St. Catherine intern shares her experience at PICS

At PICS, we’re proud to host interns from excellent area colleges as they learn how services are delivered to children and adults with disabilities across the state.

Siv Lim, a Public Health intern from St. Catherine University, spent time at PICS during summer 2019. We asked Siv to share her experiences and impressions of the services PICS offers, the participant enrollment process and working with the PICS team.

Getting Started with PICS Services

There are several state and county resources available to older adults and individuals with disabilities. If an individual is eligible for services, they have the choice to enroll in a program that best fits their needs, but finding a Financial Management Services (FMS) provider that gives the time and care to meet their needs can be challenging and frustrating.

During the enrollment meeting, PICS is thorough and transparent with the information they provide so that participants don’t feel lost. The service coordinator can do the enrollment via phone, meeting at the office or at the individual’s home. The flexibility that PICS has is very convenient. Staring the enrollment process can seem intimidating, but they are here to help.

PICS Customer Service

What makes PICS different from other providers is that they prioritize communication to better serve their participants. When challenging situations arise, everyone at PICS works together to solve the issue. Problems will always occur, but finding solutions is what sets PICS apart. Providing excellent customer service is a priority for PICS.

During my time at PICS, I shadowed each department on their day-to-day duties, tagged along in enrollment and annual meetings, and surveyed new and current participants to understand their needs. In survey results, families reported that the support of PICS makes their lives feel more manageable.

PICS employees work hard to maintain a relationship with their participants. Their goal is to provide families with the resources and tools to make their own choices and remain in their own homes and communities.

The Team Atmosphere at PICS

From my internship experience at PICS, I learned that everyone at PICS works together as a team. Separation of duties within each department ensures that one person does not have total control over participants' plans and the workload is balanced.

I really enjoyed seeing them navigate between departments – messaging each other to check availability prior to transferring a participant phone call, because they understand that no one wants to be transferred to a voicemail.

Ultimately, I learned that other providers may offer the same services, but not all of them can build relationships like PICS.