Omni is following regulations and standards like the ‘Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997’ and the ‘Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.’  With the addition of KaleidaCare University, Omni will have additional accreditation ease in the future by showing compliance with Foster Parent and Staff trainings through Classroom, Agency designed and Online Courses.

New KaleidaCare Customers

KaleidaCare welcomes Casa de los Ninos to our community.  Located in Tucson Arizona, Casa de los Ninos will manage their Crisis Shelter information in KaleidaCare.  Casa de los Ninos is excited about the reporting capabilities and the ability to access client data from anywhere with internet access.

Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter in Chattanooga, Tennessee will begin their KaleidaCare Implementation in November.  The Children’s Home is an Early Childhood Education and Care Program that operates 24/7.  The Chambliss Shelter is a residential program for children ages 6 to 18 who have been removed from their home.

Our newest customer is Have Haven, located in Houston, Texas.  Have Haven offers Foster Care, Support Services, Parent Training and a Residential Treatment Facility.  Have Haven is excited to join our Texas providers in using our Solution for case management.

Technology- Can We Live Without It?

You all know the saying, “You can’t live with them; you can’t live without them.”  Sometimes it applies to spouses, sometimes to kids, and sometimes to friends.  As our society speeds forward, it more and more applies to technology as well. Technology has become woven into so many aspects of our every day lives, and while it sometimes frustrates us, it is important to step back and realize some of the wonderful benefits it provides.

• Technology allows us to stay in touch instantly with family, friends, co-workers, clients and more.  Case in point:  From the grocery store ice cream aisle late on a Saturday night, you can check your email on your blackberry and find out that a child placed in your shelter has been transported to the Emergency Room.

• Technology keeps us young and challenges us to grow by giving us new things to learn.  Case in point:  At age 45 you get to learn a new language so you can read the text message from your staff member that reads: sry misd mtg. b bk l8r . s .b.

• Technology allows us to get a more global perspective of an issue or concern by giving us access to a variety of information and opinions.  Case in point:  Should Britney have custody of her children or shouldn’t she?

On a serious note, how does that relate to you and the work being done to better serve children and families in your states and communities?  It is through the use of technology that you are better able to document and then analyze the effectiveness of the services your organization provides to children and families.  That information can also more easily and securely be shared with others who are part of their continuum of care.  As funding dollars decrease, payers and foundations are more closely monitoring the agencies they support; looking for measurable outcomes and “real” data.  And perhaps most importantly, with that information your organization can track results, time spent, services provided, and use that information to develop best practices.  Following implementation of KaleidaCare Solutions, new customer Denise Hausler, Director of Child and Family Resources for Casa de los Ninos in Tucson, Arizona states, “Information {entered into the system} will assist Primary Care workers in working with each child’s individual strengths and needs for best possible outcomes . . . the technology allows Casa to track the outcomes of the children and families to help us show the changes and use that data for further funding for programs.”