FAQs

Our objective is to facilitate improving case management services and the development of case management information systems (CMISes) in selected countries, and promote their use for social protection interventions globally.

You can contact us via our contact page.

The Case Compass Toolkit services and products are not for commercial purposes and are available to interested countries as part of existing or new World Bank support.If you are not sure whether we can help you just reach out to us via casecompass@worldbank.org.

Soon! We are currently working on Case Compass Learn where you can find all the learning materials to make the most of the Case Compass Toolkit and improve case management.

Yes, we are here to help! If you need support please contact us via our contact page.

The Toolkit makes available three primary resources - the Guide, the Prototype, and Learn. The Guide is a digital introduction to the fundamentals of case management information systems (CMISes) and case management.The Prototype is a fully functioning CMIS prototype to showcase different modules and functionalities of case management information systems​.Learn offers tailored advice and clinics from the Case Compass team on setting up and running a CMIS project​.

Learn more here

Yes. Interoperability – where the CMIS can communicate with other software programs like the social registry or a social services catalog – is essential. The Case Compass team has seen the benefit of making a CMIS work with national or local administrative databases, or databases from service providers.

This isn’t generally necessary, and it may have drawbacks. A CMIS can be interoperable with other databases without being integrated with them. For instance, a CMIS can interoperate with a social registry without being a part of the same software program. In this case, the systems can communicate, but they remain separate (like how a Mac and a PC can email each other). If the two systems were integrated, any change in the social registry (an address update, a change in employment status, etc.) would have to appear in the CMIS, and any change in the CMIS would have to appear in the social registry. This could cause problems, since some data might be useful in one system, but not the other. Interoperability ensures that the systems can communicate without having to share the exact same data structure.

No. A CMIS manages cases, not beneficiaries. A beneficiary can therefore belong to several cases, and their data can be different for each case. This contrasts with a social registry, which manages registered households (in other words, potential beneficiaries) and keeps that information up to date. In contrast, a CMIS can create a case that involves multiple beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are therefore linked indirectly, by a case. So, for instance, if an older person lives independently, but has a regular caregiver, that relationship can be defined in the case, whether or not a further relationship (such as a family tie or shared address) links the two people.

Social registries are “information systems that support the processes of outreach, intake and registration, and assessment of needs and conditions to determine potential eligibility for social programs.”3 They keep a record of all registered households, whether or not those households are eligible for social programs. A CMIS, however, supports intake, registration, and assessment of beneficiaries for specific programs with case management components. It also facilitates additional parts of the case management process – monitoring, referral, and evaluation. It’s designed to match social workers’ workflow as they meet repeatedly with clients or beneficiaries of specific programs. Unlike a social registry, it isn’t just a repository of information, and it’s not designed for general use, but for specific social services and their ongoing workflows. A social registry functions like customer relationship management software (CRM) often used in the private sector. CRMs help businesses keep and record customer information like goals, needs, and any interactions with the company. Knowledge about the customer is always collected, saved, and updated in the CRM, so that the customer’s information is current. A social registry has similar goals as a CRM. It stores up-to-date information on registered households and facilitates communication with beneficiaries, but does not manage service provision or follow a beneficiary through an entire case.