IU to assess state agency

A consulting group led by IU faculty and students is undertaking the largest state agency account in its history.\nProfessor John Bates of the Kelley School of Business is leading a group of four graduate students in an assessment of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration's accounting principles.\n"This is a risk assessment analysis," Bates said. "What we're doing is trying to determine the risks of certain paths the agency takes."\nThe group will be evaluating the past performances of five agency programs, including the Medicaid and Medicare programs, which account for over two-thirds of the agency's $6 billion budget, according to its Web site.\nBates said the group will examine the contacts under which these agencies operate and the effectiveness of the claims process. It will also evaluate how the doctors and providers, who are reimbursed, are selected and monitored to make sure (the FSSA) is "getting what it's paying for."\nWhile the group is doing a service to the state, the four Kelley graduate students involved in the project are also gaining experience. Mary Pat Keogh, Blake Hooper, Alicia Poluga and Dwi Damia are the participants.\n"I hope that our team is able to provide a service to FSSA and to the state," Keogh said. "They need man-hours and we gain experience in the field."\nAnd the man-hours have been coming fast.\n"Each team devotes 270 hours and 30 hours per faculty member," Bates said. "This is a semester-long project that began in January. We will make our final report in April."\nThe FSSA has come under fire recently for misappropriated funds amounting to $10 million, according to The Indianapolis Star. Although the FSSA has the largest budget of any agency assessed by an IU consulting group, Bates said they consult for a number of other groups. \n"We consult everyone from Eli Lilly to Mattingly Bat Company, owned by Don Mattingly. But this is by far the biggest project as far as dollar budget for a state agency," Bates said.\nOne advantage for state agencies to use the IU consulting group is the cost -- the project is free to the state.\n"Nobody pays for it," Bates said. "The students get credit for this, but we offer this as a free service to our clients. All we ask for is travel expenses."\nAlthough the heat is dropping on the FSSA, Bates said he will remain objective.\n"I don't really have any expectations," he said. "Generally, you try to go in with a clean slate. This is an agency that has come under a lot of heat lately. But we don't come in expecting to find problems."\nThe most valuable aspect of this project, Bates said, is the job experience.\n"The FSSA is understaffed and can't give attention to everything, so they give our students experience in a public service job. I think it's a win/win situation for both parties involved."\n-- Contact staff writer Rick Newkirk at renewkir@indiana.edu.