Delivering high-quality care to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) has always required intention, compassion, and coordination. But today, expectations around documentation, compliance, and outcomes are rising, and agencies are being asked to do more— often with fewer resources and tighter timelines.
Many teams are meeting those demands as best as they can with paper notes, spreadsheets, emails, and a patchwork of systems that aren’t integrated and can’t share information. And while these methods may have worked in the past, they’re starting to break under the weight of today’s responsibilities. The truth is, even the most dedicated providers can’t deliver person-centered care if they’re stuck navigating fragmented workflows.
That’s why integration is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity.
For I/DD agencies, person-centered planning is more than a regulatory requirement. It’s a commitment to helping each individual pursue goals that are meaningful to them. That might mean building relationships, gaining new skills, or participating in their community. But when a person’s progress is being tracked across multiple systems, or not tracked at all, teams can lose visibility into whether that support is making a difference.
It’s not uncommon for a direct support professional (DSP) to complete their visit notes on paper, hand them in at the end of the week, and hope they make their way into the right file or platform. A supervisor might have to dig through folders or manually enter those notes into a compliance system. Meanwhile, a coordinator looking to check on someone’s progress may be stuck piecing together information from various sources, none of which offer a clear view of where things stand.
This kind of fragmentation is time-consuming, but worse yet it’s risky. When documentation is delayed or incomplete, agencies face compliance gaps. When care teams don’t have access to up-to-date information, individuals may miss out on timely interventions or services. And when staff spend more time tracking down notes than supporting people, burnout becomes a very real threat.
Consider Marcus, a 28-year-old with I/DD who lives in supportive housing and receives daily visits from his DSP, Jasmine. One of Marcus’s personal goals is to improve his independence in preparing meals. He and Jasmine have been working on this for months—planning simple recipes, making shopping lists, and learning how to use the stove safely.
But here’s the problem: Jasmine’s documentation is done on paper at the end of each shift. Her notes are collected weekly by her supervisor, who then scans and uploads them into a shared drive. Marcus’s support coordinator doesn’t have access to that drive and has to email the supervisor whenever she needs an update. When an audit rolls around, it takes days to compile a full picture of Marcus’s progress.
Now imagine if those visit notes were entered in real time—through Jasmine’s mobile app— and tied directly to Marcus’s personal goals. The supervisor could approve them the same day. The coordinator could pull up a dashboard to view Marcus’s progress. Everyone would be working from the same source of truth.
That’s the power of coordination. It removes the friction so that the focus stays where it belongs: on Marcus, and on helping him grow.
Coordinated care isn’t about checking more boxes; it’s about giving everyone involved in a person’s care the tools they need to be effective, informed, and aligned. It means DSPs can document progress easily and in real time. Supervisors can monitor trends and offer feedback without chasing paperwork. Families can feel confident that their loved ones’ goals are being tracked and advanced. And agencies can respond to audits and oversight with clarity instead of scrambling.
That kind of coordination builds trust. It strengthens relationships between team members, between providers and families, and between agencies and their payers. Most importantly, it creates space for meaningful and consistent person-centered care.
Getting there doesn’t require overhauling everything at once. Agencies can begin by evaluating where fragmentation is slowing them down. Agencies may want to consider the following:
From there, it’s about choosing tools that embed into workflows. Technology should support the work, not add complexity. For example, if a caregiver can document goal-related activities through the same app they already use for visit verification, they’re more likely to stay consistent—and supervisors can get visibility without adding to their workload.
As expectations for I/DD agencies evolve and the need for personalized, data-informed care grows, the systems supporting those providers need to evolve, too.
The future of person-centered care isn’t about more data or better reporting—it’s about connection. Between staff. Between systems. And most importantly, between the services offered and the lives they’re meant to enhance.
When those connections are in place, agencies can stop juggling and start focusing. And individuals like Marcus can get the consistent, empowering care they deserve.
If you want to learn more about how our solutions can support I/DD agencies, including our new Goal Tracking Module which has built-in mobile documentation, visit documentation, and progress visualization all in one place, request a demo today.
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