AI to Improve Public Access to the Administrative Appeals Process

Section 1: Use Case Identifiers

Use Case ID: HHS-DAB-00001
Agency: HHS
Op Div/Staff Div: DAB
Use Case Topic Area: Mission-Enabling (internal agency support)
Is the AI use case found in the below list of general commercial AI products and services?
None of the above.
What is the intended purpose and expected benefits of the AI?
The DAB adjudicates disputes under more than 60 statutory authorities. The workload is divided between the DAB's four adjudicatory divisions (e.g., the Board, the Civil Remedies Division, the Medicare Operations Division and the Alternative Disputes Resolution Division. Helping appellants decide which entity within the DAB is responsible for adjudicating their appeal will increase efficiency in adjudication and customer experience.

The DAB's appellant community (e.g., e-file users) will be provided immediate assistance and accurate information; deaf and hard-of-hearing populations and individuals with limited English proficiency are helped without the use of intermediaries, such as interpreters, translators, and relay services. After determining the appropriate division within the DAB responsible for adjudicating the appeal, the Chatbot can provide a link to the e-file website directly connecting the user to the correct e-file system. Other benefits include: Improve public access to the appeals process by providing instant, accurate and complete filing information; Increase the DAB's productivity by refocusing the workforce to case resolution instead of responding the filing inquires and processing and appropriately routing misfiled appeals; and Improve resource allocation based on each Division's actual workload.
Describe the AI system's outputs.
A chatbot on the DAB's website can direct filers to the correct Division and e-file system with which the appeal should be filed by using natural language processing (e.g., questions and responses) with the ability to further refine and increase accuracy based on user response.
Stage of Development: Acquisition and/or Development
Is the AI use case rights-impacting, safety-impacting, both, or neither?
Neither

Section 2: Use Case Summary

Date Initiated: 04/2023
Date when Acquisition and/or Development began: 07/2023
Date Implemented: N/A
Date Retired: N/A
Was the AI system involved in this use case developed (or is it to be developed) under contract(s) or in-house?
Developed in-house.
Provide the Procurement Instrument Identifier(s) (PIID) of the contract(s) used.
N/A
Is this AI use case supporting a High-Impact Service Provider (HISP) public-facing service?
N/A
Does this AI use case disseminate information to the public?
N/A
How is the agency ensuring compliance with Information Quality Act guidelines, if applicable?
N/A
Does this AI use case involve personally identifiable information (PII) that is maintained by the agency?
N/A
Has the Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP) assessed the privacy risks associated with this AI use case?
ongoing

Section 3: Data and Code

Do you have access to an enterprise data catalog or agency-wide data repository that enables you to identify whether or not the necessary datasets exist and are ready to develop your use case?
Yes
Describe any agency-owned data used to train, fine-tune, and/or evaluate performance of the model(s) used in this use case.
None
Is there available documentation for the model training and evaluation data that demonstrates the degree to which it is appropriate to be used in analysis or for making predictions?
Documentation is complete
Which, if any, demographic variables does the AI use case explicitly use as model features?
N/A
Does this project include custom-developed code?
N/A
Does the agency have access to the code associated with the AI use case?
N/A
If the code is open-source, provide the link for the publicly available source code.
N/A

Section 4: AI Enablement and Infrastructure

Does this AI use case have an associated Authority to Operate (ATO) for an AI system?
Yes
System Name: DAB E-file
How long have you waited for the necessary developer tools to implement the AI use case?
More than 12 months
For this AI use case, is the required IT infrastructure provisioned via a centralized intake form or process inside the agency?
Yes
Do you have a process in place to request access to computing resources for model training and development of the AI involved in this use case?
Yes
Has communication regarding the provisioning of your requested resources been timely?
Yes
How are existing data science tools, libraries, data products, and internally-developed AI infrastructure being re-used for the current AI use case?
Use of existing data platforms
Has information regarding the AI use case, including performance metrics and intended use of the model, been made available for review and feedback within the agency?
Documentation has been developed