Federal Reports

The Postal Service’s IT infrastructure includes thousands of routers, switches, virtual private network gateways, firewalls, voice over internet protocol equipment, and other devices that support the delivery of business systems and IT-enabled processes. These network devices must be monitored, maintained, and replaced appropriately to provide a high-level of network performance and prevent unwanted outages. Our objective was to determine whether the Postal Service is effectively managing End-of-Life (EOL) network devices. The scope of our review was information technology (IT) network devices [redacted] that are connected to the Postal Service’s IT network and identified as EOL.

For more than 200 years, the Postal Service has been a mainstay in rural America, which the OIG found values the Postal Service for not just its package and mail services but also its presence in the community. For example, more than half (56 percent) of rural customers know either their postmaster, clerk, or carrier by name. The OIG found that this type of familiarity drives positive experiences at post offices generally. To examine how rural Americans currently engage with the Postal Service, the OIG fielded a nationally-representative survey of rural and non-rural Americans, hosted a moderated online discussion board, and conducted interviews with Postal Service employees and executives.

Because ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) often perform complex medical procedures, including invasive surgeries under general anesthesia, we examined how Medicare ensures that ASCs meet minimum health and safety requirements through its State survey process. Most ASCs (known as nondeemed ASCs) undergo a State agency survey to demonstrate that they meet these requirements; the others (known as deemed ASCs) are accredited by a Medicare-approved accreditor. In addition to conducting regular surveys of nondeemed ASCs, States also conduct investigations of complaints that allege poor care or other problems at both types of ASCs. Medicare beneficiaries are increasingly using ASCs for outpatient surgical procedures. In fact, Medicare payments to ASCs increased from $3.4 billion in 2011 to $4.6 billion in 2017.