Integrity check: 4 key questions for program evaluation
Fraud, abuse, and errors divert resources from government programs and undermine public confidence in these programs and the agencies that administer them. Earlier this year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that federal agencies estimated spending $236 billion dollars in improper payments in federal fiscal year 2023.
To address the problem, government agencies have implemented various initiatives to protect program integrity. While they differ in important ways, a common feature of these initiatives is that they are complex, because reducing improper payments can require as much program knowledge, operational sophistication, and coordination as is needed to run the programs.
"The most successful integrity reviews start with four basic questions," write Andrew M Asher , Jonathan Ladinsky , and Jason Weinstock .
"Evaluating and improving the effectiveness of these program integrity initiatives is critical, not only for ensuring prudent financial and program management, but for programs’ viability."
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1wThis is certainly a timely topic given the incoming administration's desire to cut programs in the federal government. The last two questions relate to measuring results for program integrity initiatives. Can evaluating the costs and benefits of some of these programs help defend these initiatives with the new administration? In the pharmaceutical industry oversight agencies often require cost-effectiveness or cost-utility analyses to establish the value of a product under consideration. Is this type of economic evaluation being used to evaluate the value of these program integrity initiatives? I recognize that many of these program initiatives are complex and vary by locality which may make evaluating outcomes more challenging.