Federal Reports

The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act of 2007 requires us to conduct a triennial audit of the National Science Board’s (NSB) compliance with the Government in the Sunshine Act (Act). Our audit covered NSB meetings from August 1, 2015, to February 28, 2018.

We are required to conduct periodic risk assessments of U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) charge card programs to analyze the risk of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments. We must report annually to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the DOI’s progress in implementing our audit recommendations related to Government charge cards.We issued three reports related to internal controls over Government purchase cards and travel cards within the past 6 years that still had open recommendations at the start of fiscal year (FY) 2018, but all of these recommendations were closed prior to the end of FY 2018. We reported two resolved but unimplemented recommendations to the OMB for FY 2017; during FY 2018, those two recommendations were implemented and closed. As of September 30, 2018, there are no remaining open recommendations.We also reported to the OMB that we anticipate the issuance of three charge card-related audit reports in FY 2019. We noted that the DOI started a new contract with Citibank in November 2018, which replaced the previous integrated card with separate cards for purchase, fleet, and travel business lines.

We audited the costs claimed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources under grants awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. The audit included claims totaling approximately $62.7 million on 68 grants that were open during the State fiscal years that ended June 30, 2016, and June 30, 2017. The audit also covered the Department’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and FWS guidelines, including those related to the collection and use of hunting and fishing license revenues and the reporting of program income.We found that the Department complied with applicable grant accounting and regulatory requirements. We did not identify any reportable conditions. We did not require a response to this audit report.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection to review the delay in a patient’s diagnosis and care and determine the extent and contributory causes of delays in communicating abnormal test results at the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center, Leavenworth, Kansas. After reviewing the patient’s care and the system’s responses to the initial complaint, the OIG opened a healthcare inspection to further review contributory causes of delays that included providers’ failure to accept or acknowledge view alerts, leaders’ failure to update the system’s communication of test results policy, and a manager’s failure to conduct a peer review as required. Although there were delays in providers reporting radiology test results and diagnoses to patients, the OIG could not determine if the delays were due to missed view alerts. There was evidence of ongoing evaluation and care, and the patients reviewed did not suffer adverse outcomes related to the delays. System providers failed to communicate test results needing follow-up within the required timeframe of seven days. The system policy that required test results to be communicated to patients within 14 days had not been updated at the time the patient was seen. Radiologists did not receive training for new national diagnostic codes or software that generates view alerts. An administrative investigation should have been completed as required by VA. The system failed to identify a patient incident that should have triggered a peer review. An institutional disclosure was not completed for the patient. The OIG made five recommendations related to communicating test results, training radiologists, initiating a peer review, conducting an administrative investigation, and initiating an institutional disclosure.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) Circular, Accounting of Drug Control Funding and Performance Summary, requires each National Drug Control Program agency to submit to ONDCP Director a detailed accounting of all funds expended for National Drug Control Program activities during the previous fiscal year. Williams, Adley & Company –DC, LLP (Williams Adley), under contract with the Department of Homeland Security OIG, issued an Independent Accountant’s Report on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Detailed Accounting Submission.