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Administrative Management in Public Welfare

Broadly defined, administrative management in public welfare is an array of supports necessary to make successful program, care, and fiscal management. Said supports include, without limitation, information management; reporting and analysis; compliance; claim processing or similar functions; billing; protection of confidential and other sensitive information; effort coordination, both intra- and inter-system or agency; consumer support and related activities; and coordination of program-specific case management efforts. Case management, administrative or otherwise, is seen as a service and as such is not encompassed by administrative management functions. A particular portfolio of projects encompassed under the auspice of administrative management is formed under the influence of numerous factors, for example:

ACA can reduce administrative burdens of public welfare agencies and allow them to focus on the areas of their traditional competencies.

• Served populations;
• Administrative level (e.g., federal, state, local);
• Organizational model;
• Regulatory framework;
• Program (system) profile and benefit packages;
• Stakeholder participation;
• Level of program (system) integration; and
• Resource management arrangements.

The growing diversity of public welfare programs, complexity of their administration, and difficulties with their adequate funding place significant demands on all management areas of public systems of care. Toward this end, one of the major needs of a public welfare agency is to establish and maintain clearly defined boundaries for each management office with meaningful accountability and avoiding duplication of efforts. In this context, the principal role of the administrative management function is to assure that all elements of the public service system are functioning effectively, consistent with their goals and regulatory guidelines, and in a publicly accountable manner.

Public welfare agencies, in general, and human services agencies, in particular, traditionally favor case-level activities viewing them as an opportunity to provide direct assistance to those in need. Because of this focus rooted in compassion and caring, administrative functions and responsibilities often acquire less structured and systematic attention than they actually require. Nevertheless, without a solid foundation of administrative supports other areas of a public welfare agency suffer numerous deficiencies that reduce potential effectiveness of case-level, episode-level, and encounter-level efforts.

ACA promotes public-private partnerships that allow participants to maintain focus on the areas of their traditional competencies, thus increasing effectiveness and productivity of their contributions. Our in-sourcing model allows public agencies to combine conventional service bureau approach with the advantages of coordinated management and centralized controls.

The ACA contribution to innovative solutions responsive to the needs of the public welfare industry in the administrative management area is most visible in the use of MASTRR™ Solutions product family, consulting and modeling services, monitoring of managed care programs, and regulatory compliance and reporting. In its professional engagements, ACA always attempts to approach administrative management issues in their relationship with other management areas in public welfare.

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