Once the medical cost information is entered on OPUS, Health Services can easily monitor the inmates' cost on a case by case basis. Foothills Correctional Institution, a close custody youth facility, with a 96 bed Residential Mental Health Unit, houses up to 712 inmates. With this size facility, access to inmate records and information was not always convenient nor feasible. However, with the implementation of OPUS, all staff with the proper security clearance and a terminal can view the inmate's records and pertinent information about the inmate. Information on inmates housed at other facilities waiting for transfer can be viewed prior to receiving the inmate.
Approvals are now on-line, therefore seeing quicker results on actions.
Paperwork, which could be delayed or lost in the mail is now handled on-line, which also speeds up the approval process. Staff who are away from the units can continue to monitor their workloads and handle emergency approvals, etc. The use of OPUS has proved beneficial to Marion Correctional Institution's operations by allowing management staff to review the duty requirements of some staff and freeing up of staff time to complete other duties. For instance, we had a file clerk who spent her time filing paperwork in inmate jackets. When this person accepted a promotion we were able to reassign her remaining duties to other clerks and converted that position to a much needed training position.