Resource Balancing / Site Location Models |
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These
models were designed to be an organizational
analysis aid to managers of case/document
processing organizations. They help
improve the benefits from processing
cases while optimally allocating staff
and/or hiring new staff They are state-of-the-art
models based on Activity Modeling
and Linear Programming. These models
require a low level of data collection
effort and provide management with
an invaluable tool for organizational
analysis. Some of the potential benefits
of using these models are:
- Increase
in collections and/or other benefits
as a result of an increase in efficiency
in
case/document processing.
- Representation
of the organization in a manner
that enhances the understanding
of how work . flows through the
system and how different sections
of the organization interact with
each other.
- Higher collaboration
between different sections of the
organization.
- Vital information
on staffing allocation. For example,
reallocation of existing staff,
estimation of the number of new
hires and their allocation within
the organization, use of part-time
staff, or effectiveness of a pool
of floating staff
- Streamlined
work flow resulting in higher collections/benefits
and higher staff morale because
of more personally manageable work
flow.
Three applications
of these models are briefly described
below.
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A
Resource Balancing Model for the IRS
Information Returns Program.
This was a project
with the Internal Revenue Service.
A computerized model of Information
Returns Program was developed to provide
policy makers with information that
will help support their decision making
in allocating staff resources and
setting case priorities. The model
enables the IRS to explore alternative
policies in cost/benefit terms, and
also suggests an optimal course to
follow, given pre-specified constraints.
The model is used by the IRS to answer
a variety of issues as indicated above. |
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A
Site Location/Sta.ng Model for the O.ce
of Hearings and Appeals.
In 1982, the Social Security
Administration’s Office of Hearings
and Appeals decided to fully federalize
the disability hearing process in
order to increase the efficiency of
the process and to allow face-to-face
appearances of claimants and beneficiaries
before SSA decision makers. In order
to do this they were needed to determine
the locations of “Fair Hearing”
sites across the United States and
the allocation of staff to these sites.
The Site Location/Staffing Model was
developed to help solve the problem
of maximizing the efficiency of the
Hearings and Appeals process by choosing
primary sites, assigning remote sites
to them and staffing the primary sites
to meet the caseload at the primary
sites and the remote sites serviced
by them. The results of the model
were recently used to make such decisions.
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A
Resource Balancing Model for the HHS
Child Support Program.
This was developed
for the Child Support Enforcement
program (Title IV-D) in the Department
of Health and Human Services. The
IV-D managers are expected to meet
multiple, and often, conflicting goals.
The IV-D manager is often caught in
the middle of these confiicting goals
without sufficient resources and with
little knowledge of how best to allocate
staff or set case processing priorities.
The model was designed to aid IV-D
managers in deciding how best to allocate
staff and set case processing priorities
in order to meet program goals. The
types of issues addressed are described
in the above general description of
these models.
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