In Phase I, RTZ Associates studied the feasibility of creating a management information tool for ADCs that would also serve as an on-going collection tool of key information for researchers and policy makers. To encourage center staff to continue to use the tool and to improve data quality, RTZ built a software system for data collection that also met ADCs billing and state compliance requirements. This inducement to use a research tool proved so helpful that a full 67% of all Medicaid- reimbursed ADCs in California purchased the system to manage their programs. Two competing products have become all but extinct. In Phase II, RTZ will create a similar core information system in 25 centers in four additional states: Iowa, Hawaii, Connecticut, and Arizona. The five pilot sites in each state will help create a product that will enable RTZ to do three things: l) create a universal assessment tool to predict the level of care needed upon admittance of a client to a program; 2) provide the 25 pilot sites with a state specific management tool; and 3) provide an easily accessible on-going source of data for researchers.
The project will produce a software package for use by adult day centers across the country, develop Internet mechanisms for data set and will produce a National data set for ADC research. The project will develop the tool with 25 day centers in five states. There are over 5000 ADCs in the United States who would be potential consumers of the software, technical assistance, and data management services.
