HHS Shows Improvement on Bush Administration Management Scorecard

The White House Office of Management and Budget on July 15 released updated management scorecards for 26 federal agencies and departments, including HHS, Reuters/USA Today reports (Reuters/USA Today, 7/16). The scorecards, which the Bush administration unveiled in February, use a "traffic light system" -- green for "success," yellow for "mixed results" and red for "unsatisfactory" -- to rate the performance of 15 executive departments and 11 smaller agencies. The scorecard rates the agencies in five management areas: the ability of staff to meet public concerns, financial management, online services, the level of cost reduction through competition among public and private suppliers and the degree to which agencies have tied spending to results (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/5). In the first scorecard, HHS received red lights in all areas. In the updated scorecard, HHS received a green light for online services and yellow lights in the four other areas (" Executive Branch Management Scorecard"). An OMB report included with the scorecard found that HHS has "provided strong e-government leadership on e-Grants," a program expected to "simplify and unify government grant systems" (" Progress Implementing the President's Management Agenda"). The Department of Veterans Affairs, which also received red lights in all areas in the first scorecard, received a green light for ties between spending and results and yellow lights in the four other categories ("Executive Branch Management Scorecard"). The scorecard and the OMB report are available online.