RI Bridges Stabilization

Performance and progress dashboard

Presented by:
Courtney E. Hawkins, Director
RI Department of Human Services

September 2017
Our highest priority at the Department of Human Services
is to provide Rhode Islanders with timely access to
benefits. Regular access to accurate, meaningful data is
key to achieving this mission.
inside
Data Snapshot 3
The State has been working with Deloitte to improve and Overview 4
refine its data. The data included in this dashboard has Work In Progress 5
been reviewed and reflects the best available Total
information at this time. Data is subject to change as Non Medical
improvements are made to the system. SNAP Expedited
SNAP Non-Expedited
August data shows the primary backlog of new Cash Assistance
applications, with the exception of LTSS, is eliminated and Child Care
no piles of work remain untouched. The total number of GPA Burial
pending applications declined to 3,734, 37 percent of
State Supplemental
which are not overdue. Plans to tackle status changes to
Medical
existing customers and recertifications are underway.
Lobby Wait Times 14
Additional metrics demonstrating progress over time, Processing Applications 15
usage of the Self-Service portal and August system Self Service Portal 16
improvements are included in this months dashboard. System Maintenance & 17
Development
We will continue to strive for the modern, efficient system
RI Bridges Expectations 19
envisioned for Rhode Island and to address issues quickly,
share timely information, and provide quality service to
our customers.
2
 Data Snapshot:
9/1 Pending Applications
Medicare
Medicaid Medical Medicaid
SNAP Expd. SNAP Regular Cash CCAP GPA - Burial SSP Premium LTSS Grand Total
(MAGI) (Undet.) Complex
Payments
Client 39 36 32 2 1 77 27 9 15 238
Overdue DHS 53 51 51 19 27 12 119 252 111 30 1394 2119
Total 92 87 83 21 27 13 196 252 138 39 1409 2357
Client 4 75 24 7 101 10 5 3 229
Not Overdue DHS 12 83 29 23 1 6 70 206 13 21 684 1148
Total 16 158 53 30 1 6 171 206 23 26 687 1377
Grand Total 108 245 136 51 28 19 367 458 161 65 2096 3734

The primary backlog of new applications, with the exception of

LTSS, is eliminated and no piles of work remain untouched.

3
 This graph reflects the total
Total Pending New Applications number of new applications across
programs a 73 percent drop since
16000
its peak in mid-February.
14078
14000
13911 13818 13684
13659
13612
To Be Worked By State
Data is based on queries of the RI
12939
12463 Awaiting Client Action
Bridges database designed by the
12278
11914
state and executed by Deloitte.
12000 11638 Total
11627

10932
Data on MAGI, Complex Medicaid,
10114
10000 Undetermined Medical, Long-Term
9374
9099
8810
Care, Medicare, SNAP, RI Works,
8539
7958 8109 7683
General Public Assistance & Burial,
8000
8511 7198
Child Care, & State Supplemental
Payments are included.
9272
6000 8116 5781
7286 7006 5526
6645 6322
5002
6183 6508 4659
6081 5458
4309 4170
4000 4003 3853
3827 3734
4409
4362
4016
3777
3582 3515
3432 3306 3304
2000 3267
3116
2088 2093 2165 2217 1775
1660 1998 1601 1602 1740 1372
1164 986 882 727 655 571 547 523 467
0
4
Work In Progress Applications: Total
14,000

As new applications are

12,000 registered and eligibility
11,627
10,932
determinations are made,
10,372
10,114
this charts shows what
10,000
9,321
9,374
remains at days end. There
9,057 8,810
8,539
were as many as 11,627
8,117 8,109
8,000 7,842 registered applications in
7,958 7,683
7,198 progress in mid-April when
6,699
6,263
this data could be best
6,000 5,875
5,526 extracted going forward. On
5,002
4,659 4,309
September 1, only 3,734
4,170
4,000
3,982 3,783
3,788 applications are pending an
3,734 eligibility determination.
2,000

5
Work In Progress Applications: Non-Medical
4,000

3,709 There were as many as 3,709

3,500
3,415 registered Non-Medical
applications in progress in
3,000 3,026 mid-April when this data could
2,790 be best extracted going
2,500
2,580 2,594 2,553 forward. On September 1, only
2,376 587 Non-Medical applications
2,114 2,071 2,030
are pending an eligibility
2,000
1,927
1,819
determination. Thats an 87
1,634 percent reduction.
1,500
1,343

1,066
1,000
931
768 722
667
611 598 587
500

6
Work In Progress Applications: SNAP Expedited
600

There were 378 registered

SNAP Expedited
500
477
applications in progress in
469
442
mid-April when this data
400
413
404
422
398
could be best extracted
378 378 386
373 going forward. On
352
339 341
324
September 1, only 108 SNAP
300 293 Expedited applications are
263 pending an eligibility
determination. Thats a 71
200 196 194 percent reduction.
160
134
116 118
100 109 108
89

7
Work In Progress Applications: SNAP Regular
1,200

1,123 There were as many as 1,123

1,066 registered SNAP Regular
1,000 1,000 998 984 applications in progress in
935
907 909
929 916 mid-April when this data
877
836 846 826 849 could be best extracted going
800 808
745 746
782 787
forward. On September 1,
704
669
only 245 SNAP Regular
600 615 applications are pending an
eligibility determination.
500
Thats a 78 percent reduction.
451
400 404
343
309
263 266 259 270
245
200

8
Work In Progress Applications: Cash Assistance
1,600

There were as many as

1,400 1,358 1,358 registered Cash
1,306 Assistance applications in
1,200 1,222 progress in mid-April when
1,123 this data could be best
1,000 985
extracted going forward.
908 900 On September 1, only 136
800 846 813 Cash applications are
743
706 pending an eligibility
650
600 615 determination. Thats a 90
492 482 481
percent reduction.
441
400 407
374
319
288
238 181
200
177 160 136
152 143

9
Work In Progress Applications: Child Care
500

469
450 There were as many as 469
424 registered Child Care
400
applications in progress in
366 mid-April when this data
350
could be best extracted going
319
300 forward. On September 1,
288
281 only 51 Child Care applications
257 261
250 255 250 250 are pending an eligibility
234 235
225 222
211
219 221 determination. Thats an 89
200 203 209
198 196
183
percent reduction.
150
143
127
117
100
91 85
63 51
50 55
47 48
41

10
Work In Progress Applications: Burial
180
There were as many as 161
160 161
156
159 registered Burial applications
153 in progress in mid-April when
140
132
this data could be best
120
extracted going forward. On
116
September 1, only 28 Burial
100
96
applications are pending an
94 92
90
85 eligibility determination. Thats
80
72
a nearly 83 percent reduction.
60
56

43
40 35
35 35 34 34 36
31 32 33 31
30 30 30 28 28
20

11
Work In Progress Applications: SSP
There were as many as 220
250 registered Supplemental
220
Security Income, State
200
208
202
Supplemental Payment (SSP)
197 194 193
applications applications in
172
progress in mid-April when
150 151 150 this data could be best
130 extracted going forward. On
116
100
September 1, only 19 SSP
93
applications are pending an
62
eligibility determination.
50
45 Thats a 91 percent reduction.
26 23 22
18 17 21 17 19 20 19
10 12 15 14 17 15
9
0

12
Work In Progress Applications: Medical
9,000
There were as many as 7,918
8,000 7,918
7,751
7,535
registered Medical (MAGI,
7,000 Complex Medicaid,
6,673 6,666
6,437
6,242
Undetermined Medical, LTSS &
6,000 6,059
5,887 5,770
5,565 Medicare Premium payments)
5,000
5,184
applications in progress in mid-
4,484
4,149
April when this data could be
4,000 3,986
3,822
3,645 3,537
3,352
best extracted going forward. On
3,164
3,000 3,147 September 1, only 3,147 Medical
2,000
applications are pending an
eligibility determination. Thats a
1,000
60 percent reduction.
0

13
Average Lobby Wait Times
100

90
85
87 86 Average Lobby Wait Times are
84
80
82 unacceptable and improving them
80 76 75 75
72 72
75 and customer services are a priority
70 for the RI Bridges Leadership team.
This graph shows the combined
60
monthly average for all six offices.
50 Averages vary by location and are
also impacted by the complexity of
40
the application or reason for visiting.
30

20

10

0
Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17
Processing Applications: One Touch
100.00%
The percentage of
90.00% 88.30% applications where the
worker is able to collect
80.00% 79.39% the required data and
74.66%
71.96% 71.50%
determine an applicant's
70.00%
67.10% 66.13% 65.94% 66.68% 66.24% 66.37% 65.75%
eligibility or schedule an
64.53%
60.00%
63.44% 62.56%
60.64% 61.56%
62.90%
60.58%
interview within one day.
58.46% 59.45% 58.49%
56.86%
58.24% 57.67%
54.65%
It has improved from 57
50.00%
52.32%
50.84%
52.06% percent since Go-Live to
46.38% 88 percent the first of
40.00% 41.09% week of September.

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%

15
 Self-Service Portal: Usage

Clients are 21 % of new applications (1,378 of 6,542) in August came in through the customer portal.
using the self
service portal
to apply for Half of those applications were completed and submitted by the customer in under 30 minutes
benefits

62% completed these applications in one sitting

16
System Maintenance and Development
By the Numbers
Maintenance and
Operations (M&O) releases
focus on system stability
23 Total Releases in Turnaround Efforts To Date through fixes to existing
software bugs and data
17 M & O Releases/Weekend Repairs issues. Smaller, similar
stability repairs occur on
6 Development Releases some weekends as well.

Development releases
5 Total Remaining Releases Planned in 2017
focus on system stability as
well as changes to improve
1 Planned Development Release the user experience,
support worker productivity
4 Planned M & O Releases/Weekend Repairs and enhance external
interfaces and functionality
needed for business
operations.
17
10 Key Improvements: August Development Release
Restaurant Meals Functionality: The new
Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) functionality
allows qualified households receiving SNAP to use
EBT cards to buy prepared meals at participating
Subway restaurants around the state. Households
are eligible for this program if all qualified SNAP
individuals are either homeless, elderly or disabled.
Customer Portal Improvements: Additional content
and language improvements make it easier for
customers to complete self-service applications. The
changes will be seen throughout the portal, including
on the home screen.
RIDE Notices: The August release will help students
who are eligible for the school free lunch program
through the Rhode Island Department of Education
(RIDE) enroll automatically.
RIW Hardship Benefits: For those applying for
Hardship benefits from RI Works (Rhode Islands
Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program),
they will be able to secure benefits from the first of
the month rather than the application date. Clients
will also receive eligibility for RI Works starting from
the first of the month in which they apply.
Worker Portal Improvements: As follow-up to the
7.9 release, additional validation messages will
highlight in red immediately when data is
incomplete, invalid or empty. It should further help
with processing applications accurately and
efficiently. Screen level validation errors and warning
messages will also be displayed without reloading
the page.
Cross Policy Year Health Insurance Coverage:
Navigators, workers, and health insurance customers
now can allow a current years health insurance plan
to also cover a life event that occurs within 60 days
prior to the start of that plan. For example, if a
HealthSource RI family has a baby born in November
or December of this year but doesnt officially get
coverage until January 2018, the coverage will apply
from the date of birth. This new, cross policy year
coverage is effective starting January 2018.
Scheduling Appointments Better: Supervisors will
now be able to easily view appointments at a given
time so they can divide the work more effectively and
efficiently. They can also search appointments by
Appointment and Appointment Type, such as
telephone, home visit or in person, and sort by time
and date.
Age Curve Factors: Age Curve Factors have been
updated to align with new, federal Center for
Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) policy
requirements. It could result in plan premium rate
changes for individuals with plans with 2018 effective
dates. The new age factors that will be used in plan
premium calculations apply to a specific policy year
rather than the standard ones in place from 2013.
Open Enrollment Notices: The system will now
generate two new notices and one newly enhanced
notice to support open enrollment. The enhanced
notice is a private health insurance disenrollment
notice. The two new notices are about plan
cancellation and annual open enrollment.
Medicaid Termination Reconciliation Efforts: These
are system improvements to continue to reduce the
number of discrepancies between the RI Bridges
system and the MMIS system, which handles
Medicaid billing. These changes will help the State
properly terminate individuals who are no longer
eligible, and appropriately reflect their status in both
systems.
18
We know when RI Bridges is functioning effectively when
1 Benefits are delivered in a timely manner

2 Bridges functions as a resource for families to access the benefits they need through a channel
that is convenient for them
We know that
the 3UHIP will administer the correct benefits to the correct family
We consistently
be functioning
effectively
4 We consistently and accurately pay providers

when
5 We are able to use Bridges as a tool to improve efficiency and improve program integrity

19
Definitions
Overdue.. Indicates if the application has been pending longer than regulation allows, as measured
from the date received. SNAP Expedited applications are overdue if they have been
pending for more than 7 days. Medical applications are overdue if they have been pending
for more than 45 days. LTSS applications are overdue if they have been pending for more
than 90 days. All other application types are considered overdue if they have been pending
for more than 30 days.

Not Overdue.. Any application pending for fewer days than the overdue threshold.

To Be Worked by Applications are under State responsibility when pending a worker's action. This is
State calculated based on an application status queried from RI Bridges.

Awaiting Client Action Applications are awaiting client action when the client needs to submit more
information or missed an interview. This is calculated based on an application status
queried from RI Bridges.
20