GAO Posts Checklist For Reviewing Benefit Management Systems

By Staff Writer

October 14, 2003 at 08:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, Oct. 14, 2003, 5:11 p.m. EDT – The U.S. General Accounting Office has released a checklist in an effort to help federal agencies evaluate electronic benefit management systems.

The checklist lists 395 separate requirements and organizes them in sections dealing with topics such as "Claims Acceptance and Tracking," "Audit Trails" and "Death Benefits."

In the "Disability Benefits" section, for example, the GAO recommends that reviewers ask the following questions:

- Does the benefit system capture the type of disability or disability code?

- Does the benefit system capture the date of disability onset or injury?

- Does the benefit system capture the degree of impairment or diagnosis?

- Does the benefit system capture the name of examining physician?

- Does the benefit system capture where the claimant's injury occurred?

- Does the benefit system capture whether the disability was caused by employment or was related to military service?

- Does the benefit system capture the student status of the claimant or dependent(s) (e.g., full-time)?

The GAO has posted a copy of the checklist at //www.gao.gov/new.items/d0422g.pdf

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