You've Collected Outcomes, Now What?
Congratulations! You have successfully tracked and reported your community's SOAR outcomes and hopefully you have some great numbers to show for all your hard work! But, alas, a SOAR Local Lead's job is never done. Once you've finished your outcomes collection happy dance, it's time to take a look at that data and determine next steps.
Evaluate SOAR data to identify technical assistance (TA) or training needs. Key things to look for:
- Providers with low approval rates
- Providers who were not using all of the SOAR critical components
- Applications with longer than average decision times
- Trends in reasons for denial (e.g. earning SGA, no significant impairment, etc.)
- Geographic areas or agencies where you can implement a quality review process
- Agencies or case managers who did not report their data in the Online Application Tracking (OAT) system this year (for states that use OAT)
Next, reach out to those agencies and case managers who may need additional TA and set up a phone or in-person meeting. Targeted TA may include:
- Holding a SOAR Online Course Review Session or a targeted training on SOAR critical components, such as a Medical Summary Report (MSR) refresher training
- Reviewing MSRs for newly-trained case managers or those who have lower than average approval rates
- Holding a SOAR Orientation for referral sources and customizing the SOAR Referral Tool for your community
- Reviewing the SOAR critical components and your community's SOAR process
- Meeting with your local SSA and DDS contacts to discuss trends in denial reasons, case processing times, and any barriers arising in the local or state SOAR process
- Facilitating an OAT Orientation for those providers who need to begin using OAT to track SOAR outcomes
From your outreach and data collection efforts, refine your list of SOAR-trained providers who are actively completing SSI/SSDI applications and move any providers who are no longer using SOAR to an archived list for your records. Additionally, review the list of OAT users and determine who is no longer active; e-mail the list of inactive users to
your SOAR TA Center liaison, so that we can deactivate their OAT account.
Finally, identify areas or agencies within your community that you feel could benefit from SOAR expansion.
- Which geographic areas of your community or state are underserved by SOAR-trained providers?
- Are there regions that report high rates of homelessness, but do not have enough case managers providing SOAR assistance?
- Can you expand partnerships with organizations that serve justice-involved persons, Veterans, or youth?
Celebrating Success
As you are analyzing your SOAR data, don't forget to celebrate SOAR success in your community! Be sure to recognize those case managers, agencies, and community partners who went above and beyond this year. Consider adding SOAR Standout Awards to your next meeting, such as:
- Most approvals in 2018 (for case managers and agencies)
- SOAR "Newbie" of the Year
- Outstanding SSA/DDS Partner
- Outstanding Hospital/Health Center Partner
- Outstanding SOAR Mentor
