NEWS ITEM
Albert
Hawkins
Executive Commissioner
Date: Jan. 20, 2006
Contact:
Stephanie Goodman, (512) 424-6951
More Options Mean Improved Service for Clients,
Employees of South Austin Benefits Office
It only took a glance to see that something was different in HHSC’s South Austin benefits eligibility office.
Unlike most Fridays, when the Eberhart Lane lobby normally teems with people waiting to apply for Medicaid, food stamps, CHIP, TANF and other services, the selection of empty chairs was plentiful on Jan. 20. That was the first day in which people in Travis and Hays Counties gained several new options for applying for services and tracking their applications.
The most obvious new feature was a self-service center equipped with three Internet-connected computers and three telephones. Clients who opted for self-service were offered the choice of using the computers to complete their applications or accessing the eligibility system by dialing 2-1-1.
“I was really anxious before 8 o’clock this morning,” admitted Charles Gordon, a veteran program manager who now works in the Community Initiatives unit helping ease the transition to the new, expanded system. “But I’ve got to say, it seems to be going really well and living up to all our expectations. When people walk in, we tell them about all the options they now have. The vast majority are choosing to either take advantage of our self-service room, to use a phone or computer to apply at home or elsewhere, or to mail or fax their forms.”
In fact, Gordon said, as of 12:45 p.m., not a single walk-in customer had chosen to stay and schedule a face-to-face appointment with an eligibility specialist.
The change was just as dramatic for the office’s employees as it was for their customers. Clerk Maria Rangel said the workload was greatly reduced because “now we don’t spend so much time getting managers’ signatures [on completed forms], making a copy here, taking a copy there. It’s been a very good thing as far as I can see.”
Rangel added that other recent changes - such as streamlining client interviews so they last 30 minutes rather than an hour and transmitting applicant information to Midland - also have provided welcome relief for eligibility workers.
Melanie Ponce, a Medicaid client from Austin, gave the office’s self-service room a thumbs-up after using it to supply additional application information for one of her two children. “Now that I know it’s here, I’m going to start accessing the system from our computer at home,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a really nice improvement.”
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