Ongoing Performance Review
To ensure the delivery of quality services you should periodically review your provider’s performance and/or require recertification after a given amount of time. This will also provide assurance that the program meets the funder’s standards. Your program should develop a review protocol that reflects FMS provider tasks, funder standards, and the provisions of the provider agreement or contract. Some performance tenets include:
- The FMS provider operates in accordance with the philosophy of participant direction
- The FMS provider provides accurate and timely reports to participants, contracting entity, and other stakeholders
- The FMS provider meets the contracting entity’s expectations for customer service
- The FMS provider develops a cooperative working relationship with the counseling entity
- The FMS provider complies with all state and federal tax and insurance requirements
- If the FMS Provider uses the F/EA model, pay special attention to those related to serving as an agent of participant employers
- The FMS provider pays workers and vendors accurately and timely
- The FMS provider maintains the integrity and validity of its invoicing to the contracting entity
Your program will need an approach for assessing a provider’s performance against the performance tenets that are important to you. Below are some suggested steps.
- Determine the performance tenets that are important to you
- Determine how you will monitor the performance for each tenet
- Determine how you will measure that performance. What is your standard? What would constitute a provider not meeting your standard?
- Collect information from the provider that allows you to assess their performance
- Some of this information may be collected regularly, such as:
- Reconciled bank statements
- Proof of taxes being paid with the IRS and state tax agencies
- Reports of complaints to the provider and resolutions
- Reports of participant spending as compared to participant budgets
- Some of this information may be examined less regularly, such as:
- Ensuring each participant has an Employer Identification Number (F/EA only; not applicable for AwC)
- Reviewing participant and employee records to ensure all requisite information is there
- Determine your approach if the provider does not meet a performance standard. You might:
- Ask the provider to develop a corrective action plan
- Develop a corrective plan for the provider and ask them to implement it
- Give the provider a timeframe by which the issue must be resolved
- Terminate the provider’s contract or provider agreement (in a worst case scenario)
In developing your approach, you may find the Sample FMS Performance Standards helpful, as well as the F/EA Performance Monitoring Worksheet or the AwC Performance Monitoring Worksheet.