Case Study: San Joaquin County Human Services Agency eliminates lobby wait time with Northwoods Compass Appointments

San Joaquin County Uses Appointment Management for Caseworkers to Eliminate Lobby Wait Time

San Joaquin County Human Services Agency, a busy county agency serving up to 2,000 clients a day, was struggling with a manual lobby and appointment process that left people waiting up to four hours, frustrated clients and caseworkers, and created risk around meeting emergency benefit timeframes. The agency turned to Northwoods and its Compass Appointments and Compass Appointments Kiosk solution to improve how clients checked in and were routed to caseworkers.

With Northwoods’ appointment management and kiosk tools, the agency eliminated lobby wait times, added self-service check-in and document drop-off, and enabled automated notifications and escalations to caseworkers. Northwoods also helped the agency improve scheduling, support same-day interviews for new applicants, manage ACA-related growth, and gain better reporting and staffing insight; as a result, San Joaquin County HSA reduced frustration, improved compliance, and was able to process cases more efficiently within required timeframes.

San Joaquin County Human Services Agency

David Heldt

Information Systems Manager