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August 2016
Policy&Practice
33
Illustration by Chris Campbell
technology
speaks
By Debora Morris and Sean Toole
Three Digital Technologies Reinventing Human Service Delivery
I
magine a vision for human services
where digital technologies make
service delivery more proactive, client
centric, and outcome driven than ever
before. The possibilities are exciting,
affordable—and within reach.
As human service leaders build
digital strategies and attempt to move
up the Human Services Value Curve,
they must shake common misper-
ceptions. Digital is not solely about
technology, and it is not unaffordable.
It is about empowering people and
enabling manageable change. Three
digital trends in human services can
unlock data insight so agencies shift
from a transactional output model to a
client-centric outcome model.
Analytics: Real-Time
Data Insight Gets Real
Human service agencies use data for
compliance and operational reporting
every day. However, outputs may not
be outcome oriented or predictive and
don’t typically inform service delivery
practices. Those agencies that want
to use customer data insight to make
programmatic decisions often wonder
where to start. They are overwhelmed
by enormous amounts of data, but lack
a structured approach to drive insight
from that data. Attempts to manage
big data are confusing, expensive,
and slow to provide insight. Instead,
starting with smaller data and smaller
projects using flexible technology can
move agencies from wrangling data
to solving problems using meaningful
real-time data.
What if agencies could use real-
time data analysis to optimize service
delivery—getting results in weeks,
not years? It is possible with a new
breed of predictive analytics solu-
tions—solutions that don’t require
large investments in data warehouses,
but, instead, purchasing the tech-
nology as a service.
Agencies can use analytics to
identify high-need or high-cost popu-
lations such as families with multiple
challenges and needs for services.
Granular segmentation clusters indi-
viduals and families with shared
characteristics. Agencies then develop
targeted, insight-driven practice
models to solve focused problems
for those groups. This fast, flexible
approach can change the game for
health and human service programs,
enabling incremental value and invest-
ment with existing funding.
From Catching People When They Fall
to Lifting Them as They Rise
See What If on page 49
agencies used real-time data
analysis to optimize service
delivery—getting results in
weeks, not years?