Liaison Assumes the
Management of CASPA and Provides Service Enhancements

Justine Strand, M.P.H., PA-C
APAP Director at Large
Board Liaison to CASPA Advisory Committee

There are exciting developments on the horizon for APAP’s Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). The board of directors has contracted with Liaison International, an information technology (IT) company that specializes in serving educational associations within the health professions, to provide the CASPA platform and customer support. Members of the CASPA Advisory Committee and the board are looking forward to the service enhancements that Liaison will provide in the area of admissions, as well as other Association services they anticipate will benefit member programs, beginning with the 2006 admissions cycle.

George Haddad, president and CEO of Liaison, presented a comprehensive and integrated plan for data collection to the APAP Board of Directors at its February retreat and to the CASPA Advisory Committee in Alexandria in March. Haddad described several technology tools that would support APAP in its future data collection activities on an organizational level, as well as the local data collection efforts of individual programs. He presented expanded technological capabilities and customer service plans that will be incorporated into the application service in the upcoming cycle.

In outlining new applications for CASPA data and their value to data collection efforts, Haddad drew on his extensive experience with other health and education associations, including the American Association of Schools of Pharmacy, the American Dental Education Association, the American League of Nursing, and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Haddad described Liaison staff as “a diversified team of experienced professional consultants and engineers with the knowledge and skills that would provide their clients with state of the art solutions throughout all phases of IT projects.” Liaison’s staff, Haddad said, is “customer focused and sensitive to clients’ confidential information, ways of doing business, and internal culture.” Haddad holds an MBA, as well as a master’s in computer science, from Boston University.

The new CASPA platform will go live in early May, as a Web-based application service with dedicated portals for each participating program and applicant. Through these portals, applicants will be able to access all functions available on the CASPA site, as well as their application materials. They will also be able to update contact information and program designations. The portals will also significantly improve communication throughout the application process for CASPA applicants and program staff as they obtain equal, real-time access to the information collected and analyzed by CASPA, as part of its service. Programs will benefit from having immediate access, through the portals, to the status of each applicant’s application, including the delivery status of transcripts and references. Similarly, access to information reported by means of program portals for programs’ staff and admissions committees will enhance the programs’ application review processes. Programs will be able to manage their applicant pool through the Web, thereby expanding their local management capabilities.

During April, the CASPA Advisory Committee will conduct a series of Web-casts that will walk CASPA participating programs through the new platform and its features and benefits for coming application cycle. Program personnel will also have an opportunity for discussion and will receive answers to their questions. Members of the board and the CASPA Advisory Committee hope that APAP members will be as impressed as we are to see such significant enhancements being incorporated into the CASPA service.

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