Frequently Asked Questions
No Wrong Door is changing the paradigm for how we deliver long term services and supports, streamline access, and leverage technology to better serve Virginians. These frequently asked questions and their answers, may help to clarify No Wrong Door. If you still have questions, please contact a member of the No Wrong Door team directly.
No Wrong Door Overview
1. What does “No Wrong Door” mean?
The name of this initiative – No Wrong Door – reflects the philosophy driving it: recognizing each person is unique, has unique needs, and begins their journey seeking long-term supports through a unique door.
People who need long-term services and supports often begin the process from several perspectives:
- Someone discharged from the hospital after a fall may need extra help at home, or transportation to physical therapy;
- An individual with a physical or intellectual disability living at home with their parents may need assistance as they seek to live independently in their community; or
- A person with dementia who lost their spouse may suddenly need support to stay in their home.
As these individuals and their families search for supports, there is literally no wrong door to begin the process. No Wrong Door partners can help them understand their options, support their decision-making process, and help them quickly access the services they need.
2. What are the benefits of No Wrong Door?
No Wrong Door helps older adults and individuals with disabilities understand their options and provides support with decisions. Because individuals don’t have to retell their story over and over, No Wrong Door helps expedite access to long-term services and supports. The safe, secure environment allows providers to share information (with consent) to more easily coordinate services.
No Wrong Door helps caregivers and family members by taking the mystery out of where to find help when supporting a loved one who may be growing older, or has a disability or chronic disease. No Wrong Door can help coordinate and track referrals so families and the individuals they are supporting do not fall through the cracks when working with several providers.
No Wrong Door saves providers time and money by decreasing, or even eliminating, duplicative processes and documentation. It can also help professionals better track what is happening with an individual over time, across providers.
No Wrong Door provides managers and directors of partner agencies a large library of standardized reports, and the ability to easily pull data to run customize reports. This helps with quality assurance, compliance, efficiencies, outcomes, and data for fundraising and grant writing. Agencies relying on referrals can benefit from No Wrong Door because of the ability to send and receive automated referrals.
No Wrong Door helps communities by stretching funding, building capacity, and serving more individuals with limited resources. It enhances communication and coordination between community partners, and can even attract additional partners to collaborate. No Wrong Door’s track record of success makes it attractive to community based funders as well.
No Wrong Door provides investors with valuable reports and data. Because it is a statewide system, data can be analyzed on local, regional, and statewide levels. Researchers have already identified No Wrong Door’s secure data collection process to be a rich source of information related to social determinants of health.
3. How does No Wrong Door work?
No Wrong Door eliminates the need for providers across communities to collect the same information from an individual over and over; the system allows different providers serving the same person to securely share data using a tool called CRIA, which stands for Communication, Referral, Information, and Assistance.
CRIA empowers No Wrong Door partners to make electronic referrals to each other with the click of a mouse. With consent, the referral includes all the information a partner agency needs to begin working for the individual immediately.
Imagine the time saved if all the partners in your community serving the same individual had this information at their fingertips – the status of every referral, how each partner is helping the individual. Now imagine how much your community could expand its capacity if all its partners could leverage this technology.
4. Is the No Wrong Door system secure?
Yes. In addition to technology safeguards, No Wrong Door operates under federal HIPAA and state guidelines overseeing policies for exchanging uniquely identifiable personal health information between providers.
Individuals must provide consent and identify the providers that can access their personal information. The No Wrong Door system is automated to verify this consent before granting partners access. It is always the individual’s choice to allow a provider to share or not share their information.
5. Who manages No Wrong Door?
No Wrong Door’s comprehensive governance structure is comprised of public and private partners, and was established to ensure decisions made about policy, technology, and resource allocation benefit both sectors.
At the federal level, No Wrong Door is guided by a partnership between the Administration for Community Living, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Veterans Administration. These partners provide valuable guidance, technical support, and discretionary grants.
No Wrong Door Virginia is led by a Strategic Leadership Team comprised of the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, VirginiaNavigator, and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.
This team leads the Home and Community Based Services groups, with representatives from long-term service and support networks. They meet quarterly to ensure governance, enhance marketing and communications, strengthen person-centered practices, and further streamline access to services.
Additionally, there is a statewide group focused on technology that drives fair and productive development. At the community level, 25 Local Advisory Councils focus on strengthening partnerships and regional expansion.
To learn more about No Wrong Door’s governance, click here.
All About CRIA
6. What is CRIA?
CRIA stands for Communication, Referral, Information, and Assistance. It’s an electronic tool within No Wrong Door that enables partners to make secure automated referrals, share information on the individuals they serve (with consent), track what is happening to an individual over time, and run progress reports at the client, agency, and community level.
7. What type of professionals are best served by using CRIA?
- Information and Referral Specialists
- Service Coordinators
- Social Workers
- Person-Centered Options Counselors
- Peer Counselors
- Discharge Planners
- Care Transition Coaches
- Home Health Aides
- Pre-admission Screening Teams
- Medical Professionals
8. What is the difference between NWD and CRIA?
NWD, which stands for No Wrong Door, is the name of the initiative, as well as the technology system. CRIA, which stands for Communication, Referral, Information, and Assistance, is an electronic tool within the No Wrong Door system.
9. I already have a case-management system – why use CRIA?
Many NWD Partners already have their own case-management system. CRIA is not designed to replace case-management systems, but instead enable automated referrals between partner agencies, and electronically manage and track referrals.
Serving as an “electronic connector” to NWD partners, CRIA automates processes historically accomplished over email, phone, or fax, allowing a consumer record to develop over time, with input from multiple partners, providing a real-time, dynamic view of an individual’s needs, preferences, and situation.
Think of CRIA as a replacement for the phone, fax, and secure email. Instead of hoping someone replies to your voice mail, picks up your fax from the tray, or replies to your email in a timely manner, you send the referral once. You are notified the referral arrived, and whether the provider will accept the referral. We refer to this as the “pitch” and “catch,” and it lets you know your referral was received and the partner provider will take action.
Unlike secure email, No Wrong Door is a fully integrated system where all referrals become part of a bigger picture by maintaining a single, shared record with all referred providers.
10. What reports does No Wrong Door produce?
The system provides several standardized reports at both the individual and agency levels. You can access referral data anytime, which can be used for customized reports or spreadsheets to suit your needs, to check the status of your referrals, or perform quality assurance. Additionally, data provided by No Wrong Door is valuable when seeking funding to show referrals by region, service type, or population.
Expanding Partnerships
11. How is No Wrong Door expanding across Virginia?
No Wrong Door is two things: a technology system and a network of partnerships. While the system is standardized across the Commonwealth, the partners vary from community to community; most have an Area Agency on Aging (AAA) as the lead, which works with the Center for Independent Living (CIL).
Other partners may include community service boards, local departments of social services, home-delivered meals and food pantries, transportation providers, home-modification companies, hospitals, PACE programs, adult day services, home health, free clinics, and community action agencies.
12. Are referrals limited to No Wrong Door partner organizations?
Not at all. The electronic tool that allows No Wrong Door partners to make automated referrals is called CRIA, which stands for Communication, Referral, Information, and Assistance. CRIA’s interface tracks all referrals, whether they are to No Wrong Door providers or not. Partners can make referrals to “non-partner” organizations, tracking them in the system, and keeping the individual’s record current.
13. Can for-profit companies become part of NWD?
Yes, No Wrong Door is designed for both public and private partners, both non-profit and for-profit. A comprehensive set of consent requirements, security documents, utilization and partnership agreements, as well as standardized protocols, govern the use of the technology tools and access to individual-level data.
14. Is there a cost to becoming a partner and using the No Wrong Door technology?
Yes, there is a cost to partner with No Wrong Door. However, the one-time start-up and training fee may be covered by grant funds received through the No Wrong Door initiative. Please note there is also an annual license fee that equates to less than $50 per month, per user. There is no cost for community consultation, demonstration of the technology, or support for grant and funding applications.
15. How can my agency/organization become a No Wrong Door partner?
Now that you understand what No Wrong Door is, you can download the brochure Seven Steps to Become a No Wrong Door Partner 
and get started!