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HEHS-94-151R 1 (1994-04-28)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacknu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: United States GAO General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 /5/5 Human Resources Division B-253398 April 28, 1994 The Honorable Shirley S. Chater, Ph.D. Commissioner Social Security Administration Dear Dr. Chater: We recently reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) regional structure for ensuring the quality of disability decisions made by state disability determination services (DDS). Each region's Disability Quality Branch (DQB) works jointly with regional medical consultants (RMC) to review the accuracy of random samples of disability decisions. Based on these quality assurance reviews, SSA assesses whether DDSs comply with regulatory performance accuracy standards. Since July 1987, DQBs have been organizationally independent of the regional commissioners' offices, which are responsible for disability program management. By contrast, however, the RMCs--who also perform an equally vital quality assurance review function--remain organizationally part of the regional commissioners' offices. In April 1987, the Department of Health and Human Services' Inspector General reported to the Commissioner of Social Security that the organizational placement of the DQBs impaired their independence. As the Inspector General stated, it is widely recognized that entities performing review or evaluation work should be free from personal, external, or organizational impairments of their independence. For example, the Comptroller General discusses organizational impairments as they relate to independent auditors.I In response to the Inspector General, the Commissioner transferred responsibility for DQBs from the regional commissioners' offices to an organizational unit with no program management 'United States General Accounting Office, Government Auditing Standards: Standards for Audit of Government Organizations, Programs, Activities, and Functions, (1988 Revision). GAO/HEHS-94-151R Quality Assurance Independence

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