Posted on: Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Grades improve in state audit of QUEST project

Advertiser Staff

The legislative auditor has issued improved grades for a project designed to demonstrate how managed care works for state-financed healthcare services with the QUEST program.

In 1996, the auditor's office blasted the project as "inadequately planned and hastily implemented, resulting in management problems and the inability to substantiate its effectiveness and efficiency claims."

The audit this week found the office improved its management information system but recommended the adoption of an operations manual to help provide standard procedures for processing QUEST applications. QUEST has been keeping project costs under control, with the average annual cost per person enrolled in the program at less than $2,000 from 1998 to 2001, according to the audit.

The state Department of Human Services, which oversees the QUEST program, agreed with many of the recommendations but noted that it would take federal authority to make the demonstration project a permanent program.