Open Recommendations

We recommend that Puerto Rico Department of Health consider coordinating with appropriate organizations to develop guidance on accurate cause-of-death certifications focusing on whether underlying causes of death were disaster-related.

We recommend that the New York State Department of Health (State agency) refund $6,027,566 to the Federal Government.

Based on the results of this audit, we recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services notify appropriate providers (i.e., those for whom CMS determines that this audit constitutes credible information of potential overpayments) so that the providers can exercise reasonable diligence to identify, report, and return any overpayments in accordance with the 60-day rule and identify any of those returned overpayments as having been made in accordance with this recommendation.

Based on the results of this audit, we recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implement claims processing controls, including system edits, to prevent and detect overpayments for TCM.

The Bureau of Information Resource Management should review and update the Enterprise IT Help Desk and Desktop Support Master Service Level Agreement to align with the current Bureau of Information Resource Management service catalog.

The Bureau of Information Resource Management should define out-of-scope services in the Enterprise IT Help Desk and Desktop Support Master Service Level Agreement.

The Bureau of Information Resource Management should update the Enterprise IT Help Desk and Desktop Support Master Service Level Agreement to include the methodology for calculating the incident resolution time.

The Bureau of Information Resource Management should update the Enterprise IT Help Desk and Desktop Support Master Service Level Agreement to reflect the current technology modernization policy.

The Bureau of Information Resource Management should review its technology modernization purchasing policies and determine if the Enterprise IT Help Desk and Desktop Support Master Service Level Agreement requires updates to these policies based on its review.

The Bureau of Information Resource Management, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration should, upon completion of the comprehensive cost model study, adjust the Office of Consolidated Customer Support’s desktop service fee, if necessary, and publish a pricing schedule for all customers.

Track implementation of the plan with milestones.

We recommend that the Indiana Family and Social Service Administration refund $22,328,438 to the Federal Government.

We recommend that Lake Hospital System refund to the Medicare contractor the portion of the $4,385,974 in estimated overpayments for the audit period for claims that it incorrectly billed that are within the 4-year reopening period.

We recommend that Lake Hospital System based on the results of this audit, exercise reasonable diligence to identify, report, and return any overpayments in accordance with the 60-day rule,  and identify any of those returned overpayments as having been made in accordance with this recommendation (This recommendation does not apply to any overpayments that are both within our sampling frame (i.e., the population from which we selected our statistical sample) and refunded based on the extrapolated overpayment amount.  Those overpayments are already covered in the previous recommendation.).

We recommend that Lake Hospital System strengthen controls to ensure full compliance with Medicare requirements.

The Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent should institute annual surveys of U.S. direct-hire employees and locally employed staff to provide feedback on chief of mission performance.

The Bureau of Legislative Affairs should involve its employees in developing the Functional Bureau Strategy and brief them on the final product to establish organizational understanding of its mission, goals, objectives, resource requirements, and milestones, in accordance with Department guidance.

The Bureau of Legislative Affairs should establish and implement written service standards for the management services and administrative support provided by the Office of the Executive Director, including a system to record and monitor its services.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to ensure contracting officers obtain and maintain evidence of contractor-provided lists of all personal identity verification cards issued to contractor employees.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to ensure contracting officers maintain evidence documenting personal identity verification cards were returned to the issuing or designated office when the cards were no longer required and prior to closing the contract.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to evaluate the role of contracting officer’s representatives in the personal identity verification card process for contractor employees and assess whether updates to their letter of delegation and standard operating procedures are necessary.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to establish procedures within the Procurement Audit Office for periodic reviews of contract files to determine compliance with the personal identity verification card requirements established in the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Veterans Health Administration procurement manual. Further, require the results of these reviews to be reported to senior management to help determine whether corrective actions are required.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to assess whether contracting officers should be required to include the contractor-provided list as an explicit requirement in all Veterans Health Administration contracts that require issuance of personal identity verification cards to contractor employees.

Obtain the proper approval and communicate the IT modernization strategy to all appropriate stakeholders, including HUD program offices.

Ensure that records explaining decisions regarding changes in ownership, changes in accreditation status, percentage of required letters of credit, or heightened cash monitoring placement that deviate from the regulations or Department policy are created and retained.