Nonprofits on the cloud: Fast-tracking better care in Hong Kong

Chung is passionate about running. But that hasn’t always been the case. He used to be addicted to online gaming, developed antisocial behaviors and started dropping out of school. To get him back on the right track he was referred to RunOurCity, a local nonprofit that organizes running and fitness program for at risk youth, to rebuild self-esteem and confidence.

Iris is a widow, living alone in one of Kong Kong’s many suburban high-rises. For her daily medical care, she depends on the lifeline of Chong Chun. As field worker employed by Haven of Hope Christian Service, Chun regularly visits Iris to monitor her health.

Chung and Iris share one point in common: they are being served by two nonprofits that embraced cloud technology to future-proof growth, enhance beneficiary management and keep the their data secure to, ultimately, provide better care.

RunOurCity: Empowering youth by running data analytics 

Enhanced data security and records management are at the heart of RunOurCity’s decision to shift from offline spreadsheets to a customer relationship management system, using Microsoft Dynamics 365. As Andes Leung, CEO of RunOurCity puts it, “As a small and fast-growing nonprofit, we’re facing the challenge of increasing data volume and privacy. Continuing to use offline spreadsheets is no longer an option.”

With even basic online records of beneficiary age, gender, health profile, fitness, running time statistics, education, location and psychosocial background, RunOurCity can now show demographic patterns and trends to inform research and future programs. As Andes adds, “Now that we have a robust platform parsing 10,000 plus customer records, we can go the extra mile and run analytics. These kinds of actionable insights can also be shared with other partners and government agencies to inform public policies, for instance in healthcare and state-run fitness campaigns.”

Haven of Hope: Harnessing the power of the cloud for home-based healthcare 

To vastly improve upon their current manual data collection model and increase the efficiency of both field workers and case managers, Haven of Hope is harnessing mobile app technology linked to Microsoft SQL on Azure and Power BI. With these two solutions they created a vital signs early warning system that ensures case managers keep abreast of their patients in real time.

During her home visit, Chun directly inputs Iris’ vital signs data into a mobile app. This data is instantly sent over the cloud into SQL database; alerts appear on the case manager’s Power BI dashboard if Iris’s vital signs data is outside of normal parameters.

With the medically qualified case manager now able to review that data and take action in real time, field workers like Chun can deliver more care in a reduced time frame. Haven of Hope expects that each worker will be able to do 15 more home visits a week. As Chun explains, “Knowing that vital signs data is immediately being analyzed and safely acted upon with any necessary follow-up, means I can spend more time giving psychosocial and spiritual care and do more home visits in a day.”

With Chung improving his personal best times and a clear roadmap to fitness and self-esteem, and Iris confident that her health is monitored more accurately than before, both can rest assured that digital technology is on their side, keeping their lives on track.

Discover how nonprofits increase their impact with cloud solutions by visiting https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits

To read more about Microsoft Philanthropies’ work to build a future for everyone in Asia, click here.