Trolling for Useful Data in an Automated Information Management System: Experiences of Kansas Community Mental Health Managers

Abstract

The State of Kansas community mental health system uses an automated information management system for state and federal accountability and for local quality improvement. Researchers interviewed 25 of the state's 28 directors of children's communitybased mental health services to learn about the automated system's local applications. Two-thirds of the directors used the automated system for either programmatic decision making or staff supervision, when they were supported by time and personnel for looking at data and an organizational culture of trust in data-informed decisions. Directors additionally wanted technology that allows local access to their data.KEYWORDS automated information management system, community mental health, data utilization, decision making, organizational culture Outcome evaluation is central to social work's mission and ethics (Bloom

Building Organizational Knowledge and Value: Informed Decision Making in Kansas Children’s Community-Based Mental Health Services

“…This study does not suggest one piece of information that supersedes the others, but that lack of resources, at any of the many stages of knowledge building, blocks development of local evidence. Computer-generated data, once believed to promise a scientific link between data and decision making, is now considered one useful information source among many others (Bickman 2008b;Davenport and Prusak 2000;Kapp and Stipp 2010). Modern management specialists recognize the value of many types of information, including conversations, which are ''the essence of an organization's activities'' (Ichijo 2007, p. 87).…”