Publications – Books and Articles
For Help in Developing a Client Data Management System

Books

• Human Services Technology: Understanding, Designing and Implementing Computer and Internet Application in Social Services(link is external) Richard Schoech. 1999.
• A Definition of Database Design Standards for Human Rights Agencies(link is external) Patrick Ball (free online book).
• Designing Relational Database Systems, Rebecca M. Riordan
• Database Design for Mere Mortals, Michael J. Hernandez

Journals and Magazines

• Journal of Technology in Human Services(link is external) – Explores the uses and potentials of computer and related technologies in mental health, developmental disabilities, welfare, and other human services.
• Healthcare IT News/Healthcare IT Newsweek(link is external) – free electronic publications on healthcare information technology.
• Healthcare Innovation Group(link is external)

Articles

• Psychiatric Information Systems: An Analysis of Inpatient and Outpatient Unit Capabilities(link is external) – Wisdom, Bielavitz, French. 2008. ABSTRACT: This paper describes how a sample of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment units use technology to aid in patient care through scheduling, tracking, billing, and documenting clinical services. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 68) at four inpatient and four outpatient psychiatric facilities in Oregon. Results indicate psychiatric facilities are assembling systems for managing information that include a combination of electronic linked clinical records, paper records, and unit-specific, unlinked databases. Barriers remain in (1) improving the sophistication of psychiatric information systems, (2) improving linkages of behavioral health with other medical information systems, and (3) increasing information technology support.

Organizations of Interest

Technical Assistance, Tools and Information

Human Rights Data Management

• Benetech(link is external) Technology consultants and developers, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring the immense power of technology to bear on social problems such as human rights, literacy, education and disability access. Benetch has several ongoing projects:
  • Analyzer(link is external) Free open source database used to collect, maintain and analyze information about large-scale human rights violations for statistical purposes. Based on the Who Did What to Whom data model, Analyzer facilitates managing the challenges involved in structuring and quantifying human rights data.
  • Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG)(link is external) Designs and builds information management solutions and conducts statistical analysis on behalf of human rights projects. With their partners, they make scientifically-defensible arguments based in rigorous evidence.
  • Martus(link is external) Martus is a secure information management tool that allows you to create a searchable and encrypted database and back this data up remotely to your choice of publicly available servers. The Martus software is used by organizations around the world to protect sensitive information and shield the identity of victims or witnesses who provide testimony on human rights abuses. Martus is the Greek word for witness.
• Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems, International (HURIDOCS)(link is external) A global capacity-building network of organisations that use documentation techniques, monitoring methods, information management systems and technologies in the defence of human rights and the prevention of abuses.
• Human Services Information Technology Applications (HUSITA)(link is external)  – A virtual association of human service professionals interested in promoting the ethical and effective use of IT to better serve humanity.
• Tactical Technology Collective(link is external) International NGO helping human rights advocates use information, communications and digital technologies to maximise the impact of their advocacy work. Provides advocates with guides, tools, training and consultancy to help them develop the skills and tactics they need to increase the impact of their campaigning. Based in Bangalore, India.

Healthcare

• American Health Information Management Association(link is external)
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society(link is external) (HIMSS) – Paid membership organization exclusively focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.
• HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association(link is external) (EHRA) – Trade association of EHR companies, addressing national efforts to create interoperable EHRs in hospital and ambulatory care settings. The EHR Association operates on the premise that the rapid, widespread adoption of EHRs will help improve the quality of patient care as well as the productivity and sustainability of the healthcare system.
• Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology(link is external) (ONC) –  The principal U.S. Federal entity charged with coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information.
• Software and Technology Vendors’ Association (SATVA) Trade organization for vendors of behavioral health and human services software and information technology.

Standards and Best Practices

Health Care

• eHealth Standardization Coordination Group(link is external) – World Health Organization. The eHSCG is a platform to promote stronger coordination amongst the key players in all technical areas of e-health standardization. The group is a place for exchange of information and will work towards the creation of cooperation mechanisms to:
  • Identify areas where further standardization is required and try to identify responsibilities for such activities;
  • Provide guidance for implementations and case studies;
  • Consider the requirements for appropriate development paths for health profiles of existing standards from different sources in order to provide functional sets for key health applications;
  • Support activities to increase user awareness of the existing standards, and case studies.
• CCHIT(link is external) – Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology
• AHRQ(link is external) – Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. US Dept. of Health and Human Services – EMR Best Practices
• Routine Health Information Network(link is external) (RHINO) – Strengthens the role of evidence-based decision-making by engaging organizations and professionals in promotion of effective collection and use of routine health information in developing countries.
• National Quality Forum – Health Information Technology Expert Panel(link is external) – This NQF project is has convened an expert panel to develop a set of common data elements and healthcare workflow changes to enable automation of performance measures through electronic health records (EHRs) and health information exchange.

Human Rights

• HURIDOCS Micro-Thesauri(link is external) – PDF file of the international codes used for standardizing data entry. These codes are used by the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs (NCTTP) Aggregate Data Project.
• Making the Case: Investigating Large Scale Human Rights Violations Using Information Systems and Data Analysis(link is external) – Online book. Provides a series of case studies on how information systems can be used do investigate large-scale human rights violations: Salvador, Haiti, Guatemala, South Africa. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2000.
• OpenEvSys(link is external) – The OpenEvSys project provides human rights NGOs with a database tool for recording and managing information on human rights violations, producing analysis of patterns and trends, and tracking the interventions made by NGOs. It is based on the Events methodology for recording violations: an event is a story containing information on acts, victims, perpetrators, sources and intervening parties. OpenEvsys comes with over 200 fields and 48 controlled vocabularies that can be used to store information about an event, its acts, the victim of each act, the perpetrators of each act, the sources and the interventions made for a victim or about the event. From the folks at HURIDOCS(link is external). 
• Who did What to Whom: Planning and Implementing a Large Scale Human Rights Data Project:(link is external) – Online book by Patrick Ball. An overview of methods and problems involved in designing and implementing an information management system for a large scale human rights data project. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1996.

Information and Rerral

• Bibliography of Software for Information and Referral Programs(link is external) [pdf] September 2000.

Technology Resources

• Aspirations(link is external) – Connects non-profit organizations with technology solutions that help them better carry out their mission. Aspiration identifys software solutions and fosters relationships, delivery systems, and promotional and sustainability strategies among tool-makers, non-profit funders, and organizations in the social sector. A nonprofit organization itself, Aspiration focuses on mission-critical tools holistically to match software development with implementation and support.
• Capaciteria(link is external) – Free service designed to help nonprofits find the best resources to build their institutional capacity.   
• Idealware(link is external) – Provides candid Consumer-Reports-style reviews and articles about software of interest to nonprofits. Through product comparisons, recommendations, case studies, and software news, Idealware allows nonprofits to make the software decisions that will help them be more effective.
• Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN)(link is external) – Membership organization of nonprofit professionals who put technology to use for their causes. NTEN is a community of peers who share technology solutions across the sector and support each other’s work.
• NPower(link is external) – Provides comprehensive, high-quality & affordable technology assistance to nonprofits.
• Techbridge(link is external) – Nonprofit with a mission is to help other nonprofits leverage technology to better serve the community. Techbridge is an affiliate the NPower Network.
• TechSoup(link is external) – TechSoup is a trusted technology resource that offers a variety of information and services for the benefit of the nonprofit sector. TechSoup provides instructional articles and worksheets for nonprofit staff members who utilize information technologies, as well as technology planning information for executives and other decision makers. Their introductory articles and message board support are aimed at those who do not have much experience using technology, but they also provide more advanced information. TechSoup Stock is the technology product philanthropy service just for nonprofits and distributes multiple product philanthropy programs in a centralized, Web-based platform, including software from Adobe and Microsoft. The TechSoup Stock program has served more than 83,000 organizations and distributed over 4 million products as of June 2008.