The volume of progress notes is another indicator we used to detect possible work flow effects. Overall, the number of progress notes entered decreased for both field offices during the pilot test period.

Graph 10 - Volume of Notes Entered

There is a decrease in the notes entered per month during the pilot test periods for each field office. Both districts decline in July and went up in August when the laptops were introduced, then declined again in September and October. This is interesting considering the total number of cases increased for Manhattan by 32 %. This demonstrates that the number of progress notes per case varies considerably, presumably by individual working style or other factors.

The changes in work practice were examined in terms of possible variaion in the types of notes entered. The introduction of new technologies could result in changes in the kinds of work done, as well as the speed and quality. For this test, however, it appears that there were no discernable changes in the types of notes entered during the pilot period. The descriptions of the work impacts are discussed throughout this report, but we used the data from CONNECTIONS to show the proportion of four kinds of notes: (1) attempted contacts, (2) contacts, (3) collateral contacts, and (4) summary notes both prior to and during the pilot test periods. These are only a few of the many types of notes, but the numbers of other note types were too small for any meaningful comparisons.

Graph 11 - Percent of Notes Entered by Type and Field Office