Nova Scotia College of Social Workers

Results of implementing Thentia Cloud

Reduced costs and increased resources available for higher level regulatory work  

Stratford reports enormous savings due to the automation of much of the licensing process and digitized CMP. “If we didn’t have Thentia Cloud, I would probably need two full-time staff members to replace what it does,” he explains. Additionally, he acknowledges that the College has experienced further efficiencies by reducing the money spent on paper and mail.

60% reduction in paper handling

“What we were able to do when Thentia came online – particularly with the candidacy program – was transition completely away from paper and move everything into the portal, including the creation of learning agreements,” Stratford explains. “We now had the ability to approve those learning agreements and the ability to track candidacy progress and to provide evaluations, as well as easy access to be able to pull that data together in an easy form for final evaluation and approval. This was a big game changer for us.” Now the College only require paper documents for transcripts, criminal record checks and child abuse registry checks, their paper handling has reduced by approximately 60% overall.

24x faster CMP turnaround times

After implementing Thentia Cloud, NSCSW’s turnaround times for candidacy reporting dropped considerably as members were seamlessly able to upload, exchange, and manage all required documentation within the online portal.

“Before Thentia, candidacy reporting could be up to six months, which was ridiculous in terms of a turnaround time,” Stratford explains. “Now we have it set in policy that turnaround time is two weeks. But generally, it’s done within a week. Our administration of the candidacy program has been radically changed by what Thentia has been able to build for us.”

Streamlined renewal process

The renewal period can be a tense time for staff, particularly when they were reliant upon an older database system that was rather clunky. Thentia Cloud’s ability to save in-progress applications makes renewal applications considerably easier for administrative staff. “Before, if you didn’t complete the renewal, it wouldn’t save it for you and you had to restart, which was frustrating for many,” Stratford explains. “Not surprisingly, since implementing Thentia Cloud, many folks indicated the database as being a major improvement in their interaction with the college.”

Easy, fast workforce reporting

A recent expansion of workforce reporting requirements by the provincial government posed no challenge for NSCSW, since the new requirements occurred after the implementation of Thentia Cloud. “Very quickly, we were able to pull a report that the government was asking for from Thentia Cloud,” Stratford notes.

Pandemic resilience

Critically, adopting Thentia Cloud prepared NSCSW for the seismic changes of 2020’s global COVID-19 pandemic. Since most of its processes had already been digitized, COVID-19 barely had an impact on the college’s operations.

“When the pandemic hit, everyone picked up and went home,” Stratford says. “We had one person rotating into the office every couple of days to get the mail, but there was really no interruption in our services when the pandemic hit.”

Happier membership due to more polished front-end system

Though NSCSW staff have benefitted from Thentia Cloud, licensees are also enjoying the switch. “I would say most folks appreciated the more streamlined, intuitive, and more polished front end,” Stratford reports.

While users once lamented NSCSW’s previous database, a recent evaluation of the regulator’s strategic plan revealed 75% of its membership thought the college was “headed in the right direction” with its technology offering.

It’s a direction that enjoys Stratford’s full confidence as he struggles to imagine what licensing activities would look like without Thentia.

“In terms of an overall cost-benefit analysis, we wouldn’t be functioning effectively without Thentia at this very moment.”