Summary: GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) field office modernization project to: (1) evaluate the project's status; and (2) assess how modernization is affecting field operations.
GAO found that: (1) SSA spent about $148 million to modernize computer equipment in 1,300 field offices; (2) SSA met its initial field office hardware installation schedule; (3) SSA redesigned portions of its retirement software and planned to complete the redesign by 1992; (4) the increased number of computer terminals and the ability to access database information for retirement and supplemental income accounts allowed personnel to promptly answer client inquiries, but the new software did not permit staff to retrieve information needed to process retirement claims; and (5) the new system included a security feature to ensure the integrity of the automated claims process. GAO also found that SSA is assessing internal controls to reduce unauthorized transactions and the amount of time that terminals remain online without being used.
