With social distancing measures, we understand that many of the operations of agencies are limiting physical interactions with clients. Many agencies have us asked us what is a way to capture client's releases of information digitally. We've compiled a few options below that could be helpful in your workflow with clients.
DocuSign (preferred method and can be used even after social distancing, if desired)
With DocuSign, you can upload the release of information, sign it, then send it over to your client via email so that they can fill out the form on their desktop, laptop, or mobile phone. Upon completion of the document, DocuSign will notify both you (the agency) and the client that the document has been signed and provide you with a way to download the PDF of the completed document.
You can then upload this completed PDF in CharityTracker or Oasis Insight using the upload functionality of the Release of Information, satisfying the ROI for the client.
Follow the steps below of the E-Mail workflow, up to the point where you get the PDF, then you would upload that PDF to DocuSign rather than directly emailing it to the client. With DocuSign, the client will be able to sign the document digitally, which is the preferred method.
DocuSign is currently offering 30% of their regular pricing for Non-Profits, you can learn more here -> https://go.docusign.com/cobranded/4/impact/
E-Mail (temporary workflow)
We consulted our legal team to understand a workflow that could be used for allowing a client to simply reply "I agree" (followed by the client name) for rapidly agreeing to the Release of Information. The workflow steps are:
Add the new case to CharityTracker or Oasis Insight
In the orange ROI banner, you see after adding the case, click the [Create New ROI] button
Check the boxes for each of the household members that will be covered by the Release of Information, and click the [Next] button
You will now see the ROI with all of the client's information populated. Normally, this is where you would capture a digital signature or print the ROI for signatures. We want to click the [Print ROI] button.
From the Print dialog, we want to create a PDF of the ROI. In Chrome, choose "Save as PDF" from the Destination dropdown.
Once you have the PDF, you can send this to the client using the following language:
Dear [Client],
Please read the terms of the attached Release of Information. If you agree with these terms please respond to this email with the words “I agree” followed by your name.
Thank You,
Agency Name
Agency Representative Name
[attach the PDF]
Upon the client's reply to the email, create a PDF of the email, then in the ROI section for the client, upload that PDF via the [Upload Signed ROI] button
You're done. Please note that while this is an acceptable way to verify the ROI for your clients, our legal team has instructed us to make it clear that this is a temporary workflow that should not be used once social distancing has come to an end.
What about getting permission over the phone?
At this time, we do not recommend receiving consent for the ROI via a phone call. This simply doesn't produce enough verifiable documentation that the client gave permission.