Still sifting through spreadsheets trying to find a supplier or customer information? Or worse yet, opening a filing cabinet that’s been in your office since the early 90s and leafing through off-white paper files? In this day and age, and in this economy?
If you are in that group, you might be wondering, “What is case management software?” and why do I keep hearing about it?
Well, case management software is a way for you to finally get rid of those annoying spreadsheets and dusty old files and move into a solution that is easier to manage, maintain, and ensure the security of, no matter where you are.
That’s right, you could wake up one morning, take a look outside at the layers of fresh snow that fell through the night, and think, “Yeah, you know what? I’m going to work from home today,” and it wouldn’t be a big deal, because you can access the information you need online through your shiny new case management system.
Or, let’s say you want to go on a working holiday. You can negotiate with clients from the comfort of your lounge chair at the beach if you have an internet connection.
No matter your priorities, effective case management can be accomplished with the right technology. In this article, we explore the definition of case management in terms of how it works within a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, types of case management, benefits of case management systems, and more.
When asking the question, “What is case management” in the context of software, the first thing that you should keep in mind is that it’s a centralized system in which master data and non-master data are stored. Without getting too deep into the weeds, master data refers to the core, non-transactional data that your organization uses. In other words, master data is:
This information is often sensitive (but not always), doesn’t change that often, and is used in a variety of different ways through many different systems. The correctness of this information is also essential.
So to recap:
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Master Data |
Non-Master Data |
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Master data provides a consistent and stable reference point for long-term analysis. |
Non-master data (also known as transactional data) offers real-time insights and helps support your business’s daily operations. |
With this in mind, case management software enables your organization to track and store master data and non-master data in a centralized location so that the information is readily available to all stakeholders who may require it to execute their work. In many cases, CRM platforms already have a variety of case management capabilities-effective storage for customer information and account details, account numbers and product information, supplier information, and much more.
For example, an insurance broker would use case management software to locate client details, including contact information and past purchases, to adequately prepare for a meeting with them.
For industries with more specific use cases for case management, additional integrations and add-ons might be needed to make the CRM into a case management system that meets their needs.
Case management software is also flexible. It can be installed on a local network or web-based, meaning that data is stored in the cloud and can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection. Some may think this isn’t a safe option, but modern data security makes cloud-based data storage just as safe, if not safer, than local network storage.
Many organizations use case management to replace archaic spreadsheet or paper-based systems with limited capabilities and features, inadequate security, and little workflow support.
The main functions of case management software are as follows:
Effective case management is important for many different industries, from healthcare to government. As organizations in these industries grow, traditional methods of managing clients, like spreadsheets and paper-based filing and tracking systems, quickly become difficult to maintain. Accuracy and consistency are key in case management, so businesses often look for case management software to help maintain those goals.
The table below provides an overview of industries that use advanced case management and a use-case example for each.
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Industry |
Case Management Examples |
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Healthcare |
In healthcare, a case manager is usually a registered nurse (RN) who uses their medical experience and expertise to help patients navigate the healthcare system and health insurance to receive the care they need. |
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Social Work |
Social work case management involves a case worker assessing a client, helping them (and their family, when needed) to arrange and coordinate services, and monitoring and evaluating outcomes to guide the client to success. |
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Legal |
For a lawyer, case management often involves identifying issues, discussing possible resolutions, and creating or facilitating a litigation plan to proceed with a settlement. |
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Non-Profit Organizations |
Case management in a non-profit organization may often bleed into social work in terms of connecting clients with the right services, including healthcare, food support, foster care, veteran services, and more. |
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Government |
Considered the public sector, any workflow that the government handles is considered a “case” and includes tracking, processing, and resolving the case efficiently while providing transparency and accountability. This can be anything from building a new transit system to implementing a new law. |
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Insurance |
Involves monitoring claims and expenses to ensure they are reasonable, necessary, and legitimate. |
No matter which industry uses case management software, they all rely on a centralized, single-source-of-truth data system to do their work in the most efficient and effective way, with maximum accountability and transparency. This is much easier to ensure through case management software than manual systems like spreadsheets and paper files, which can easily get lost or become inaccurate due to human error.
There are different types of case management models that can be implemented to help ensure great results. These different types of models are outlined below:
The brokerage case management model is focused on ensuring a streamlined flow of services. This is done by carefully evaluating the services offered to clients and ensuring that the ongoing case is continually monitored. Case managers in this model are less involved with clients and more focused on the process.
Clients have more self-accountability in this model, where they are responsible for when they access and how they use available resources. This case management model frees up case managers to work with more clients at once but is better suited for clients with more straightforward cases.
The clinical model is similar to the brokerage model but includes interventions. Case managers who follow this model have a higher responsibility in providing clients with different services. In many cases, clinical case managers create the entire care plan for a client and spend more one-on-one time with them.
With the intensive case management model, case managers provide comprehensive, 24-hour support for clients. As you can imagine, this model allows case managers to deliver higher-quality services and more individualized attention to their clients.
The Strengths-Based Case Management model is crafted around the unique strengths of each client, with the case manager tasked with identifying and assessing these strengths to develop a customized care plan. Due to its personalized approach, this model boasts a higher success rate, often leading to increased client engagement and enthusiasm towards the care plan.
As you can see, there are several different approaches to case management that professionals will use, depending on the resources available to them and their client’s needs. But no matter the case manager and their approach, there’s a common theme throughout the ability to do more with less.
Case management software helps by allowing these professionals to be as productive and efficient with each client as they can by facilitating easier access to comprehensive information about each client. Through effective case management organization facilitated by case management software, professionals can do things like access notes and contact information and get themselves up to speed on a client’s file quickly. This allows them to help their clients faster and more effectively.
In the fast-paced world of social services, healthcare, and legal sectors, effective case management is crucial for delivering high-quality care and services to clients. Traditionally, managing cases involved tedious paperwork, manual processes, and the potential for errors and delays. However, with the advent of case management software, organizations can now streamline their workflows, enhance communication, and improve client outcomes like never before.
Here are some more benefits of case management software:
With case management software, the productivity of your teams is increased due to ease of access to information for each client or lead that they need to deal with. With Ringy, for example, each client or lead has their own individual dashboard where notes, recent conversations, purchase history, and more are displayed for easy reference.
So whether a customer service rep needs to understand a customer’s history so they can solve an issue better, or a sales rep needs to get themselves up to speed on a customer’s account, the information they both need is readily available on the customer’s dashboard without them having to dig through conversation history or other files.
Reports are important so that senior management and supervisors can track progress and performance. Through built-in reporting and analytics tools, organizations can gain valuable insights into case metrics, client demographics, service utilization patterns, and more. These insights enable organizations to identify trends, measure the impact of interventions, and continuously refine their approaches to better meet the needs of their clients and stakeholders.
Case management systems automatically grant employees access to case information, fostering greater accountability and facilitating seamless collaboration across various teams or departments.
With features such as real-time updates, task assignments, and messaging functionalities, employees can collaborate more effectively, share important updates, and coordinate their efforts to provide comprehensive care and support to clients. Whether it's coordinating services for a vulnerable individual or managing complex legal cases, the ability to collaborate efficiently is essential for achieving positive outcomes.
Another significant benefit of case management software is its capacity to automate routine tasks and workflows. By leveraging automation capabilities, organizations can streamline repetitive tasks such as appointment scheduling, document generation, and case status updates, freeing up valuable time for employees to focus on more meaningful and high-value activities. Moreover, automation helps reduce the risk of human error, ensures consistency in processes, and accelerates task completion, ultimately enhancing overall productivity and efficiency.
One of the primary benefits of case management software is its ability to centralize and organize case-related information.
Instead of relying on cumbersome paper-based files or disparate digital documents, case management software provides a centralized repository where all relevant information, including:
Can be securely stored and easily accessed by authorized users. This streamlined access to information not only saves time but also reduces the risk of errors and ensures data consistency across the organization.
There is a wide variety of case management tools available on the market, which can make it difficult to make a choice. Decision paralysis, anyone?
To throw a further wrench into the situation, you’re likely looking for something with base features that you can customize to some degree to suit your business’s needs. This could be for things like making tracking incidents and making fraud investigations easier to manage, or monitoring client details closely to help close sales faster. You already know that effective case management software will help you and your teams be more productive and efficient; you just need to choose the right case management tool.
Any great case management software solution should have robust administration tools, including multi-user access privileges. With the ability to control access, administrators can set certain users or groups of users to be able to access only parts of the system, based on those users’ individual needs. This means that if a breach were to occur, only a small part of the system would be compromised rather than the entire thing, making it easier to recover and protect sensitive data with higher security.
One of the most important parts of case management software for many industries, healthcare and legal to name two, is document management. Many different forms of documentation are involved in any business, from invoices, inventory data, client information, and much more, and it’s important to keep these different forms of documentation organized and easily accessible by those who need it. Categorization through tagging is one way that case management software helps organize different types of documents to make them easily searchable.
Why do things manually when the computer can not only do it for you but do it consistently and without errors, no matter how many times the task needs to be done? Workflow automation is not only essential for reducing or even eliminating human errors but also giving more time back to professionals to focus on tasks that really work their skills and abilities, rather than them sinking hours into repetitive administrative duties.
For example, with Ringy, emails and text messages can be created and scheduled in advance as part of a marketing campaign and set to be sent at specific times and to specific groups of clients. This means you don’t have to worry about remembering to hit send on a campaign at 5 pm on the dot—the system will automatically do it for you. Combined with AI tools to help you craft engaging messages faster, you’ll be able to cut the time you spend on marketing down significantly.
Making business decisions on intuition and gut feelings will only get you so far. At some point, it’s important to rely on data. Every single day, your business produces tons of data from your customers and the actions that your employees take. Harnessing this data will give you insights that you didn’t even know you needed and could take your business to the next level.
Case management software with reporting and analytics helps you make sense of the data that your business generates and, when combined with artificial intelligence, can help you find patterns and trends that could shape operational improvements, product changes, audience targeting, and much more.
While an out-of-the-box case management solution will likely be able to handle the majority of your business’s needs, customization and flexibility are important to tailor the solution to your business. It’s important that the different tools in your tech stack work together, sharing the same data without getting siloed, so that they are all working with the most accurate and complete information. The case management software acts as a centralized point in this case, so it’s important that it supports different integrations with the software that you need.
Ringy integrates with a wide range of software and is also compatible with tools like Zapier so you can facilitate your own integrations as needed.
Ensuring that the case management system that you choose is customizable and flexible can also help you ensure that you meet regulatory compliance requirements, whether it be through enhanced security measures or data storage.
In conclusion, the adoption of case management software offers a plethora of benefits that are invaluable to organizations across diverse sectors. By replacing outdated manual processes with streamlined digital solutions, organizations can significantly enhance productivity, collaboration, and client outcomes.
From simplifying intake processes and facilitating better communication among teams to automating routine tasks and providing actionable insights through reporting and analytics, case management software empowers organizations to operate more efficiently and effectively. As industries continue to evolve and adapt to changing landscapes, investing in robust case management software becomes increasingly essential for staying competitive, achieving organizational goals, and ultimately making a positive impact on clients and stakeholders alike.
Interested in how Ringy can help improve your business? Request a demo today!