The FY 2004 budget request for General Departmental Management (GDM) includes $353,951,000 in appropriated funds and 1,406 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions. This request is $10,911,000, or 3.2 percent, above the comparable FY 2003 President's Budget request.

The GDM appropriation supports those activities associated with the Secretary's roles as chief policy officer and general manager of the Department in administering and overseeing the organization, programs, and activities of the Department. These activities are carried out through 12 Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs), including: the Immediate Office of the Secretary, the Departmental Appeals Board, and the following Offices: Administration and Management; Budget, Technology and Finance; Disability; General Counsel; Global Health Affairs; Intergovernmental Affairs; Legislation; Planning and Evaluation; Public Affairs; and Public Health and Science. (NOTE: Public Health Emergency Preparedness is funded from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund; see the PHSSEF section of this Justification.)

The Office of Public Health and Science
(OPHS) - the largest GDM STAFFDIV -
serves as the focal point for leadership and
coordination across the Department in
public health and science, and provides
advice and counsel to the Secretary on
public health and science issues. OPHS
also exercises management responsibility
for nine cross-cutting program offices,
including: Surgeon General, HIV/AIDS
Policy, Adolescent Family Life, Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion,
President's Council on Physical Fitness
and Sports, Minority Health, Women's
Health, Human Research Protections, and
Research Integrity.

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General Departmental Management

This justification includes narrative sections describing the activities of each STAFFDIV funded
under the GDM account, plus the Rent and Common Expenses accounts. (Resource tables
reflect only funding provided from the GDM appropriation. FTE figures include full-time, part-
time, and temporary employees.) This justification also includes selected performance
information, as required by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
Performance objectives and measures for activities in ASPE, ASBTF, ASAM, OPHS and the
Departmental Appeals Board are located at the "DM GPRA Performance Plans" tab.

Non-comparable appropriated funding for GDM during the last five years, including amounts available for obligation from both general funds and trust fund transfers, has been as follows:

In addition to appropriated funds, the GDM budget uses other sources and types of funding,
including inter-departmental delegations of authority, inter-agency reimbursements, and funds
from the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC) account. GDM also conducts
centrally-managed projects which benefit the Department's Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and
STAFFDIVS under the authority of the Economy Act (31 USC 1535) or other specific statutes.
Costs for these activities are distributed among the OPDIVs and STAFFDIVs on a proportional
basis, using an established cost distribution formula.

The FY 2004 budget request supports the President's Management Agenda and reflects cost savings from: consolidating administrative functions; organizational delayering to speed decision-making processes; competitive sourcing; implementation of effective workforce planning and human capital management strategies; and adoption of other economies and efficiencies in administrative operations.

The GDM FY 2004 budget request also reflects Information Technology (IT) savings which
will be realized from on-going IT consolidation efforts, and additional spending reductions made
possible through the streamlining or elimination of lower-priority projects. GDM is participating
in the consolidation of IT infrastructure support staff services across the eight smaller OPDIVs.
The implementation of this consolidation by October 2003 will further reduce infrastructure
expenditures for several OPDIVs.

Finally, HHS is implementing a Unified Financial Management System (UFMS) to replace five legacy accounting systerns currently used across the OPDIVs. The UFMS will integrate the Department's financial management structure, and provide HHS leaders with a more timely and

General Departmental Management

coordinated view of critical financial management information, including more accurate assessments of the cost of HHS programs. It will also promote the consolidation of accounting operations, and thereby substantially reduce the cost of providing accounting services throughout HHS. Similarly, by generating timely, reliable and consistent financial information, UFMS will enable OPDIV Heads and program administrators to make more timely and informed decisions regarding their operations. GDM requests a total of $1,793,000 to support this effort in FY 2004.

The Immediate Office of the Secretary (IOS) provides leadership, direction, policy, and management guidance to the Department, and support for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary in their roles as representatives of both the Administration and HHS. IOS serves as the nucleus for HHS activities. Responsibilities associated with policies and issues that the Secretary and HHS must confront daily include more than 300 programs, covering a wide spectrum of activities. Some of these issues include: health care quality, biomedical research; food and drug safety; reducing the use of tobacco products; Medicare; Medicaid; HIV/AIDS; women's health; domestic violence; public health; Head Start; teen pregnancy; youth substance abuse; and many other critical Federal responsibilities.

The major objectives of IOS in FY 2004 will be to:

Provide advisory assistance and executive level staff support essential for the Secretary to manage and direct the myriad programs mandated to the Department.

Coordinate all Departmental documents, issues and regulations requiring Secretarial action; mediate the resolution of differences between Departmental components; communicate Secretarial decisions; and ensure the implementation of those decisions.

Provide assistance, direction and coordination to the White House and other Cabinet agencies on HHS issues.

Oversee the operations and functions of IOS entities: Scheduling and Advance, the
Executive Secretariat, Global Health Affairs, and the White House Liaison.

Set the Department's regulatory agenda and review all new regulations and regulatory changes to be issued by the Secretary; perform an on-going review of regulations which have already been published, with particular emphasis on reducing the regulatory burden.

Review, validate and revise HHS initiatives and support for Global Health activities.

General Departmental Management

Increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Department through improved management of resources and operations. Evaluate the potential for cost savings through the introduction of a centralized approach to developing, operating and maintaining automated administrative systems.

Rationale for the Budget Request

The FY 2004 request for IOS is $8,235,000, a net increase of $236,000 above the FY 2003 President's Budget. This level includes a cost savings from the consolidation of administrative functions and the implementation of effective workforce planning and human capital management strategies.