U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

2007 Presidential Award for Management Excellence

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Competitive Sourcing
Innovative and Exemplary Practices

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States Government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.  The Department has more than 300 programs that cover a wide spectrum of activities to include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  As the sentinel for public health in the United States and throughout the world, the CDC strives to protect people's health and safety, provide reliable health information, and improve health through strong partnerships. 

One strong partnership is CDC's collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  With OMB support, HHS CDC has become the first Federal civilian agency to successfully implement a High Performing Organization (HPO), an innovative alternative to public-private competition.  The HPO has enabled CDC to shift significant budget and staffing resources to front-line public health activities, while providing better support services to the agency's science and program work. 

This innovative practice has a current projected annual savings of $54,066 per FTE - 78 percent greater than the average annual savings generated through CDC's 14 public-private competitions ($30,322 per FTE) and 57 percent greater than the OMB-reported average savings from public-private competitions Governmentwide in FY 2006 ($34,500 per FTE). 

Total projected savings are approximately $512 million, raised from earlier estimates of $440 million.

The CDC partnership with OMB created a model for developing a HPO that can be replicated throughout Government to achieve similar savings for the American taxpayer.