Accenture's work for Texas agency worries senator
Source: By POLLY ROSS HUGHES, Houston Chronicle (TX), March 1, 2006, 11:25PM
AUSTIN - A state senator who is also a family physician raised questions Wednesday about the state's privately contracted call centers that are supposed to screen applicants for social services statewide by the end of this year. Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, asked Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins how he remains confident in the giant out- sourcing firm Accenture in the face of ongoing computer-compatibility problems. ..... The call-center system will eventually spread statewide and has been widely criticized by state workers losing their jobs to privatization and scrutinized by social services advocates who worry that clients will be hurt by a privately run system.