Oregon 211

OR211 – Technology Committee Database Software Recommendation

January 2007

The OR211 Technology Committee met in a series of meetings in 2003 and 2004.  They were tasked with researching Information & Referral software packages to determine which would best meet the needs of OR211.  Criterion included (1) serving as a central repository of resource information (2)with web access to that information,(3) I&R functionality, (4) AIRS and HIPAA compliance, (5) capability to import and export to multiple systems in other formats, (6) custom reporting capabilities, and (7) flexibility of data collection.

The committee reviewed the pricing and functionality of Resource House (now being used by WIN211), Tapestry (now being used by Lane County), ServicePoint (now being used by Douglas County, and for HMIS by the State of Oregon, HCS), and IRis (now being used by 211info, their regional partners in the Portland metro and SW Washington area, and by Idaho 211).

On 9/14/04, at the conclusion of the committee’s fact finding, a recommendation was made by the Technology Committee to leverage the purchase of ServicePoint, and to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Portland, BHCD.  At the time this solution met the overall functionality needs of OR211, and it was felt it would be flexible enough to integrate with other solutions that may be chosen by partners throughout the State as other regions activated their 211 call centers.

Our objectives remain the same as they were in 2003/04.  At this time OR211 has one operational call center, and two call centers nearing 211 activation.  All are on different software platforms, none of which can data share with the others.

Much progress has been made over the past three years by AIRS in developing and enhancing an XML schema that will facilitate data sharing between users of different I&R software programs.  At this point an XML exporting utility is available from each of the four software vendors previously evaluated, however none have an importing utility available at this time. 

Due to the length of time since the original I&R software recommendation was made, it is suggested the Technology Committee use a standardized, impartial procedure to review and update this recommendation.

The slow progress by software vendors in creating an XML import utility would require each OR211 partner to pay their software vendor to create a “crosswalk” program specifically written for sharing resources between two specific I&R software systems.  Funding must be generated for this to proceed.  It is recommended that following reviewing and updating the I&R database software recommendation, OR211 and each of the existing or developing call centers begin exploring the cost of creating the crosswalk program.  Funding can then be pursued for this purpose.

In addition, some standards must be developed between all parties for consistency and facilitation of data sharing. Items needing attention include development of a common inclusion/exclusion criteria for the central repository, determination of common data fields to be shared, development of style standards for those fields, agreement on taxonomy usage/version, and creation of a method for determining ownership/responsibility for shared resources (e.g. State agencies, nationwide services, etc.).  It is suggested the Technology Committee expand to include representation from all OR211 regions and schedule regular quarterly meetings to begin to address these topics.