Service visits and unequal access

A fictional district pilots a shared appointment portal. During the first month, staff record two thousand applications, of which sixteen hundred are completed without a second visit. In the previous month, one thousand of fifteen hundred applications avoided a second visit. Both counts use the same definition of completion, but the applicant populations differ. Interviews with older users reveal that some could not access the portal and sought help from relatives; those who abandoned an attempt are not included in application totals. The project manager wants to announce that the portal alone caused universal improvement. A review team must distinguish the numerical comparison from the unsupported causal and distributional claims before preparing a public briefing. No statutory eligibility rule or official service standard is supplied.