AU756978B1 - Referral system and method - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT APPLICANT: TUGGERANONG COMMUNITY SERVICE INC.

Invention Title: REFERRAL SYSTEM AND METHOD The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: "REFERRAL SYSTEM AND METHOD" Technical field This invention relates to a referral method and system.

The invention has particular but not exclusive application to a system and method for referring people (clients) requiring support services, such as social support, to a source of such services. Background of Invention Social support networks are known for providing people in need of various social support with contact details of the sources of the services provided. It is also known for social workers and the like who may be in contact with the people requiring the social support to contact the sources of that support and provide the service provider with details of the person requiring assistance.

Summary of Invention The present invention aims to provide an altemrnative to known social support referral systems and methods.

This invention in one aspect resides broadly in a computer-based crisis referral method within a community social support system in which basic social support services are provided by first tier individuals or agencies with whom individuals in the community are likely to have regular contact and in which specialist or crisis social support services are provided by second tier individuals or agencies with whom individuals in a crisis situation are not likely to have regular contact, the method including:a first tier provider of a basic social support service identifying an individual's need of specialist or crisis support services during contact between the individual and the first tier provider of the basic social support service during provision thereof; the first tier provider of the basic social support service completing a referral template containing details of the individual and of the specialist or crisis support service for which a need has been identified, the referral template being included on a computer program; forwarding the referral template by a local or wide area network from the first tier provider of the basis social support service to a central coordinating and referral agency; the coordinating and referral agency identifying a second tier provider of the specialist or crisis social support service needed by the individual of the individual's need for the service, and the coordinating and referral agency forwarding the referral template by a local or wide area network to the identified second tier provider of the specialist or crisis social support service to advise the second tier provider of the individual's need for the service, whereby the provider of the specialist or crisis social support service can contact the individual and provide the specialist or crisis support service to the individual in need thereof.

As used herein the expression "basic service" refers to fundamental services such as health, social security, employment, education, policing, and accountancy. In this sense the services are ones provided by people or agencies who are likely to be in regular or regulatory contact with persons who may need specialist social support services.

As used herein the expression "specialist or crisis social support service" refers to specialist or crisis services in the field of social support and which are unlikely to be provided by those people or agencies who provide basic services as defined above. The expression refers to specialist services such as those provided by support networks such as Parent Line, Grief Service, Incest Line, Youth Line, Life Line, Care Link, Gambling Services, Family Violence, and Alcohol and Drug Service.

It is preferred that the referral agency obtains the consent of the person in need of the specialist service before contacting the relevant provider of the specialist social support service.

It is also preferred that the provider of the specialist social support service advises the referral agency of details of the specialist service provided to the person in need thereof.

It is also preferred that the referral agency advises the provider of the basic service of engagement between the person in need of the specialist service and the relevant provider of the specialist social support service.

1 2rr 0 It is also preferred that all advices between the provider of the basic service, the referral agency and the provider of the specialist social support service are provided by using relevant templates.

It is also preferred that the relevant templates are included in the computer program and all advices between the provider of the basic service, the referral agency and the provider of the specialist social support service are provided via the Internet.

In another aspect this invention resides broadly in a computer program for facilitating the referral of providers of specialist social support services to persons in need of such services, the computer program including:a referral template for use in identifying the person's need for the specialist service during contact between the person and a provider of a basic service during provision thereof by the provider of the basic service; a referral template for use in providing advice of the person's need for the specialist service to a referral agency by the provider of the basic service; whereby the referral agency advises the relevant provider of the specialist social support service needed of the persons need for the service, and the provider of the specialist social support service provides the specialist service to the person in need thereof; an advice template for use in advising the provider of the basic service of engagement between the person in need of the specialist service and the relevant provider of the specialist social support service, and an advice template for use in advising the referral agency of details of the specialist service provided to the person in need thereof; whereby all advices between the provider of the basic service, the referral agency and the provider of the specialist social support service are provided via the Intemrnet.

Description of Drawings In order that this invention may be more easily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein:- FIG 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the system and method of the present invention.

Description of Preferred Embodiment of Invention As can be seen in FIG 1, the computer-based method of the present invention refers providers 16a,16b 16n of specialist social support services to persons 10Oa,10b 10On in need of such services. The method identifies the person 10's need for the specialist service 32 during contact between the person and a provider 12a,12b 12n of a basic service during provision thereof.

Advice of the person 10's need for the specialist service 32 is provided to a referral agency 14 by the provider 12 of the basic service. The referral agency 14 then contacts (see 30) the person 10 to confirm that the person authorises them to make contact with a specialist service provider 16, and once approved (see 30) by person 10, advises the provider 16 of the specialist social support service 32 which is needed by the person 10 of that person's need for the service, and the provider 16 of the specialist social support service provides the specialist service 32 to the person 10 in need thereof.

The advice to the referral agency 14 is provided from the provider 12 of the basic service by using a referral template 18. The advice from the referral agency 14 to the relevant provider 16 of the specialist social support service is provided by using a referral template The provider 16 of the specialist social support service 32 advises the referral agency 14 of the specialist service provided, or to be provided, to the person 10 in need thereof. This advice 28 is provided by using an advice template 26. Referral agency 14 also advises the provider 12 of the basic service of engagement between person 10 and the relevant provider 16 of the specialist social support service. This advice 24 is provided by using an advice template 22.

Referral templates 18,20 and advice templates 22,26 are included in a computer program and the referrals and advices between the basic providers 12, the referral agency 14 and the specialist providers 16 are preferably communicated via the Intemrnet.

The basic services referred to above are those which are provided by those who are most likely to meet the people requiring specialist assistance and services in a trusting relationship, who are likely to be aware of the need and with whom the person in need is less likely to be embarrassed. Such intermediaries include the following:- General Practitioners Police Employers Education Facilities Family Law Solicitors Centrelink Family Court Child Support Agency Child Care Services Accountants.

Examples of State and nationwide specialised service providers include the following:- Parent Line Grief Service Incest Line Youth Line Life Line Local Providers Care Link Gambling Services Family Violence Alcohol and Drug Service.

The screen-based referral teiplate to be used by referrers includes boxes for designating specialist services and are summarised under suitable category headings. Examples of the subject categories and relevant specialist services include the following:- Couple Relationships Strengthening partnerships Better Communication Building trust, dealing with hurts Understanding Her Understanding Him Dealing with anger Understanding Conflict Step parenting Personal Family Understanding depression Overcoming isolation Alcohol and drug abuse Financial management Gambling addiction Grief and Loss Keeping motivated Surviving separation Counselling and counselling services Mediation and conflict resolution services Legal Aid and legal advice Family Law and Court Managing contact visits after separation Child Support and Agency Aged/Disability Transport services In home support i.e. showering Home maintenance Homecleaning services Being a Carer Maintaining independence Meals and shopping Support assessment and coordination Children ADD ADHD Children and grief Managing difficult behaviour Parenting young children Positive discipline Understanding child development Making routines work Youth Alcohol and drug abuse Managing conflict and anger Encouraging self esteem Understanding emotions Employment tips Youth support services Culture specific services Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Health services Housing and accommodation services Employment programs Parenting support services Youth support services Migrant Interpreter services Welfare and support services S.Health services Language education Parenting support services The present invention thus provides an early intervention tool to enhance the capacity' of community infrastructure to become proactive in supporting families. The method links specialised social support providers to consumers via community infrastructure called here intermediaries.

The system is based on the premise that people with either family or personal issues primarily present their concerns to trusted intermediaries within their own networks. General Practitioners are a good example of this interaction. However, in practice General Practitioners, Police and Employers and other "authoritative intermediaries" are limited in their capacity to support these people due to lack of knowledge as to where and how to link them into the correct support. This is magnified in outback areas, and the invention provides a full and comprehensive way in which these sectors can facilitate social support for their client groups.

The system will thus be seen to constitute a-tool for intermediaries to identify specific issues people are presenting with, a referral mechanism that is simple to activate and operates in an IT environment, a central referral coordination service, and a referral, tracking and feedback service.

The system exploits the more intimate or trusted relationships that families have within their own networks. The system resources these networks to facilitate support for the family, and does not rely upon conventional methods of service entry that rely upon people in need (and basic service providers) having to resource their own connections to community support services.

In practice the steps followed in implementing the method of the present invention include:- Step one: Services engaged with families, i.e. GP's, are identified and these use the referral template that lists 39 family issue topics ranging from couple relationship issues to aged care issues.

Step two: When a patient discloses to the GP their personal issues the GP offers to facilitate support for them, the patient or GP identifies the topic in which they require support and the type of intervention they require. This is either a request for information or contact to be made by a support service. The client signs a form giving their consent to receive support via the system.

Step three: The referral is then forwarded to the referral agency and recorded in a referral intake system that assists the referral manager to track the referral.

Step four: The referral is processed with the family issue being matched to the specialist Service Provider who is best placed to support the family. The client is contacted by referral manager to confirm details and to inform of process.

Step five: The family receives support from the specialist Service Provider.

Step six: The specialist Service Provider contacts the referral agency and information on service engagement is reported.

Step seven: The referral agency contacts the referring service (GP) to inform them of the specialist/client engagement.

Certain standards are preferably incorporated in the system and include the following:- Clients are sent relevant information cards (if they request this) within one working day of the request being received.

Clients requesting support coordination receive coordination updates within two days of the request being received.

Clients are referred to the most appropriate service provider.

Clients are referred to the culturally appropriate Service Providers.

The intake registration system is monitored daily in order to fulfil coordination obligations.

Intermediaries are given written confirmation of patient/client support arrangement within 3 days of the person receiving support.

It will be appreciated that the present invention has a number of advantages over known community support referral systems. The system improves past attempts at supporting people in which people struggle to access social support services, general community infrastructure who assist people on a daily basis generally lack the knowledge and means to swiftly refer people to the specialised support services they require, and social support services remain virtually. disconnected from many of the people in need of early intervention support.

In particular the invention impacts on rural and remote families and to a lesser extent families living in regional townships who typically experience minimal and often fragmented social support. Thus the present invention operates to lessen the likelihood of family breakdown, suicide, unnecessary rural migration, child abuse and substance abuse.

It will of course be realised that whilst the above has been given by way of an illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations hereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art, are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth.

11 TUGGERANONG COMMUNITY SERVICE INC by PIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS

Claims (7)

1. A computer-based crisis referral method within a community social support system in which basic social support services are provided by first tier individuals or agencies with whom individuals in the community are likely to have regular contact and in which specialist or crisis social support services are provided by second tier individuals or agencies with whom individuals in a crisis situation are not likely to have regular contact, the method including:- a first tier provider of a basic social support service identifying an individual's need of specialist or crisis support services during contact between the individual and the first tier provider of the basic social support service during provision thereof; the first tier provider of the basic social support service completing a referral template containing details of the individual and of the specialist or crisis support service for which a need has been identified, the referral template being included on a computer program; forwarding the referral template by a local or wide area network from the first tier provider of the basis social support service to a central coordinating and referral agency; the coordinating and referral agency identifying a second tier provider of the specialist or crisis social support service needed by the individual of the individual's need for the service, and the coordinating and referral agency forwarding the referral template by a local or wide area network to the identified second tier provider of the specialist or crisis social support service to advise the second tier provider of the individual's need for the service, whereby the provider of the specialist or crisis social support service can contact the individual and provide the specialist or crisis support service to the individual in need thereof.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the referral agency obtains the consent of the person in need of the specialist service before contacting the relevant provider of the specialist social support service.

3. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the provider of the specialist social support service advises the referral agency of details of the specialist service provided to the person in need thereof.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the referral agency advises the provider of the basic service of engagement between the person in need of the specialist service and the relevant provider of the specialist social support service.

A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein all advices between the provider of the basic service, the referral agency and the provider of the specialist social support service are provided by using relevant templates.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the relevant templates are included in the computer program and all advices between the provider of the basic service, the referral agency and the provider of the specialist social support service are provided via the Internet.

7. A computer-based crisis referral method within a community social support system in which basic social support services are provided by first tier individuals or agencies with whom individuals in the community are likely to have regular day-to-day contact and in which specialist or crisis social support services are provided by second tier individuals or agencies with whom individuals in a crisis situation are not likely to have regular day-to-day contact, substantially as described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings.