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Microsoft Gold partner Veritec has assisted mental health service provider Mind Australia with an overhaul of some of its applications to improve the wellbeing of its clients.
The company was brought on to develop its Service Mix Calculator — an app that assists clients with finding the optimal services which are delivered through a number of funding mechanisms, one of which being the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Developed from February to June 2020 through Microsoft’s Power Platform, the calculator can provide insights to Mind’s clients, which number about 9,000 a year, and practitioners.
Specifically, the calculator is able to navigate complex NDIS rules to determine a client’s options at a specific price point, allowing for Mind employees to determine what the best services are available for that client's needs and budget.
Prior to Veritec’s involvement, Mind was utilising an Excel spreadsheet, but there was a need to upgrade as Peter Hood, director of digital transformation and information services at Mind, claimed that the spreadsheet “blew up” — not in a literal sense, but it was unable to meet the level of complexity required by Mind’s standards.
Adam Lang, general manager of Veritec, said the Microsoft Power Platform allowed for rapid development and modernisation of complex apps to tackle business challenges while also providing a visualisation of data – the latter of which has proven to be useful for Mind’s clients.
“The customer is going to be able to track their journey, have that visual representation of the journey, and see real benefit. Most importantly[, it offers] the best tailored care needed to each individual”, Lang said.
Following on from the calculator, Vertic then developed an outcomes measurement app for Mind's clients in supported independent living settings, which utilises an embedded PowerBI dashboard.
In this app, clients are queried on questions on various aspects of their life, such as relationships, drugs and alcohol. This is then visualised by the dashboard, allowing employees to determine the next steps forward in providing mental health support.
By calibrating individuals' responses to the questions, Hood added that this particular app increased Mind’s confidence in its generated composite metrics.
“It applies rules consistently each and every time. So there is a greater confidence in the metrics coming out,” he said.
This then has the added benefit of supplying information back to the business on how well it’s performing, Hood added.
“We do a lot of internal reporting around services rendered, how they’re performed, KPIs, all that sort of stuff. But at the end of the day, the ultimate measure is how did we go, as an organisation, in providing services in the eyes of the client?” he asked.
“The ultimate test is the recipient of that service and how they see that impacting and hopefully improving their mental health, and their journey through life.”
In addition to the app development, Vertic is also digitising Mind’s My Better Life plan, which finds common themes in the needs and achievements of clients to better their mental health recovery.
Mind has embraced the Microsoft stack further with Microsoft Dynamics 365 as its customer relationship management system and Teams for internal meetings, which Hood labels as “an essential part of our life” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the latest instance of Veritec utilising an app built by the Microsoft Power Platform for the healthcare industry. In late April, Veritec worked with Microsoft to build and support the COVID-19 Clinic Application app to help with COVID-19 testing and containment.
