SHARE Benefits Optimization Project

SHARE Benefits Optimization Project

Project Charter For Certification

Executive Sponsor –Ed burckle,

GSD Cabinet Secretary

Business Owner - Gail Kenny

Project Manager – Helene Minot

Original Plan Date: June 20, 2013

Revision Date: June 24, 2013

Revision: [1.1]

table of contents

1. project background

1.1Executive Summary -rationale for the project

1.2Summary of the foundation planning and documentation for the project

1.3 Project Certification Requirements

2.0 Justification, Objectives and impacts

2.1 Agency Justification

2.2 Business Objectives

2.3 Technical Objectives

2.4 Impact on Organization

2.5 Transition to Operations

3.0 Project/Product Scope of Work

3.1 Deliverables

3.1.1 Project Deliverables

3.1.2 Product Deliverables

3.2 Success and QUALITY METRICS

4.0 Schedule Estimate

5.0 Budget Estimate

5.1 Funding Source(s)

5.2. Budget By Major Deliverable or Type of expense -

5.3 Budget By Project Phase or Certification Phase

6.0 Project Authority and Organizational Structure

6.1 STAKEHOLDERS

6.2 PROJECT GOVERNANCE PLAN

6.3 PROJECT MANAGER

6.3.1 PROJECT MANAGER CONTACT INFORMATION

6.3.2 PROJECT MANAGER BACKGROUND

6.4 PROJECT TEAM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

6.5 Project management Methodology

7.0 Constraints

8.0 Dependencies

9.0 Assumptions

10.0 Significant Risks and Mitigation Strategy

11.0 COMMUNICATION PLAN

11.1 Communication Purpose & Objectives

11.2 Communication Approach

11.3 Communication Success Factors

11.4 Communication Roles & Responsibilities

11.5 Communication Process

11.6 Target Audiences

11.7 Topics for Communication

11.8 Status Meetings

12.0 INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION - IV&V

13.0 Project Charter Agency Approval Signatures

14.0 Project Charter Certification Approval Signature

Revision History

Revision Number / Date / Comment
1.0 / June 20, 2013 / Original DoIT PMO Document
1.1 / June 24, 2013 / Final Project Charter

Project Charter: SHARE Benefits Optimization Project1

1. project background

1.1Executive Summary -rationale for the project

The Risk Management Division (RMD) of the General Services Department (GSD) is comprised of the Risk Management and Employee Group Health Benefits Programs and was created to protect and conserve the State of New Mexico’s human and physical resources and financial assets by providing multi-line insurance coverage programs, employee health benefits and legal defense.

RMD is responsible for the Risk Management Program, which provides various lines of insurance coverage programs for state and local entities, along with loss prevention and control and claims administration, and for the Employee Group Health Benefits Program,which covers employees of state government and participating local public bodies and their dependents.

By agreement with DFA and LFC when performance budgeting was implemented, the RMD administrationbudget included funding for the staff and operating costs required to support these programs. Each fund is assessed for staff and operation costs through the Other Financing Uses budget category. Therefore, the budget for each fund clearly reflects costs associated with that activity.

GSD/RMD is a self-insured carrier responsible to provide insurance benefits for approximately 80,000 public employees and their dependents. The Employee Group Health Benefits Program (EBB) provides the following services:

Employee Health Benefits: Medical, Pharmacy, Dental, Vision and Basic Disability
Voluntary Benefits: Whole and Term Life, Legal and Long-Term Disability, Pre-Tax Flexible Accounts (FLEX)

Benefits Administration History

During the third quarter of 2010, Oracle Consulting was hired to conduct a Health Assessment of the SHARE HCM Benefits/COBRA system modules and identify the causes of customer complaints and files dropping off and recommend an approach to resolving the issues.

Oracle conducted a 15 week study and met with the RMD, DoIT and SHARE Benefits/COBRA administrative, technical and functional staff to identify errors that were occurring and customer complaints that were being received concerning Benefits processing. The results of the Health Assessment resulted in the submittal of the following findings and recommendations to the SoNM;

1)A list of “quick fixes” that could be resolved thru Oracle technical and functional support and internal technical staff.

2)A Technical Assessment document for Base Benefit, Benefits Administration and COBRA Administration

3) a Functional Assessment document for Base Benefit, Benefits Administration and COBRA Administration

4)Issues discovered were categorized by Subject (Base Benefits, Administration, COBRA Administration), were broken down by type (technical, functional, training) and prioritized according to level of impact to the health of the system and expected outcome. Resources required to resolve the issues and expected number of weeks it would take to complete the tasks were identified.

5)A cost proposal for correcting found issues was provided and a visual “roadmap” was provided to allow GSD to identify what issues could be resolved within given timeframes and budget accordingly.

The funding of this project allows for the optimization of the SHARE Benefit module. The optimization of the Benefits module will have a direct impact on the increased system performance and module functionality thru implementing corrective action concerning technical and functional critical issues. This project will also provide for the development and implementation of training documentation, the development and documentation of new business processes and workflows and will address user self-service capabilities and correct data integrity issues.

The Oracle Health Assessment Findings/Recommendations Report is available for reference upon request.

The Health Assessment that was conducted focused on Benefits technical related issues and functionality. The Assessment included the following tasks with associated formal Technical and Functional Assessment Reports defining the issues, causes and recommended corrective actions that need to be implemented;

Perform an in-depth review of SoNM’s Benefits Configuration including PeopleSoft Base Benefits and Benefits Administration and related PeopleSoft COBRA configuration.
Review 25 of State of New Mexico’s Benefits Administration UPKs
Evaluate Cobra Processing Errors to include but not limited to updating/changing COBRA notification letters and dependents overage waiver configuration
Evaluate 834 File Issues pertaining to multiple jobs, Employee IDS with matching social security numbers, and terminations prior to 7/1/2006 and provide trouble-shooting assistance and issue resolution.
Provide up to 40 hours of technical application support onsite as required for resolving employee transactional data issues pertaining to COBRA Processing Errors and 834 file issues.
Review PeopleSoft Benefits Billing functionality with SoNM and determine fit for SoNM moving forward.
Review PeopleSoft Local Public Billing (LPB) functionality and industry practices with SoNM.
Provide up to 40 hours of technical application support forevaluating and resolving data cleansingissues to past events.
Conduct up to 8 hours of PeopleSoft Benefits Administration Round Table Sessions between the Oracle Functional Benefits Consultant and SoNM Benefits end-users to discuss outstanding questions on Benefits Administration functionality and configuration as it pertains to SoNM’s Benefit business processes and configuration.
Provide up to 24 hours of general review of Agency Job Aides pertaining to Benefits and Hire processes.
Review and assess SoNM Benefits Self Service functionality and business requirements.

A decision was made in 2013 to outsource the administration of the Employee Benefits program to a third party administrator, ERISA. As part of the outsourcing effort, several of the issues identified above are in the process of being resolved. COBRA will be fully administered utilizing ERISA’s off-site system. GSD will terminate their support contract with their 3rd party COBRA billing system support vendor. COBRA transaction will no longer occur in SHARE. As a result of this change, minimal work will need to be perform in the SHARE COBRA module, thus reducing time and budget originally scoped in the FY14 Business Case. Additionally, Local Public Bodies (LPBs) will also be administered in the ERISA benefits off-site system and therefore the LPB billing component of the FY14 Project scope will be a non-requirement.

The project’s focus and goalwill be redirected to the following milestones;1) define new business processes for State HR and RMD Benefits staff, 2) define and assign new security roles for State and TPA staff, 3) implement Self-Serve eBenefits functionality and train parties and 4) optimize technical operations of SHARE to improve timeliness of workflow processes and minimization of errors.

The SHARE Benefits Optimization project will be defined in three (3) Phases.

PHASE I project objectives are:

Update and re-define security roles and permissions;
Implement Security roles for TPA
Down-size Benefits Administration security for State staff in lieu of the TPA
Create security and IDs for State employee end-users for Self Service
Define Business Process Requirements and workflows for State HR and EBB staff to take effect after Benefits Administration for State Employees have been transitioned to TPA
Implement Employee Self-Serve eBenefits portal in SHARE related to Benefits Administration and conduct training to State HR, RMD Benefits and ERISA staff

PHASE II project objectives are:

Resolve technical issues that contribute to inefficiencies in work flow processes, data processing errors, and system performance
Reduce or eliminate manual processes related to Benefits Open Enrollment
Conduct additional training

Phase III project objectives are:

Implement other high-medium rated priority assessment recommendations as budget and schedule will allow as defined during planning phase.

The project will focus on the following processes:

PROCESS / DESCRIPTION
Defining new business process for State HR and RMD Benefits staff / Conduct discovery sessions to define As-Is and To-Be business processes for State HR and RMD Benefits Staff as impacted by outsourcing of State Employee Group Health Benefits Administration to 3rd Party Administrator
Security roles and permissions / Modify existing state security roles, identify requirements and assign TPA security roles. Add appropriate security for state employees to access Self Service eBenefits data.
Self Service portal / Deploy SHARE based employee Self Service functionality to facilitate the administration of benefits.
Benefits business process remediation. / Remediation of technical issues discovered in HCM modules that affect state employee benefits and COBRA administration.

1.2Summary of the foundation planning and documentation for the project

A funding request was submitted in FY12 and again in FY13 to utilize RMD Enterprise Fund Health Benefits #752 to address the issues that were discovered during the Oracle Health Assessment. The requests were not approved. A subsequent FY14 request was submitted and funding in the amount of $757.2 was approved.

Document FY14 FULL Business Case: SHARE Benefits/COBRA Optimization & configuration is available and contains a complete business case presentation.

1.3 Project Certification Requirements

Does the project fit into the criteria for certification? Which and how?

CRITERIA / YES/NO / EXPLANATION
Project is mission critical to the agency / Yes / State Employee Benefits program is being outsourced to a Third Party Administrator (TPA). It is essential that reduction of benefit errors be realized through corrective action, training and new business process re-engineering. Cost reductions are efficiency gained thru deployment of TPA, increased efficiency thru remediation of SHARE processes.
Project cost is equal to or in excess of $100,000.00 / Yes / $757.2 appropriation was approved in Flaws of 2013, Chap227, Sec 7 (5). RMD will need to hire outside consultants to implement and manage this project. GSD and DoIT do not have sufficient staffing to implement this project utilizing internal resources.
Project impacts customer on-line access / Yes / Deployment of PeopleSoft eBenefits module in SHARE enables employees to access benefits information and enroll on-line.
Project is one deemed appropriate by the Secretary of the DoIT / Yes / Yes. This project was recommended for approval of funding in the 2013 Legislative Session by the DoIT Cabinet Secretary. PCC certification for the Initiation Phase and the Planning Phases planned by June, 2013
Will an IT Architecture Review be required? / No / The benefit application is part of PeopleSoft/SHARE

2.0 Justification, Objectives and impacts

2.1 Agency Justification

IDENTIFY AGENCY MISSION, PERFORMANCE MEASURE OR STRATEGIC GOALS TO BE ADDRESSED THROUGH THIS PROJECT

Number / Description
Agency / SHARE is part of the DoIT statewide strategy to reduce the cost and complexity of information technology operations through an Enterprise model. It has imposed standardization in methodologies and adoption of best practices for IT activities as well as agency business processes. The DoIT Fiscal Year 2011 – 2013 Information Technology Strategic Plan includes the following goals:

To identify and develop multi-agency service delivery applications. Improve the value of the IT investment through enterprise models that improve and streamline the executive branch’s information technology systems
Establish interagency common business function collaboration

AGENCY justification 2 / Implementation of revised Security roles supports the business strategy of outsourcing Employee Benefit Administration.
The margin of error and security concerns puts GSD and the state at risk in several ways.
Deployment of Self Service eBenefits will reduce administrative costs. Other risk areas that need to be mitigated include:

If HIPAA related information is accessed, the State would face serious legal issues.
Data integrity and corruption – data errors may prevent the insured from receiving levels of medical and or emergency care attention required, putting insured lives in danger,
Data corruption has compounded over the past 4 years and will continue which also impacts payroll,
Processing costs will continue to rise,
Enrollment will decrease and employees attempt to find more reliable coverage which will reduce the revenue stream and result in higher costs for the remaining members.

2.2 Business Objectives

Use the following table to list measurable business objectives

Number / Description
Business Objective 1 / Evaluate the user security roles of SHARE Benefits Administration users in light of the transition of administration to a TPA. Evaluation will include State Employee needs and those of the TPA staff.
Business Objective 2 / Deploy Self Service eBenefits functionality for use by employees to view their own benefits data.

2.3 Technical Objectives

Number / Description
Technical Objective 1 / Update SHARE USER security roles to support new user roles as defined by the move to the third party administrator. Ensure proper security and access roles are provided to all users.
Technical Objective 2 / Implement employee Self Service portal access to benefit information.

2.4 Impact on Organization

The impacts on the organization are areas that need to be addressed by the project through its planning process. They may not be internal project risks, but they can impact the success of the project’s implementation.

Area / Description
End user / HR end users of HCM SHARE will be provided with new security access. Limited training will be required as functionality will decrease.
TPA users of HCM SHARE will be provided training to fit their respective roles.
Employee end users will receive education on how to access their benefit data in the eBenefits portal.
Business Processes / Business processes will change with the transition to the third party administrator.
It Operations and staffing / The impact to IT operations is negligible as the SHARE team is already in place to support new and streamlined initiatives.
Other / The implementation of Self Service eBenefits will reduce internal administrative time.

2.5 Transition to Operations

The transition to operations areas include items that are asked in the certification form to assure that the project has accounted or will account for these matters in its planning and requirements specifications.

Area / Description
Preliminary Operations location and staffing plans / Staff at DoIT for SHARE support, RMD Benefits administration, and HR representative’s state wide will maintain their current locations and staffing plans.
Data Security, Business Continuity / The existing data security protocols will be extended to include new SHARE applications and functionality as well as setting up new roles for the TPA and down-sizing current roles given to State HR and Benefits staff.
Maintenance Strategy / The existing maintenance strategy will be extended to include new SHARE applications and functionality
Interoperability / The applications are part of SHARE, which can be integrated with other web sites as applicable.
Record retention / The existing records retention protocols will be extended to include new SHARE applications and functionality
Consolidation strategy / NA

3.0 Project/ProductScope of Work

3.1 Deliverables

3.1.1 Project Deliverables

This initial list of project deliverables are those called for by the IT Certification Process and Project Oversight memorandum, but does not exhaust the project deliverable documents

Project Charter / The Project Charter for Certification sets the overall scope for the project, the governance structure, and when signed is considered permission to proceed with the project. The Project Charter for Certification is used to provide the Project Certification Committee with adequate knowledge of the project and its planning to certify the initiation phase of the project
Certification Form / The Request for Certification and Release of Funds form is submitted when a project goes for any of the certification phases. It deals with the financial aspects of the project, as well as other topics that indicate the level of planning that has gone into the project. Many of the questions have been incorporated into the preparation of the project charter
Project Management Plan / Project Management Plan is a formal document approved by the executive sponsor and the Department and developed in the plan phase used to manage project execution, control, and project close. The primary uses of the project plan are to document planning assumptions and decisions, facilitate communication among stakeholders, and documents approved scope, cost and schedule baselines. A project plan includes at least other plans for issue escalation, change control, communications, deliverable review and acceptance, staff acquisition, and risk management. plan.”
IV&V Contract & Reports / Independent verification and validation (IV&V) means the process of evaluating a project to determine compliance with specified requirements and the process of determining whether the products of a given development phase fulfill the requirements established during the previous stage, both of which are performed by an organization independent of the lead agency. Independent verification and validation assessment reporting. The Department requires all projects subject to oversight to engage an independent verification and validation contractor unless waived by the Department.
IT Service Contracts / The Department of Information Technology and the State Purchasing Division of General Services have established a template for all IT related contracts.
Risk Assessment and management / The DoIT Initial PROJECT RISK ASSESSMENT template which is meant to fulfill the following requirement:
“Prepare a written risk assessment report at the inception of a project and at end of each product development lifecycle phase or more frequently for large high-risk projects. Each risk assessment shall be included as a project activity in project schedule.” Project Oversight Process memorandum
Project Schedule / A tool used to indicate the planned dates, dependencies, and assigned resources for performing activities and for meeting milestones. The defacto standard is Microsoft Project
Monthly Project Status Reports to DoIT / Project status reports. For all projects that require Department oversight, the lead agency project manager shall submit an agency approved project status report on a monthly basis to the Department.
Project Closeout Report / This is the Template used to request that the project be officially closed. Note that project closure is the last phase of the certification process

3.1.2 Product Deliverables

The product deliverable documents listed here are anticipated to be included in the project: