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Provider Assessment

Frequently Asked Questions

The Provider Assessment Frequently Asked Questions answers common questions and concerns about the OPM Provider Assessment. The document can be viewed in its entirety by clicking on the links in the Table of Contents below.

Table of Contents

1. Overall Information about the Human Resources Line of Business Provider Assessment

   1. What is the Human Resources Line of Business?

   2. How is the Human Resources Line of Business managed?

   3. Who are the providers which will be assessed by the HR LOB?

   4. What is OPM's authority for conducting the Provider Assessment?

   5. What is OMB's role in the Provider Assessment?

   6. How does the Provider Assessment relate to the other reviews that OPM performs?

2. Assessment Process and Questions

   7. What is the process for assessing providers?

   8. Who is performing the assessments?

   9. What is the method being used to assess providers?

   10. Who determined what methods and questions would be used to assess providers?

3. Assessment Schedule

   11. When will assessments take place?

   12. How long will assessments take?

   13. How was the assessment schedule determined?

4. Provider Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ)

   14. What is a Provider Assessment Questionnaire?

   15. What is the purpose of the PAQ?

   16. Who must complete a PAQ?

5. Stakeholder Involvement in the Assessments

   17. How are providers' customers being involved in the assessment process?

   18. How will customers be identified to participate in the PAQ?

   19. How will customers be identified to participate in follow-up interviews?

   20. How many hours will a customer need to dedicate to the Provider Assessment?

   21. How are providers being involved in the assessment process?

   22. Who should participate in the provider interviews?

   23. Where will the provider interview take place?

   24. How many hours will a provider need to dedicate to the Provider Assessment?

   25. Is provider involvement in the assessment process mandatory?

6. Assessment Results

   26. How will assessment results be released?

   27. Will assessment results be released to OMB?

   28. What will providers be able to do with the results after the assessment?

Overall Information about the Provider Assessment

1. What is the Human Resources Line of Business?

The Human Resources Line of Business (HR LOB) seeks to improve customer service, achieve cost savings, and to increase operational efficiencies by implementing governmentwide, modern, cost effective, standardized, and interoperable HR solutions that provide core functionality to support the strategic management of human capital and to address duplicative HR systems and processes across the Federal Government.

2. How is the Human Resources Line of Business managed?

In 2004, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) selected the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as the managing partner to the HR LOB. The Human Resources Line of Business program managed by OPM provides support in the areas of strategy, policy, planning, and oversight to support the strategic management of human capital and to address duplicative HR systems and processes across the Federal Government. To ensure governmentwide involvement and collaboration, OPM established a 24 agency task force, known as the Multi-Agency Executive Strategy Committee (MAESC), which it co-chairs with OMB.

3. Who are the providers which will be assessed by the HR LOB?

All approved HR shared service centers and the four payroll providers, as follows:

• Department of Defense Civilian Personnel Management Service (CPMS)
• Department of Defense's Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS)
• Department of Agriculture National Finance Center (NFC)
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Department of the Interior National Business Center (NBC)
• Department of Treasury
  • HR Connect
  • Bureau of Public Debt - Administrative Resource Center (BPD - ARC)
• General Services Administration

4. What is OPM's authority for conducting the Provider Assessment?

OPM HR LOB, through its governance structure, has been designated the authority to design, implement, and conduct assessments of HR LOB Shared Service Centers and Payroll Providers (providers).

Additionally, Attachment A to the MAESC Charter, HR LOB MAESC Governance Structure Roles and Responsibilities, established in writing a MIP to help the MAESC fulfill its responsibilities to:

1. Review operations of the SSCs to ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art HR solutions and services
2. Ensure that HR LOB information systems and processes are based on and comply with all appropriate OPM HR legal, regulatory, and policy requirements
3. Assess the functionality, interoperability, and integration of potential HR management system solution sets

5. What is OMB's role in the Provider Assessment?

As part of its FY2011 Passback, OMB instructed all HR LOB providers to be regularly assessed every 18 months as part of OPM's Provider Assessment process in accordance with an assessment schedule published by OPM.

6. How does the Provider Assessment relate to the other reviews that OPM performs?

The Provider Assessment is specific to the HR LOB providers and focuses on their business practices and service delivery to their agency customers. Other organizations within OPM may conduct compliance or regulatory oversight of Agencies and Federal Shared Service Centers and Payroll Providers. These reviews are considered outside of the scope of the HR LOB Provider Assessment and will not impact the results of the HR LOB Provider Assessment.

Assessment Process and Questions

7. What is the process for assessing providers?

The provider assessment process identifies and defines the steps that will take place when an assessment is performed. The Provider Assessment process consists of four phases: Planning, Discovery and Analysis, Reporting, and Assessment Program Improvement.

Planning Phase: The HR LOB will schedule and launch the assessments.

Discovery and Analysis Phase: The HR LOB will collect data, interview customer personnel, interview provider personnel, and examine evidence.

Reporting Phase: The HR LOB will compile a draft assessment report and finalize the assessment report.

Assessment Program Improvement Phase: The HR LOB will capture lessons learned and publish assessment program changes.

8. Who is performing the assessments?

The assessments will be performed by OPM. The HR LOB will deploy two teams to perform two concurrent but independent assessments. Each team will conduct one provider assessment at a time.

9. What is the method being used to assess providers?

Assessment questions were developed for five assessment categories:

1. Strategy and Architecture
2. Customer Relationship Management
3. Compliance
4. Performance Management
5. Integration and Interoperability

A set of practices was developed for each of the five assessment categories based on customer requirements. Practices are defined as management ideas that include techniques, methods, processes, or activities proven to be effective at delivering outcomes. For each of the practices, a set of yes-no assessment questions was developed to substantiate a provider's ability to demonstrate the practice. These assessment questions were developed based on customer requirements.

The assessment will be comprised of four main components:

1. Customer Questionnaire
2. Follow-up interviews with customers
3. Provider Interviews
4. Evidence Review

10. Who determined what methods and questions would be used to assess providers?

The Provider Assessment customer work group determined what questions would be used to assess providers. This work group was comprised of customers nominated by the HR LOB governance bodies, the Multi-Agency Executive Strategy Committee (MAESC) and the Customer Council. This work group met multiple times between October 2008 and October 2009. When establishing the assessment questions, the Provider Assessment customer work group used the following guiding principles:

• Reuse existing methods as much as possible to reduce the burden of assessment on providers
• Standardize assessment methods across all providers
• Develop and implement the assessment incrementally
• Continuously communicate assessment project results to providers and customers
• Ensure provider and customer points of view are reflected in the assessment approach

Assessment Schedule

11. When will assessments take place?

The HR LOB will perform two assessments concurrently. The first two assessments will start on February 23, 2010. Assessment of all providers will be completed over 18 to 24 months. Below is the schedule for all assessments.

	Duration	Start	Finish
Treasury and BPD	116 days	Tue 2/23/10	Tue 8/3/10
NFC and HHS	116 days	Mon 7/12/10	Mon 1/3/11
DoD and DFAS	116 days	Thu 12/2/10	Fri 5/20/11
NBC and GSA	116 days	Thu 4/28/11	Thu 10/6/11

 

12. How long will assessments take?

Each assessment will last for 116 days.

13. How was the assessment schedule determined?

Since two providers will be assessed concurrently, the HR LOB paired providers to facilitate an effective assessment process and schedule. The HR LOB considered several important factors - such as organizational affiliation, size, complexity, and customer base - to determine four pairings of HR LOB providers.

At the December 2009 Shared Service Center Advisory Council (SSCAC) tri-annual meeting, a lottery drawing was used to determine the order in which the provider pairings would be assessed.

Provider Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ)

14. What is a Provider Assessment Questionnaire?

The Provider Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) is the first component of the Provider Assessment. It is a web-based electronic questionnaire that serves as a tool to collect customer feedback on whether their provider demonstrates the business practices that the Provider Assessment outlines. The PAQ includes the assessment questions defined by the Provider Assessment customer work group.

15. What is the purpose of the PAQ?

The purpose of the PAQ is to collect customer responses to the business practices developed for each of the five assessment categories based on customer requirements.

16. Who must complete a PAQ?

The PAQ will be completed by customers of the provider being assessed.

Stakeholder Involvement in the Assessments

17. How are providers' customers being involved in the assessment process?

The providers' customers will complete the PAQ which consists of assessment questions developed by the Provider Assessment customer work group. They will also participate in follow-up interviews for the purpose of collecting qualitative information. Please see Question 20 addresses which customers will be selected for the follow-up interviews.

18. How will customers be identified to participate in the PAQ?

Assessed providers will supply their customer list to the HR LOB and indicate who they recommend as the customer points-of-contact for the purposes of the assessment. The HR LOB will then work with the MAESC to confirm the customer points-of-contact. For agencies not represented at the MAESC, the HR LOB may initiate a separate contact with agency representatives through other available governance bodies such as the CIO Council, CFO Council, CHCO Council, or Small Agency Council. The HR LOB will work with the customer point-of-contact from each agency to identify who will be the subject matter experts that complete the PAQ.

19. How will customers be identified to participate in follow-up interviews?

HR LOB will select a subset of questionnaire respondents for participation in the customer interviews based on the customers' responses to the Provider Assessment Questionnaire. For each assessment category, respondents will be chosen to provide additional qualitative information across the spectrum of responses received.

20. How many hours will a customer need to dedicate to the Provider Assessment?

The involvement of each customer will depend on the number of people the customer will choose to involve in the process and on whether or not they will be asked by HR LOB to participate in the follow up face-to-face or telephone discussions. On average, each customer will need to dedicate approximately 30 minutes for each Assessment Category they are assigned for a total of 2.5 hours for all five Assessment Categories. Customers that are selected to participate in follow up interviews will be asked to set aside an additional two hours for their interview.

21. How are providers being involved in the assessment process?

The providers will participate in the face-to-face provider interview, submit required evidence, and review and provide comments on the draft assessment report.

22. Who should participate in the provider interviews?

Individuals at the provider who have expertise in one or more of the five assessment categories: Strategy and Architecture, Customer Relationship Management, Compliance, Performance Management, and Integration and Interoperability.

23. Where will the provider interview take place?

The involvement of each provider will depend on the number of people the provider chooses to involve in the process and on the number of evidence artifacts the provider will need to collect and submit. On average, each provider will need to dedicate 186 hours to complete their portion of the provider assessment.

24. How many hours will a provider need to dedicate to the Provider Assessment?

The involvement of each provider will depend on the number of people the provider will choose to involve in the process and on the number of additional evidence artifacts the provider will need to collect and submit. On average, each provider will need to dedicate 186 hours to complete their portion of the provider assessment.

25. Is provider involvement in the assessment process mandatory?

Yes, each HR LOB Shared Service Center and Payroll Provider is required to participate in the HR LOB Provider Assessment.

Assessment Results

26. How will assessment results be released?

Assessment results will be communicated to various stakeholder groups. The following types of data and results will be collected and developed during the assessment process:

• Practice Findings - Themes or significant information for the practice from the Provider Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) responses, customer interviews, provider interviews, and/or evidence submitted by the provider
• Assessment Question Results (%) – The results of the questions from the PAQ shown as percentage yes, no, and inconclusive for each question
• Practice Summary – Summary of the results from the PAQ, customer interviews, provider interviews, and evidence submitted by the provider for the practice. Practice summaries do not contain confidential or sensitive information regarding the provider or customers
• Practice Level Results (%) – The overall yes, no, and inconclusive results for the practice aggregated from the assessment question results
• Category Finding – The overall yes, no, and inconclusive results for the category aggregated from the practice level results
• Category Level Results (%) - Findings that are distilled and summarized; will not contain confidential or sensitive information
• Executive Analysis – The high level summary and analysis of the results and findings of the Provider Assessment
• Recommendations – The overall recommendations for executive action based on the results and findings of the Provider Assessment
• Provider Comment – The provider’s formal response to the Provider Assessment report
• Appendices – Supplemental information, including a description of the HR LOB Provider Assessment, a high level description of the assessment methodology, and a glossary of terms

The following table summarizes which results will be released to each category of stakeholders:

Report Terms	Provider**	Provider's Customers	MAESC, Other Providers, and Other Customers	Public
Practice Findings	Yes	No	No	No
Assessment Question Results	Yes	No	No	No
Practice Summary	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Practice Level Results (%)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Category Finding	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Category Level Results (%)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Executive Analysis	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Recommendations	Yes	Yes	No	No
Provider Comments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Appendices	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

** Each provider may choose to communicate or distribute their results to other stakeholders

27. Will assessment results be released to OMB?

OPM will provide OMB with access to the public version of the assessment report.

28. What will providers be able to do with the results after the assessment?

The results of the Provider Assessment will provide important feedback to providers on the extent to which they are executing practices their customers find important. Additionally, the results will include customer qualitative feedback - positive and negative - collected from customers through the online questionnaire and follow up interviews. Each provider should use the results and feedback to improve its operations and service delivery to its customers and to structure its communications with existing and potential customers.