Federal Reports

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $7.1 million in questioned costs, funds put to better use, and recoveries and opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.

DHS needs to improve the collection and management of data across its multiple components to better serve and safeguard the public. The data access, availability, accuracy, completeness, and relevance issues we identified presented numerous obstacles for DHS personnel who did not have essential information they needed for decision making or to effectively and efficiently carry out day-to-day mission operations. Although DHS has improved its information security program and developed plans to improve quality and management of its data, follow through and continued improvement will be essential to address the internal control issues underlying the data deficiencies highlighted in the report. We made no recommendations in the summary report.

The U.S. Postal Service considers mail to be delayed when it is not processed in time to meet the established delivery day. Delayed mail can adversely affect Postal Service customers and harm the organization’s brand.The Postal Service launched the Mail Condition Visualization (MCV) system in January 2019. The application’s intent is to provide near real-time visibility of a facility’s on-hand volume, delayed inventory volume, delayed dispatch volume, and oldest mail date by mail category and processing operation. MCV receives data from handheld devices used in mail processing operations, Surface Visibility scans, and mailer documentation. The MCV application calculates delayed mail inventory daily by determining the number of mailpieces that have not received their next expected processing operation scan by 6:59 a.m. for destinating final processing operations and by 6:00 a.m. for all other operations.

Physicians managing center-based ESRD patients can be paid an MCP that covers most outpatient dialysis-related physician services provided to each Medicare beneficiary who is being treated for ESRD. , The MCP varies based on the beneficiary’s age and the number of visits during each calendar month in which the beneficiary receives ESRD-related services. Physicians report (to Medicare contractors) separate Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes based on the beneficiary’s age and whether they provide ESRD-related services to the beneficiary on one visit per month, two to three visits per month, or four or more visits per month. A physician who provides ESRD-related services to a beneficiary during one visit per month receives Medicare payment at a lower payment rate. A physician receives Medicare payment at a relatively higher payment rate when services are provided during two to three visits per month. To receive the highest payment amount, a physician has to provide services during at least four ESRD-related services’ visits per month. Physicians managing ESRD patients who dialyze at home are paid a single monthly rate based solely on the age of the beneficiary. Physicians must furnish at least one face-to-face patient visit per month for the home dialysis MCP service; however, Medicare contractors may waive the monthly face-to-face requirement on a case-by-case basis.