Recommendation 1
It is recommended that the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management improve the Program governance structure by:
- Updating the Treatment Benefits Roles and Responsibilities document to reflect changes in the organizational structure, roles and responsibilities of non-program unit staff and relevant committees, program unit objectives, key activities and outputs, and priorities;
- Producing a mid to long-term strategic and operational plan for the Treatment Benefits Program Management Unit, including resource needs, timelines, goals and linkages to Treatment Benefit Program priorities; and
- Sharing the above noted documents with departmental staff and third-party health claims processing staff.
Management Response
Management agrees with this recommendation.
| Corrective Action to be taken | Office of Primary Interest (OPI) | Target Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Given the re-organization of the program management function for all Health Care Programs under a single Director effective January 22, 2018, the roles, responsibilities, objectives, priorities, and key activities/outputs associated with the program management of Treatment Benefits will be reviewed and updated with a view to ensuring a clear understanding by VAC staff and external partners. | Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management | 30-June-2018 |
| Develop a strategic and operational plan addressing resource needs, timelines, goals and linkages to priorities. This plan will be developed in consultation/collaboration with key players. This plan will identify mid to long term actions and will be driven by the updated roles and responsibilities of the Treatment Benefits Program noted above. | 30-November-2018 | |
| Distribute the updated roles and responsibilities document and the strategic and operational plan to VAC staff, third-party health claims processing staff and other stakeholders as applicable. | 31-December-2018 |
Recommendation 2
It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery finalize the Benefits Review Committee Terms of Reference (including membership roles and committee purpose), communicate the document with departmental staff and third-party health claims processing staff, and ensure that regular meetings occur on a go-forward basis.
Management Response
Management agrees with this recommendation.
| Corrective Action to be taken | Office of Primary Interest (OPI) | Target Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Convene a meeting of the Benefits Review Committee based on the interim Terms of Reference. | Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery | 31-May-2018 |
| Collaborate with the Health Professionals Division to finalize the Terms of Reference to ensure membership, roles, meeting frequency and committee purpose are established. | Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management | 30-September-2018 |
| Distribute finalized BRC Terms of Reference to VAC and third-party health claims processing staff, as applicable. | Director General, Health Professionals and Chief Medical Officer | 31-October-2018 |
| Ensure Committee meetings occur on a regular basis, as agreed upon in the Terms of Reference. | 31-December-2018 |
Recommendation 3
It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery work in collaboration with relevant areas across the department to strengthen the collection and analysis of data to support the management of the Treatment Benefits Program (such as performance measurement, risk areas, trend analysis, and regular monitoring of benefit specific data).
Management Response
Management agrees with this recommendation. However, the nature, scope and timing of implementation will be subject to the availability and allocation of resources as well as any direction to focus attention on higher order Departmental priorities.
| Corrective Action to be taken | Office of Primary Interest (OPI) | Target Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Review and compile collection of currently available data. | Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery | 30-June-2018 |
| Strengthen the collection of relevant data to support the Treatment Benefits Program by working in collaboration with the Performance Monitoring Unit, Contract Unit, third-party health claims processing staff, and Corporate Statistics to develop and implement a framework to enhance reporting and tracking tools to better enable data/trend analysis. | In conjunction with Assistant Deputy Minister, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Services | 30-September-2018 |
| Perform trend analysis. | Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management | 30-November-2018 |
| Monitor relevant data and trend analyses on a regular basis to identify areas of risk. | 31-March-2019 |
Recommendation 4
It is recommended that the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management implement a cycle of benefit reviews to ensure they are updated on a continuous and efficient basis.
Management Response
Management agrees with this recommendation.
| Corrective Action to be taken | Office of Primary Interest (OPI) | Target Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Develop an approach for a cyclical review of treatment benefits and services and build this approach into mid- and long-term activities identified in the strategic and operational plan. | Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management | 30-November-2018 |
| Implement a review cycle for treatment benefits and services. | 31-December-2018 | |
| Ensure benefits and services are updated on a continuous and efficient basis. | 31-March-2019 | |
| Explore options for streamlining the assessment/approval process for some treatment benefits and services (e.g., low-risk items) and for further delegating authority to appropriate staff. | 31-December-2018 |