How Carers ACT uses technology to help streamline processes and maintain compliancy

Summary•4 min read

Care that we can give others can only be as strong as our own wellbeing, which is why the work of Carers ACT is important in advocating for those who care.

We all know how important it is to care, but how often do we consider the toll that caring takes on the almost 2.7 million unpaid carers in Australia? According to recent statistics, carers have some of the lowest wellbeing and are significantly more at risk of mental health problems when compared with the general population.

The care that we can give others can only be as strong as our own wellbeing, which is why the work of organisations like Carers ACT is so important in advocating for and supporting those who care.

Carers ACT is a not-for-profit organisation and the peak body for carers in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) that supports, connects, and empowers carers. Every year more than 5,000 carers receive support from Carers ACT in the form of education, counselling, respite, support groups, advocacy, and social activities. Given the valuable work that Carers ACT does every day, it’s important that its small team’s resources are used wisely so it can provide maximum support.

Thomas Pike, ICT Manager at Carers ACT, knew that transforming paper-based workflows within the organisation would help the team free up resources, securely transmit data, save time, and money. We spoke with Thomas and Sharon Scott, Team Leader of Carer Support at Carers ACT, to learn how they’re embracing digital to help streamline processes across the organisation.

Keeping Carers ACT compliant and secure

One of the services that Carers ACT provides is brokering services from more than 120 organisations across the territory. Services include in home support, education and skill development. In order to offer these valuable services, Carers ACT needed a system of agreement in place that was digital, easy to use, and enabled them to meet a high demand for services. Enter Docusign.

Before Docusign was implemented at Carers ACT, this process was highly manual and would involve printing, faxing or posting supplier documentation. It could take weeks to get signed paperwork back and often resulted in delays to services being provided. Now, the team is able to easily send suppliers secure documentation, receive paperwork, and make sure that suppliers meet necessary standards before entering into an agreement.

The impact of the solution has been significant. Since implementing Docusign Carers ACT has been able to save more than 650 hours across 1300 brokered purchase orders in the last financial year. Signed contracts that used to take weeks to receive, now take minutes to hours.

“Implementing Docusign at Carers ACT has revolutionised how we manage signed documents. This consistent, secure approach to document management has created efficiencies in the document signing process, as well as eliminating the need to chase and review document status,” said Scott.

A better experience for carers and support coordinators

When choosing an agreement cloud solution, it was important that the tool could fit the growing needs of the organisation and integrate with existing systems. The Docusign API meant that Carers ACT was able to integrate the solution with existing tools like Docusign for Dynamics 365 CRM and Microsoft Flow.

“One of the great powers of Docusign is in its integrations. For instance, we will be integrating Docusign with Dynamics 365 for our due diligence paperwork. We know when a organisation’s documents are expiring and we’re automatically able to programmatically trigger envelopes to be sent requesting updated information,” said Pike.

This gives Carers ACT the confidence they need to ensure that compliance is maintained, while also freeing up employees’ precious time.

The solution also supports the growing need for flexible and remote working so support workers are able to have access to all necessary documentation. Anytime, anywhere.

“We have a mobile workforce of support coordinators and technologies like Docusign mean we enable them to access documentation on the go. Importantly, it also means that we can meet our carers where they’re at. There’s no need for them to physically come into our offices to sign paperwork,” said Pike.

If you’d like to discuss how Docusign can help your organisation on its digital transformation journey contact our sales team.