Systems Modernization and the Strategic Plans of the Social Security Administration (1990) / Chapter Skim
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3. The Challenge of Change in the Present
3. The Challenge of Change in the Present
Pages 25-42
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From page 25... ...
As Congress creates new programs to be acIministered by the SSA, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) , there is an impact on the software and hardware anal, in general, a growth in computer workload.
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From page 26... ...
The job environment is also changing, in many ways becoming more complex but also introducing new health and accident threats as higher technology and new substances appear in the workplace. These phenomena also impact aspects of health care programs, the volume of disputes over disability claims, and possibly the complexity of the disputes.
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From page 27... ...
The Feast to famine,. Wood condition to impending disasters circumstances that have characterized the SSA's cyclical computer posture over time derive in part from failing to identify the different reasons for which the SSA computer workload has grown in a given period.
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From page 28... ...
Based on our observations, we found that the service levels provided by the SSA are good to adequate but that disability processing experiences significant delays in validation by state authorities and appeals of rejected claims. However, automation of disability functions has not received the same level of attention as the retirement and survivors insurance programs.; Service Levels Affect Workload The agency has moved toward on-line telephonic services for its clients through introduction of the area code 800 service.
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From page 29... ...
We recommend that: The Social Security Administration thoroughly analyze the impact of new client-driven services or the quality upgrade of services that entail additional identified or latent on-line computer support to assure the adequacy of supporting automation. CONTINUITY OF SERVICE The SSA has been a long-time user of automatic data processing (ADP)
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From page 30... ...
Two Basic Approaches The risks and consequences of loss of the NCC warrant immediate attention to assure that adequate backup capabilities, fullback plans and procedures, and system safeguards are in place to guarantee continuity of operation across a full spectrum of disaster scenarios. Short of a major and long-term redesign of the SSA's applications and systems architecture to a distributed or hierarchical configuration, there are two basic variations that can provide adequate backup for the NCC and be rapidly implemented: 2.
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From page 31... ...
Attempted falibacks to along abandoned methods of telephone calls and paper logs resulted in lost or double bookings. Regressing to Paper Unless all of the manual data capture forms are changed to precisely reflect their counterpart computer terminal screens, fallback to manual data entry and retrieval will become more and more difficult, even during short periods when the on-line automated system is unavailable.
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From page 32... ...
ComDonent Develooment -- Each organizational component proposing a project is responsible for ensuring that its proposals state the general requirements, identify available options, assess costs and benefits, consider relative priorities, and are coordinated with other interested components. ADP Plan ImDact -- All proposed projects requiring systems development resources must be considered in light of other ADP projects competing for those resources.
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From page 33... ...
It formulates recommendations to the commissioner and is composed of an executive board chaired by the chief financial officer with dedicated technical staff support. Commissioner's Decision -- The commissioner is the final decision maker on major ADP projects at the SSA.
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From page 34... ...
This change at the SSA resulted in specific ADP responsibilities being allocated as described in the Decision Makings section above and the reassignment of resources from one organization to essentially two organizations: the Office of Operations and the Office of Management. Such decentralization can result in overlapping responsibilities, duplication of effort, uncoordinated projects, confusing priorities, and systems that interoperate poorly.
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From page 35... ...
However, of even greater concern is its potential to stifle effective development by interjecting unnecessary delay. The SSA's chief financial officer, who chairs this board, should certainly be concerned with the level of operating expenses, the effective procurement of volume-driven processing capacity increases, and the benefits of a proposed development.
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From page 36... ...
ACTIONS REQUIRING MANUAL PROCESSING Miscellaneous benefit record corrections Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims Direct entries from PSCs Returned-check processing Failures in benefit computations Disability follow-ups Subsequent claims on active accounts Split overpayment recovery or beyond 1999 Spouses each with their own benefit accumulations Corrections due to cost of living adjustment recomputation errors Unusual terminations such as foreign beneficiaries or returned checks Manual corrections of payment histories Death lump sums Foreign addresses Disability claims Primary insurance over- and underpayment amounts Status changes due to income added Errors in Medicare billing Corrections for duplicate payments Retirement benefits for more than 10 dependents Retirement benefits for widows Total THOUSANDS PER YEAR 8,380 4,400 1,920 1,500 1,440 1,200 720 336 260 240 192 192 170 150 70 48 36 24 24 12 12 21,326
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From page 37... ...
The cost of these manual processing tasks is considerably greater than the relative volume counts would suggest.
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From page 38... ...
While this sequence of examples might seem to suggest a simple merge of three independent computer-based systems in such a way that any one could flow through a single terminal at a time, it is much more subtle. There are bound to be instances in which the user will have to concurrently function in more than one part; for instance, if a letter is necessary during the processing of a disability claim, the user should be able to recess the review of information related to the claim, move into a word processing function, compose the letter, have copies automatically routed wherever necessary throughout the administrative system (e.g., to the general counsel's office)
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From page 39... ...
The integration of SSA information, systems, and processes might be encapsulated, so far as the client is concerned, in the construct of ~whole-person processing." An SSA employee should be able to handle any action pertinent to a client -- from the simplest act of enrollment to the most complex -- through a single terminal with ready access to all data, records, and processes required. The degree of integration needed to accomplish this is greater than that which the agency has achieved thus far but is much less than complete integration.
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From page 40... ...
The initial effort to link the SSA's field sites using local-area networks, data modems, and a commercial electronic mail package is in process. We agree with the modest scope of the initial phase and its objective to provide an integrated administrative and management information processing environment.
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From page 41... ...
The second phase of the office automation project is aimed at achieving a totally integrated processing environment in which users will have access to both programmatic and administrative functions from a single workstation. This objective raises a broader set of issues that were addressed in the preceding section on integration.
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