Louisiana's Plan to Connect WIC Users Across the State

CIBER, Inc. recently announced it has completed requirements and detailed design documents for Louisiana's Web-based Public Health Automated Management Enabler (PHAME) application and will begin the construction phase this month. CIBER was selected by the Louisiana Office of Public Health (OPH) in mid-2003 to implement the Web-based application for administering the state's Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which provides supplemental food, nutritional information, counseling and referrals to other health, welfare and social services.

In 2002, Pennsylvania's Department of Health and CIBER jointly implemented the first integrated Web-based WIC management system. The system, called QuickWIC, enabled users to perform certification and enrollment, clinic scheduling, vendor management, security administration, food prescription, and a host of other actions necessary to an efficient WIC program.

Rather than create a new system, the Louisiana PHAME project will utilize the framework of Pennsylvania's QuickWIC system and CIBER will modify the system to meet the specific needs of the Louisiana OPH, including the building of new functionality.

"We anticipate the new system will save staff time and effort and ensure complete reports, which should enable our team to do their jobs faster and more efficiently," said Debbie Luthy, Louisiana State WIC director.

"By reusing the framework, the state of Louisiana can be up and running in a shorter time frame and for significantly less cost," said Ed Burns, president of CIBER State Government Solutions.