Why we chose Iinsight Case Management software

About 10 years ago, my ‘IT department’ custom-built me a caseload management system. Back then, Rehab Connection was a one-woman show and the software and systems I chose to use only needed to work for me.

Fast forward to 2018 and A LOT has changed. Not only were there were no smartphones in 2008, the iPad phenomenon was yet to happen and the delivery of allied health services and case management was a completely different beast to what it is today.

Rehab Connection has also changed.

We’ve now grown to a small team of mobile practitioners who largely work on-the-road from client homes, in our cars and in cafes. We now need a case management system suited to a mobile team and one that enables easy sharing of client files between multiple practitioners, plus the ability to keep other documents and files confidential.

Our wishlist

When you’re choosing any software, the first step is to list your top priorities and functionality. Our wishlist included:

• Secure web-based management – we wanted the ability to keep everything we needed for clients in a cloud-based (web-based) platform so we could access it anywhere, anytime
• Australian servers – this was crucial to meet our requirements for professional practice, as defined by our governing bodies in Australia
• Simultaneous time sheeting AND clinical note input
• Tracking of approved hours
• The ability to send SMS reminders to clients and their families
• Multiplatform usability (Mac, iPad, phone, PC, tablet)
• Cost effective solution
• Suited to a mobile business

Our options

We found three options that we believed could fit our purpose – Cliniko, a custom-developed program within Sales Force and Iinsight.

After a lot of research, we chose to move forward with Iinsight and now that we’ve been using the system for 4 months, I really pleased with the decision.

Click here to jump straight to my quick pros and cons for Iinsight.

If you’re more interested in the nitty gritty of why we chose Iinsight and how it stacked up against Cliniko and Sales Force, read on.

Cost

Iinsight was more expensive than it appeared at first look. The true cost for a business such as Rehab Connection was in the fine print. You pay for each new client you enter each month BUT there is a minimum monthly spend of $100 a month. If you link Iinsight to Xero, that is an additional $21 per month. (prices accurate @ Nov 2018)

From our research, the cost of Cliniko and Iinsight, for a business the size of Rehab Connection with less than five users, was approximately equal. However, we expect Iinsight will be more economical for 5-10 clinicians/users so we decided it was a better fit for us, as we have a very part-time workforce.

Sales Force was more expensive than both Cliniko and Iinsight, month-to-month for the number of users, and required an initial set up by a developer, which was in addition to the month-to-month cost. For Iinsight, this initial set up cost was included in the fees. As it turned out, there were a lot of hours spent in initial development so if we had chosen Sales Force, this cost would have been substantial.

Set-up

We can only comment on the set-up of Iinsight, but I imagine all programs would have similar frustrations when it comes to uploading documents and client information, so be prepared. The initial data upload will take time – ‘bore-the-pants-off-you, I-don’t-want-to-do-it TIME’. I suggest timetabling blocks of time. Put on comfy clothes and play some favourite tunes and just get to it. Like exercise, it feels really good when you’re done.

For me, the set-up and customisation for Iinsight was awful and overwhelming. Uploading all the documents and setting up clients in the system made my brain hurt. And I didn’t even do the bulk of it. Amanda, our Practice Manager extraordinaire, did.

I had hoped to transition from our old system to the new system in two months. One month to build. One month to test. It took two months to build and enter the data, so in the end we started without a test phase and made data entry mistakes on the fly.

I highly recommend testing your software (by keeping your files in both your old system and your new system for a month, so you can see any mistakes and fix them). But we just couldn’t manage this around an existing caseload of clients and life outside of work.

Despite the negatives, the team at Be Software was extremely helpful, going out of their way to assist us in the initial development and training us. They collaboratively problem solved better ways to set things up and the availability and willingness of the helpdesk to educate and support us was outstanding.

This is a big reason I recommend Iinsight if you are considering an online caseload management system.

Usability

Once all the set-up is done, Iinsight is relatively intuitive to use. For me, the screen is a bit busy, but the information is easy to find in tabs and toolbars.

In terms of how the software runs, there are times of day when the system is slower. For instance, I’ve found that 4:30pm – 5:30pm on weekdays is a peak user time and this affects the performance of the site – remembering it’s web-based software. It still works but it’s like watching Netflix or iView at 7:30pm on a weeknight.

One of my favourite features of Iinsight is the security. You can choose the level of access each user has to the data and records, so access is on a ‘need to know’ basis.  This is a great security feature when it comes to managing the data of vulnerable people, and managing your intellectual property.

Platforms

Iinsight works on both Apple Mac and Microsoft platforms, which was a big plus of us. Users have to download a player for their relevant operating system, but once you have done that, it all just works. All our staff use their own devices, so for us, the system needed to work for everyone, regardless of what device they work from.

Things we don’t like

We really wanted SMS reminders but unfortunately, Iinsight doesn’t have this functionality. Our primary clinical population are adults with traumatic brain injuries. They forget stuff. Auto reminders would be really, really useful. The cognitive demand of remembering to send messages to clients and/or stressed family members, in a timeframe that is useful and within professional timeframes is a brain drain. I hope they add this feature soon.

There is also limited ability to subcategorise when saving documents and files. I use this functionality a lot to save files on my computer and I really miss it in Iinsight. As a work around, I’ve developed consistent naming conventions for all the documentation we upload. When we want to find a document, we can search for it using the naming convention – which only works if we have all kept to our rules. Without our naming convention, finding files you know you have uploaded is frustrating.

While this functionality isn’t so crucial for clients with relatively few files, for our ‘high-touch’, long-term case management clients with lots of documentation, being able to group or organise files together is a big plus when it comes to efficiency and finding files in the future. It would be great if Iinsight could improve this functionality in future upgrades. 

Ultimately, we chose Iinsight for two reasons:

1. It was the best fit for our mobile business. All others were made for a clinic environment, with rooms, and clients coming to you. Community visits and travel were an add-on.
2. The excellent help desk. Be Software were extremely generous with their time as we considered their product for our use. We were provided demonstrations by senior staff, and made to feel like valuable customers, even though we knew we were small fry to their bottom dollar. The support we’ve received since starting to use the software has also been second to none.

While we still have a few bugs to iron out in terms of how we use Iinsight, I’m very happy to have made the switch.

http://www.besoftware.biz/