| CIM Inc. | |
Ann Arbor, MI – The Center for Information Management, Inc., an Ann Arbor, MI-based provider of information systems and services for organizations caring for older adults and persons with disabilities, has received a contract from the State of New York Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) to automate their new Coordinated Assessment System (CAS), described as “a new tool that has been specifically tailored to capture the unique health and support needs of individuals with developmental disabilities in New York State”, according to OPWDD.
For this multi-year project, CIM Inc. will build a totally custom solution for use by OPWDD assessment specialists completing assessments of selected beneficiaries to develop focused case studies and to perform instrument validation prior to a full statewide rollout to support the routine assessment of over 100,000 individuals who received OPWDD Medicaid services.
The Intellectual/Developmental Disability (ID/DD) assessment tool from interRAI, Inc. (a collaborative network of researchers in over 20 countries committed to improving health care for persons who are elderly, frail, or disabled - www.interrai.org) was selected as the core instrument of the Coordinated Assessment System (CAS) after input from stakeholders across New York State and extensive research. According to OPWDD, “the CAS will be used to learn about each individual’s strengths, needs and interests and help us create a more person-centered care plan”.
The new web-based system will be fully customized to address extensive NYS-specific functional requirements and will be created using CIM Inc.’s proprietary web assessment software framework with extensive off-line capabilities supporting in-home person-centered interactions. When deployed, the system will be used concurrently by assessment specialists working in OPWDD regional offices and state-level program managers.
“We have been delighted with CIM Inc.’s responsiveness and technical expertise,” says Diana Woodward, Statewide Assessment Coordinator, Division of Person Centered Supports, OPWDD. “CIM Inc. has had wonderfully rich experiences working in this domain and have offered us great advice at every step as we proceed with our project.”
The CAS is one of several strategic initiatives included in the New York’s innovative People First Waiver. Overall, the People First Waiver will allow New York State to work closely with individuals, family members, and outside experts in health care and long-term care to create system improvements that expand community-based services, reduce institutional services, and offer New Yorkers with developmental disabilities comprehensive services from multiple service systems in more efficient, person-centered, responsive, and accountable ways.
OPWDD envisions several benefits from the new statewide Coordinated Assessment System (CAS):
Douglas Zimmer, CIM Inc.’s president, describes the opportunity to assist OPWDD with the new CAS for New York as “a perfect fit for our company.” He adds, “This project flows perfectly from our recent success with NY Department of Health, who also needed robust software for both on-line and off-line capture of in-depth assessment instruments. This project will allow us the opportunity to work with one of the most innovative Medicaid programs across the country dedicated to truly serving the real needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities.”
CIM Inc., founded in 1980, provides hosted applications and custom software services, with specialization in meeting the unique needs of service providers for the aging and disabled. CIM Inc. has customers in Michigan and several other states.
CIM Inc.’s flagship product is COMPASS, a comprehensive information system used by the Medicaid-funded MI-Choice home care program in Michigan. Through MI-Choice, Medicaid-eligible frail elderly and persons with disabilities, who struggle with serious medical conditions justifying institutional care, are provided the choice to stay in their homes and communities through paid supports and services.
COMPASS allows MI-Choice administrators to identify potential needs of participants, develop person-centered plans of care and service delivery plans, track costs for Medicaid and other fund sources, and submit claims to Michigan’s Medicaid automated payment system. The COMPASS software suite also includes laptop-based tools to support electronic documentation by case managers. For further information, email: info@ciminc.com..