Access Idaho 4th Quarter GM Newsletter

October 27, 2021

BOISE, Idaho

Newborn Screening Kits

A Success Story

In 2020 Access Idaho (AI) helped The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (H&W) update the Newborn Screening Kit order process from a time-consuming manual process that involved the staff faxing order forms to an online order plus payment system. In the spring of 2021, AI worked with a new lab in Washington to transmit the orders using an API service that posts orders directly to the lab for fulfillment. AI has further improved the form validation through an API call with the lab to validate the account number prior to payment collection.

AI is proud to play a part in protecting the health of Idaho’s next generation. The process improvements AI initiated for the Newborn Screening operations is a good representation of the continuing value we provide the citizens of Idaho.

“Working with Access Idaho has been an absolute pleasure. They helped develop an online ordering portal to collect fees for dried blood spot collection kits for the Idaho Newborn Screening Program. Prior to this development, our program would process orders through faxed order forms and mailed paper checks. Now, the process has been streamlined and reduced administrative hours. The Access Idaho staff has been incredibly accommodating and responsive, including connecting with external partners to interface order systems.”
Sarah C. Lopez
Newborn Screening and Children’s Special Health Program Manager
Division of Public Health
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare

Redesigned Websites for DOI & IDWR

AI began working with the Department of Water Resources (IDWR) and the Department of Insurance (DOI) beginning in 2020, to migrate their respective websites to the approved State WordPress templates. Staff members from both agencies assisted in the migration process with training and direction from AI and ITS. Both websites were high priorities to migrate to WordPress because their previous websites were not in a content management system and could not be easily maintained by staff without ITS assistance.

IDWR website on a laptop
DOI website on laptop

AI spent a total of 795.7 hours on DOI & IDWR website projects.  If built under a time and materials agreement in the open marketplace, the cost to these agencies would have been a minimum of $55,699.  However, under the AI enterprise contract, the agencies received no bill for the work due to the unique free-services benefits in the portal contract.

"Access Idaho was wonderful to work with. They took the time to understand our site and business and worked creatively to design a new online presence that meets the Department’s needs. IDWR is very pleased with the results of both the logo and the website. We appreciate the time that Ashly and her team took to train us and work through all the questions we have so that we can become competent content managers moving forward."
Caitlin McCoy
Idaho Department of Water Resources

New Custom Application Spotlight

New this fall, citizens can check to see if the text they want on their license plate is available before ordering. Citizens can visit ITD’s Driver Portal, choose a plate type and verify their desired text is available. If the vehicle has a current title plus registration in good standing, the citizen can purchase their new custom vanity plate. Now, not all special plates are available for the picking. Some may have additional requirements for purchase eligibility.

Feel free to search and explore all the plate types you can personalize by visiting https://www.accessidaho.org/itd/driver/plates/select.

ITD select license plate on cell phone

Cyber Security Awareness

The month of October is cyber security awareness month. As you know, AI has taken the lead in Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance for agencies. If this information is all new to you, here is a quick explanation to get you up to speed.

PCI compliance pertains to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) –a set of requirements intended to ensure all companies (like Access Idaho) who process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. The good news is we are the responsible party for the security and technical burdens of PCI for most state agencies, simplifying your regulatory burdens.

Feel free to send our our 3-minute PCI compliance video to your financial team to bring them up to speed on keeping citizen payment information secure.

Recent Recognition & Awards

Prompt Pay Receives Idaho Innovation Recognition

In October 2021, Stoel Rives LLP announced the finalists in the 2021 Idaho Innovation Awards. Access Idaho’s Prompt Pay was a finalist for the ‘Commercialized Innovation of the Year’ category!

The award is presented by Stoel Rives LLP, Trailhead, and the Idaho Technology Council (ITC), with support from Deloitte. The Innovation Awards program recognizes the State’s vibrant innovation community — from emerging to established companies — and its breakthrough creations. The Idaho Innovation Awards recognize groundbreaking accomplishments and it’s exciting to see Citizen to Government services like the State’s Prompt Pay leading innovation.

ITD’s Driver Portal Receives AAMVA Customer Convenience Award

ITD’s driver portal, built and operated by AI, won the AMMVA Regional and International Customer Convenience Award. AI, in partnership with ITD, was honored to bring this this project forward for the citizens of Idaho.

AMMVA recognizes jurisdictions for making life easier for customers, through offering or enhancing things such as online transactions, mobile units, access to vital records, improved payment options, greeter/triage stations, the ability to speed up service if the wait time is long, or other conveniences.


We Create Solutions

All services listed above are provided at no cost to you under the Access Idaho contract, the administrator of Idaho's official Web portal (Idaho.gov) and provider of electronic government solutions for the state. The manager for the portal is NIC Idaho, a division of Tyler Technologies Inc.
Jeff Walker,
General Manager
208-332-0102
jeff@accessidaho.org

We Create Solutions

Questions about any of the solutions we listed above or want to start working with us? Please contact us.