1.1 Purpose of the Cornerstone System
The Cornerstone system represents a new foundation for the delivery and management of community health services in Illinois. The Cornerstone system provides a single point of entry, with a common enrollment for all Maternal Child Health (MCH) programs. It promises to increase the continuity of care, strengthen case management, improve program management and consolidate program reporting requirements.
The Cornerstone system is a PC-based participant management and tracking system that builds upon the technology and design considerations of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) management information system and the conceptual basis of the MCH Case Management Information System (CMIS).
Demographic and eligibility information specific to a participant is captured once and shared with all other service providers who are participating in the Cornerstone system and are caring for that participant. The Cornerstone system captures information specific to the following programs:
- Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Reporting System with Infant Discharge Record (APORS with IDR)
- Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP)
- Closing the Gap (CTG)
- Early Intervention (EI)
- Family Case Management (CM) - Includes HealthWorks of Illinois and Title 20 participants
- Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR)
- Genetics (GEN)
- Healthy Families Illinois (HFI)
- Healthy Start Case Management (HSCM)
- High Risk Infant Follow-Up (HRIF)
- Immunization Program (IMM)
- Pediatric Primary Care (PPC)
- Prenatal Care (PREN)
- Referral To Treatment Act (RTTA)
- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
- Target Intensive Prenatal Case Management (TIP)
- Teen Parent Services (TPS)
- WISEWOMAN Program (WW)
The Cornerstone system offers a variety of functions designed to eliminate duplication of service delivery and information gathering, while maintaining information necessary for the efficient delivery of services. The Cornerstone system provides a unique participant identification number. This number is automatically assigned by Cornerstone upon registration and is used throughout the Cornerstone system to track participation in various programs. Outcome and risk assessment information are available through the Cornerstone system to local service providers for all program participants.
participant-specific information is captured and consolidated at the local level, then transmitted to the Central Office on a nightly basis for program administration and evaluation. Summary data necessary for program administration and evaluation can be extracted from the central database as needed.
1.2 New Concepts and Terminology
The development of the Cornerstone system has required the integration of separate data systems and multiple data requirements. Cornerstone is based upon some concepts that may not be familiar to the reader. These concepts are presented here to promote both a working knowledge and a conceptual framework for understanding the Cornerstone system.
Event Tracking
Event tracking is something that is typically done through written notations in case folders. The Cornerstone system provides a chronology of events associated with the participant. For each participant, the Cornerstone system tracks the progress of services and activities associated with the participant. As an example, the first event might be a needs assessment. The next event might be a referral that was made by the agency for the participant to receive services from a selected provider.
Table Driven
The structure of the Cornerstone system enables the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to make changes in codes centrally as new programs are added or changed. No programming changes are necessary. Once a change has been introduced from the Central Office, users have new codes or values in their local system the next working day. The table driven feature also promotes consistency and comparability across clinics and programs.
Integrated Database
IDHS has responsibility for monitoring all of the programs included in the Cornerstone system. This responsibility includes such diverse things as participant demographic information, services and activities related to the participant, and clinic staff information and activity tracking. In order to reduce data redundancy, the Cornerstone system integrates the participant data under a single system umbrella or integrated database. One example of how beneficial this is can be seen in the case of a single shared schedule across programs, rather than separate schedules, causing conflict for the participants and staff.
1.3 How to Use this Manual
The Cornerstone Reference Manual is intended to serve as a guide for individuals who are using the Cornerstone system. The Reference Manual is intended to provide the user with a detailed description of the Cornerstone system, its features and functionality, and a description of steps for using Cornerstone to document the services provided to a participant. By following the correct procedures documented in this manual, the user will avoid major problems when using the Cornerstone system.
NOTE: The Cornerstone Reference Manual is meant to function as a companion to existing program policy manuals, not to replace them. Points of program policy are included in this manual only where such information is needed to properly utilize the Cornerstone system.
Examples of basic program policy questions that are answered along with the Cornerstone system information included in this manual are:
- Is the fetus counted in the household size?
- What assessments does the WIC program require?
- What information should be entered into the Cornerstone system for foster parents of DCFS wards?
1.4 Structure of this Manual
The Cornerstone Reference Manual is structured, as follows:
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - System Environment
Chapter 3 - Participant Screens
Chapter 4 - Service/Activity Screens
Chapter 5 - Scheduling and Referral Screens
Chapter 6 - Case Management Screens
Chapter 7 - Assessment Screens
Chapter 8 - WIC Food Instruments Screens
Chapter 9 - Administrative Screens
Chapter 10 - Report Screens
Chapter 11 - Reports
Chapter 12 - Program Information Screen (PA15) for All Programs
Chapter 13 - Case Management in Cornerstone
Chapter 14 - WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) Process in Cornerstone
Chapter 15 - Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP)
Chapter 16 - Healthy Families Illinois (HFI)
Chapter 17 - Early Intervention (EI)
Chapter 18 - Teen Parent Services (TPS)
Chapter 19 - WISEWOMAN Program (WW)
Chapter 20 - Genetics Program (GEN)
Appendix A - Cornerstone Screen Flow Diagrams
Appendix B - Code Listings
Appendix C - System Code Table
Appendix D - Cornerstone Data Import Function
Appendix E - Food Instrument Problem Guide
Appendix F - All Kids (Formerly Medicaid) Import Process
Appendix G - User Procedures for Standard Reports Using FoxFire
Appendix H - Cornerstone Data and Index Dictionary
Appendix I - Duplicate Resolution Procedures
Appendix J - Ad Hoc FoxFire Reporting Using the Cornerstone Database
Appendix K - Racial/Ethnic Data Collection
Appendix L - WIC Clinic - Change of Status Form
Chapter 2, "System Environment," focuses on those aspects of the Cornerstone system that relate to the physical characteristics or the technical platform of the Cornerstone system. This chapter explains what equipment is necessary to operate the Cornerstone software and how to access the Cornerstone application. Special instructions are provided about Cornerstone in the Windows environment. Specific instructions are provided for Cornerstone Administration and the electronic User Manual. The chapter also describes how the networks are organized to allow data to be shared within an individual provider's site, among other provider sites, and with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS). Additionally, there is information in Chapter 2 about how to move around in Cornerstone and the standard system procedures of the Cornerstone system.
Chapters 3 through 10 are organized in a manner that clusters each of the major processes within the Cornerstone system into sections. The sections are presented to the reader in the same order in which they are presented to the user on the Cornerstone menu bar, as follows:
- Participant
- Service/Activity
- Scheduling and Referral
- Case Management
- Assessment
- WIC Food Instruments
- Administrative
- Reports
Chapters 3 through 10 contain system information on every screen in the Cornerstone system. For each screen, the following information is presented:
- Overview - A brief description of the screen, including its intended purpose;
- Details - More details on a particular screen, when necessary;
- Step by Step Instructions - A series of steps and keystrokes for how to complete the screen;
- Screen Layout - A picture of the screen.
- Field Definitions - A table that contains the following information with regard to each field on the screen:
- Field Name
- Length - The number of characters in the field
- Field Type - An indication of the required format for data in the field. The possibilities for Field Types are:
- Alpha
- Numeric
- Alpha/Numeric
- Date
- Choice
- Code
- Assigned (computer-generated)
- Definition
Chapter 11, "Reports," presents information about the reports available at the clinic level. For each report, the following information is given:
Brief Description - A brief description of the report, including its intended purpose.
Enterable Fields - A table that gives the names of fields that must be completed on the report screens in order to generate the report. Also given is information about the format of the field, its type, and whether the field is mandatory or optional.
Frequency - The frequency with which this report should be generated.
Chapter 12, "Program Information Screen (PA15) for All Programs," presents detailed information on the completion of Program Information (PA15) screen for all the Cornerstone programs, including information on transfers, eligibility, and terminations.
Chapter 13, "Case Management in Cornerstone," presents the programmatic screen flow for the case management programs listed below:
- Family Case Management (FCM) - Includes HealthWorks of Illinois and Title 20 participants
- Healthy Start (HSCM)
- Pediatric Primary Care (PPC)
- Prenatal Care (PREN)
- Immunization Program (IMM)
- Closing The Gap (CTG)
- Target Intensive Prenatal Case Management (TIP)
Chapter 14, "WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) Process in Cornerstone," presents the programmatic screen flow for WIC.
Chapter 15, "Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP)," presents the programmatic screen flow for BCCP.
Chapter 16, "Healthy Families Illinois (HFI)," presents the programmatic screen flow for HFI.
Chapter 17, "Early Intervention (EI)," presents the programmatic screen flow for Early Intervention.
Chapter 18, "Teen Parent Services (TPS)," presents the programmatic screen flow for Teen Parent Services.
Chapter 19, "WISEWOMAN Program (WW)," presents the programmatic screen flow for WISEWOMAN.
Chapter 20, "Genetics Program (GEN)" presents the programmatic screen flow for Genetics.
The Appendices provide additional documentation useful to Cornerstone users.
Chapter 1
