Chapter 8: Health and Human Services
Create an Internet Portal to
Provide Information on Texas Health and Human Services
Summary
The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) is working with a private
vendor to create the TexasOnline Internet portal, a Web site allowing its users
to access state business applications 24 hours a day. In a related project, the
Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is working to improve the Texas
Information and Referral Network, which is intended to provide a first point of
contact for information on state health and human services. DIR and HHSC should
coordinate these projects and include eligibility criteria and online
applications for health and human services in the portal project.
Background
Many private companies have used Internet technology to improve their
customer service, and citizens are beginning to expect the same from their
governments. Customers can buy groceries, pharmaceuticals, and books over the
Internet from their homes, after normal business hours, and have the goods
delivered at their convenience. Retailers such as Amazon.com have created
expectations for personalized service that does not require the customer, for
instance, to re-enter the same information repeatedly.
This same consumer, however, may have to stand in line during daytime
business hours to register his car, renew a driver’s license, or pay a
traffic fine. Much of the same information, such as his or her name and address,
will be needed in each of those transactions, and the taxpayer has to provide
them over and over again.
Texas’ Portal Project
The 1999 Legislature took a major step toward improving customer service by
creating the Electronic Government Task Force, a body charged with assessing the
feasibility of conducting state and local government transactions through the
Internet.[1] The task force, through a
public-private partnership with a vendor, has developed a common business portal
for the state that provides citizens with seamless access to a variety of
government services. Through the portal’s secure Web site, citizens
already can renew various licenses and certifications, file certain sales tax
returns, and search for corporate status information 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. At this writing, the project has only a few agencies participating.
Ultimately, however,
TexasOnline
is intended to become a true one-stop location for conducting business with
Texas state and local governments, regardless of the level of government
involved or the nature of the transaction.
The state’s portal framework includes:
- A strong, secure Web site including
authentication services ranging from passwords to digital signature
technology.
- The ability to grow as quickly as needed to meet
customer demand.
- Around-the-clock access.
- The ability to trace transactions through the
system.
- Credit card and other electronic funds transfer
payment technology.
- Web application development services.
- Call center services.
- Assistance with outreach marketing to
constituents.
- Shared revenue from convenience or premium
service fees.
- Electronic interfaces with the state’s
accounting systems and various agency computer systems.
- Bilingual services in Spanish and
English.
In addition, TexasOnline eventually will enable citizens interacting with
multiple agencies to enter their identifying information only once.
Participating agencies expect to save money through the increased use of
online transactions in place of walk-in or mail-in transactions, which require
greater commitments of staff time and agency resources.
Program Management Office’s Role
While Texas government is decentralized by both design and tradition, this
decentralization often results in the unnecessary overlap and duplication of
efforts among state agencies. To make the best use of limited state resources,
Texas needs a central coordinating office—a Program Management Office
(PMO) within DIR, as discussed elsewhere in this report—to guide its
electronic government initiatives and oversee their progress.
The Texas Information and Referral Network
In a related project, HHSC is working to improve its Information and
Referral Network, which is designed to be a first point of contact for
information on state health and human services. When the network was established
in 1991, community information centers were the first points of contact for
consumers and providers of health services. The network was reevaluated in 1995
and changed to a regional system with area information centers in place of
community centers. The 1997 Legislature authorized HHSC to design a Web-based
version of the statewide network.[2]
HHSC worked with experts from the public and private sectors to develop the
comprehensive Web-based network. They proposed a network that complemented the
25 area information centers with an automated information warehouse regularly
updated with data from the centers, and a central Web site to access regional
information. HHSC is rolling out the comprehensive network incrementally over a
three-year period that began in September 1999. This proposed network is a good
starting point, but it does not go far enough in making health and human
services information available to all citizens. The system also should offer
access to the Texas Department of Human Services’ eligibility process and
to online applications for services.
Consumer Problems
The average citizen has a difficult time navigating most state agency Web
sites to find the right service because the sites are written in overly
technical language or are organized by agency departments rather than by the
services they provide. Without some knowledge of how the agency is organized,
citizens find it difficult to locate the services they want or need.
An interesting example is provided by the recent experiences of Curt Mooney,
president of Houston’s nonprofit DePelchin Childrens’ Center. Mooney
is typical of many nonprofit agency managers who often need specialized state
services for their clients. Recently, Mooney spent several hours on the phone
with state agencies searching for a nursing facility for a child who had
recently undergone open-heart surgery. He made about 15 phone calls to various
state agencies; in many cases, people referred him to other phone numbers, and
no one returned his calls. Finally, Mooney found one staff person who understood
what he was looking for and was able to help. He said this was a frustrating
experience because he did not know which state agency to call. “We need a
better way for people to find information like this,” he
said.[3]
Trends in Electronic Government
Governments are just beginning to move beyond simple online
information-sharing to actual interaction with their customers. The current
trend in state government is to develop a portal Web site organized by subject,
rather than by agencies and departments. A portal organized in this way offers a
more convenient and responsive way to find state services electronically without
consolidating or physically changing the structure of state agencies.
Interactive Web sites allow users to apply for services and make payments
online and to communicate with the state via e-mail. A number of states now
allow citizens to pay their taxes online; in Arizona and Virginia, residents can
renew their driver’s licenses online. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington,
and Texas are among states allowing permitting and licensing through the
Internet.
Numerous states already have portals in place. North Carolina recently
launched its portal, dubbed the
NC@Your Service Project.
The project offers its users three different informational
“hubs”—a business portal, a citizen portal, and a state
employee portal. Each takes users to a different information source or service
without requiring them to know which agency is
involved.
Montana’s Virtual Human Services Pavilion (VHSP)
began with a $3 million investment to aid in welfare reform, but has done much
more. It allows users to post and find jobs, helps Medicaid providers determine
the eligibility of their patients, and offers access to information and services
in commerce and education. The newest addition to VHSP is a
“virtual” assistant, essentially a search tool for all sites
associated with VHSP.[4]
South Dakota’s Web portal,
“Get it Done in South Dakota,”
assists its users with practical tasks such as locating money to pay for child
care, applying for a gas tax refund, and registering to vote. One full-time
employee designed the Web site and its infrastructure. Other state agency staff
provided information links for the site; yet another employee maintains the
site. The site was established in about eight
months.[5]
A recent survey by the Center for Digital Government measured states’
progress in using the Internet to deliver social services. States were measured
on their use of electronic services such as smart cards, electronic benefits
transfer (EBT) and online child support collection services. Texas tied for
fifth place, largely due to its implementation of EBT. Only Washington, the
state that ranked highest in the survey, has begun using the Internet for the
state’s social service agencies in a significant
way.[6]
What Texas Consumers Say
Citizens responding to a Comptroller survey regarding electronic state
services said that it is difficult to find a central Web site with links to all
state services.[7] The key problems they
identified were out-of-date information and a lack of e-mail addresses or phone
numbers to request further information. The respondents indicated that citizens
said they would like greater online access to a variety of state services, such
as applications for sales tax permits and eligibility criteria and applications
for Medicaid, food stamps, and welfare.
The respondents’ primary concerns revolved around security issues. For
example, many citizens stated that they were concerned about providing their
Social Security numbers as an identifier for state services, and about the
improper disclosure of personal information to other entities.
Overall, consumers want better, faster access to state services over the
Internet. The majority place a high priority on a portal and associated Web
pages that are user-friendly and easy to follow.
Recommendations
A. The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)
should coordinate with the proposed Program Management Office (PMO) to establish
health and human services information on the TexasOnline state portal.
The PMO, as recommended elsewhere in this report, should help coordinate this
effort among HHSC agencies. A health and human services portal should be one of
the first projects undertaken by the PMO. If the PMO is not funded by the
Legislature, HHSC should coordinate the effort with the Texas Department of
Information Resources (DIR).
In addition, the e-Texas recommendation on improving the
eligibility determination process for Medicaid is approved by the Legislature,
online applications for 50 programs at the Texas Department of Human Services,
including welfare, Medicaid and food stamps, also should be added to the Web
site. Eventually, all state health and human service applications for services
should be available online for anyone applying for services from the State of
Texas.
TexasOnline should include the following:
- Eligibility criteria, developed in coordination
with HHSC, other health and human services agencies, and DIR.
- Web sites that are interactive and allow users to
communicate via e-mail with a contact person at every state and local service
provider.
- A convenient and responsive way to find state
services electronically.
- Content oriented around service delivery and
customer need, not agency boundaries.
- Web site design and applications that comply with
the Texas Open Records Law and Texas Accessibility guidelines.
B. HHSC should work with other state agencies and
local health and human services providers to continue developing the
Internet-based Information and Referral Network to provide information through
the TexasOnline portal.
Fiscal Impact
Texas’ health and human services agencies already have established Web
presences, and these recommendations would only require improvements in how
health and human services information is displayed and coordinated over the
Internet. The development of the portal would require cooperation among
agencies, and should be accomplishable with existing resources.
[1] TexasOnline Communication
Plan (http://www.dir.state.tx.us/egov/fag.htm)
[2] V.T.C.A., Government Code
§531.0312, 531.0313, 531.0314.
[3] Telephone interview with
Curt Mooney, DePelchin Childrens’ Center, Houston, Texas, May 18,
2000.
[4] Bryan M. Gold,
“Getting Bigger in Big Sky Country,” Technology Trends (July
1999), p. 24.
[5] Telephone interview with
Patrick Groce, Web site designer, South Dakota Bureau of Information and
Telecommunications, Pierre, South Dakota, May 15, 2000.
[6] Tod Newcombe,
“Reinventing Welfare for the Digital Age,” Government
Technology (April 2000, p. 1
(www.govtech.net/publications/gt2000/apr/digitalstates2/digitalstates2.shtm).
(Internet document.)
[7] Texas Comptroller of Public
Accounts, “Results of Fiscal Notes Survey” (Austin, Texas,
August 2000).
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