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County QA staff say they will scale back automatic ER notifications after state clarifies serious-incident rules
Summary
Clackamas County quality assurance staff told the advisory council they have changed how they use PointClickCare notifications after Oregon Developmental Services (ODS) updated serious-incident definitions in January; staff said they will no longer follow up on every ER notification to reduce administrative burden.
Amy Butler, Clackamas County quality assurance supervisor for developmental disabilities programs, told the advisory council April 27 that the county has altered its use of the PointClickCare emergency-room notification feed.
"We have changed the way that we're using that system at this time," Butler said, explaining the county will no longer follow up on every single notification. She said ODS issued updated definitions of serious incidents in January, and capturing every ER visit previously created a large administrative burden that yielded limited useful data on the incidents the county needs to investigate.
Butler said the QA unit recently completed adult in‑home file reviews and is about halfway through adult residential reviews; the county’s QA unit is conducting internal audits similar to the state’s two‑year ODS audits. She described the change as intended to focus staff time on incidents that meet the updated serious-incident criteria and to improve the value of collected data.
Council members asked whether the county could use artificial intelligence or automation to improve data workflows. Butler responded that the county currently "doesn't have the protections in place" to put protected health information into AI systems and that AI may be useful for policy drafting but is not yet suitable for file reviews containing PHI.
Council members also discussed the county’s case-management system rollout, which staff said will be phased and could begin implementing intake and eligibility in a November–January window; fuller integrations with provider systems were discussed as a future possibility but with uncertain timing.
Butler cautioned that providers, families and individuals should not assume the county will automatically learn about every ER visit: "we may not know necessarily that you went to the ER unless you let your service coordinator know." Staff urged service coordinators and providers to keep communication channels open during the transition.
