SSA watchdog to audit agency’s performance metrics

Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano has agreed to have the agency’s inspector general audit SSA’s performance data and to publicly report a broader list of data, Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Wednesday after meeting with the longtime financial services businessman who took over the agency in May.

SSA changed what data it reports publicly last month, removing many metrics on the agency’s phone line — such as current call wait times, callback wait times, the number of people waiting on hold and the number waiting for a callback — and processing times for some benefits. 

“More accurate data is absolutely essential to oversight,” said Warren. “So we've gotten commitment to an independent audit of those data and much more transparency about the data that will be posted.”

An SSA spokesperson confirmed with Nextgov/FCW that "Commissioner Bisignano agreed with Senator Warren’s suggestion to have SSA OIG audit the numbers he provided to the Senator, which were prepared using long-held measurement methodology by the dedicated federal workforce at SSA.” They are currently working with the OIG to hammer out the scope and timing of the audit.

The spokesperson called the meeting "productive," saying that Bisignano “presented improved customer service metrics that are currently being realized on the phone, in field offices, and online.”

Warren has been zeroed in on SSA oversight since she helped launch a Social Security “war room” in the spring alongside Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

“I feel like, for the first time in six months, we've really got a foot in the door on getting reliable counts on what's going on within the Social Security Administration,” she told reporters Wednesday.

SSA still reports its average speed answering phone calls for the fiscal year to date, through the last full month, as well as metrics about how many callers use the agency’s automated options.

Bisignano told lawmakers last month that SSA changed the metrics so as to not discourage people from calling the agency.

The speed of answer metric listed on the website now no longer includes the time spent waiting for a callback from the agency for the people who opt for that option instead of waiting on hold, Kathleen Romig, director of social security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Nextgov/FCW.

It also averages in people that use a self-service option on the phone, she noted. Since picking one of those options presumably doesn’t take long, the inclusion of self service may be lowering the statistic in a way Romig said is “misleading” if people are wanting to know how long it takes to get to a human agent at the agency. 

SSA is touting faster response times on its phone line, saying in a press release Wednesday that it’s reduced the average speed to answer to 6 minutes last week as opposed to 30 minutes last year.

But the measure isn’t that useful for tracking how the agency’s phone line is doing over time, said Romig, given that the number of people that select a callback or self service option has been going up over time. 

“I have no doubt that phone hold times are improving,” said Romig, who herself used to work at the agency, which has recently reassigned 1,000 employees to handle calls. But she added that “they're mixing apples and oranges.”

SSA says it wants to meet customers wherever they are. 

“Our vision is centered on providing outstanding service that works for everyone we serve—whether they call, walk into a field office, or choose to manage their benefits online,” Bisignano said in a statement.

Wait times for field offices are at an average of 23 minutes so far this year, as opposed to 30 minutes last year, SSA said Wednesday. 

The coming audit will cover “how the data are collected and how the data are reported,” Warren said.

Bisignano also agreed to publicly report more data including the number of dropped calls and what percent of callers resolve their issue over the phone, said Warren. 

Also on Warren’s list of oversight priorities are details reported by Nextgov/FCW that — despite claims about the agency’s phone line being rife with fraud — checks installed earlier this year found hardly any fraud but did slow down retirement claim processing. 

She’s also following up on staffing losses at the agency, which is looking to lose about 12% of its already historically-low workforce. So far, it’s shed 3,700 employees, Bisignano told Congress last month.

Asked about Bisignano’s plans to push people online and use automation throughout SSA, Warren said that “the best way to test that claim is to get accurate data about how well SSA is serving the people who need it, and that's why the data are, to me, the heart of today's conversation.”