Florida Developmental Disabilities Council

Florida Developmental Disabilities Council "encourages and advocates opportunities for persons with developmental disabilities and their families, to enhance their quality of life within their communities." In doing so, FDDC initiates and manages various contracts and projects, and are required to track the creation process of these contracts from concept to approval. Once the contract begins, they must also track the deliverables and reports required by the contract, as well as the invoices for progress payments on the contracts.

Problem

A method was needed to keep track of each of these phases, and to be able to know the status of all contracts at any given time. The workflow processes for these activities was already in place, but it was a manual paper process. They needed to streamline the tracking and information exchange by moving to electronic processing.

Solution

Two workflow processes were implemented; one for contract development and monitoring and the second for handling payments - all with appropriate security management.  Contract data is available to all involved and allows for optimal customer service and support.

New Process

DocuVantage™ took the existing paper processes and implemented them into an Electronic Document Management system. Two key processes were created.

The first process took the contract from concept to approval to monitoring. A repository of boilerplate contract files and language was created within the system to provide one production version of the documents that everyone accessed. The contracts were sent through a two-step approval process before being taken to bid. Once a contract is let, the person who initiated the contract monitors it. The EDM system's workflow and database screens allow the users to track deliverables and store electronic copies for easy access.

The second process involves making payment on invoices received. As invoices come in, the clerk scans them, and routes them to the appropriate contract manager based on contract number. By keeping everything electronic and in a single location, it is easy for the contract manager or anyone with appropriate access rights to determine the status of the contract, deliverables, and invoices at any time.

During the contract monitoring process, there are times when letters must be sent from the managers to the contractors. FDDC created form letters and stored them in the EDM system. DocuVantage™ developed an OLE script that prompted the user for the contract number and then used that number to retrieve and address the letter to the identified contact at the vendor.

This application helps FDDC to reduce the number of files stored in the office and allows everyone to share information. It also facilitates better customer service since others are able to respond to contract inquiries in the manager's absence.