Open Recommendations

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensure that PBS contracting officials thoroughly review and understand the O&M contracts’ QCP inspection requirements.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensure that PBS contracting officials improve oversight of O&M contractors’ compliance with the terms and conditions of their GSA contracts.

Ensure Healing Action establishes and implements grant financial management policies and procedures to help ensure adequate administration of federal grant funds and that all relevant personnel are aware of these policies and procedures. In particular, these policies should cover, at a minimum: (1) improving internal controls over its debit card access; (2) complying with DOJ Grants Financial Guide consultant requirements, including prior approval and justification for exceeding the established daily or hourly consultant rate and adequate time and effort reports as well as ensuring its staff understand and adhere to the policies and procedures; (3) allocating costs properly to awards…

Ensure Healing Action reminds staff of its policy to obtain bids for consultant services, when necessary.

Remedy the $2,548 in unsupported expenditures related to staff cell phones, monthly bus passes, staff continuing education, and case management software costs.

Establish a process to take future projects’ constructability into account when assessing track outage and force account needs.

Require EGS conduct additional verification and validation for launch imagery equipment prior to launch attempts should launch conditions change.

Establish a course of action and timeline for individual Artemis system design changes before beginning integrated system assembly stacking operations.

We recommend the Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer, Technology and Innovation, implement the planned project to upgrade software and hardware to supported versions.

We recommend the Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer, Technology and Innovation, take action to remediate both instances of insecure protocols in use where technically and operationally possible.

The Executive Director ensures staff store reusable medical equipment in temperature- and humidity-controlled storage locations.

Re-evaluate the OSTEM performance goals to ensure they are distinct and well correlated with outcomes.

Develop a procedure to ensure OSTEM tracks and reports funding for all Agency STEM engagement activities.

Re-evaluate jurisdictions eligible for EPSCoR funds to ensure effective and equitable distribution of Agency funds.

Require all NASA organizations capture STEM engagement activities in STEM Gateway.

The Under Secretary for Health, Veterans Integrated Service Network directors, and facility leaders ensure staff enter data into the local cancer registry database in a timely manner.

Create processing timeframes for returned funds for current and future disaster programs.

Ensure that Ralston House maintains an adequate accounting system in compliance with the DOJ Grants Financial Guide, including separately and accurately tracking all federal financial assistance.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services establish procedures to improve communication among all stakeholders involved in setting new CDLT rates during a PHE.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services improve its procedures, which may require seeking legislative authority, for setting and adjusting rates for new CDLTs during a PHE by providing the MACs with the flexibility needed to set and adjust payment rates that would cover the laboratory costs of providing services when responding to a PHE.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response develop internal written policies and procedures for the JFA process that align with Federal requirements and include the use of allocation methodologies that accurately reflect the benefiting offices' use of the product or service.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response review the FY 2018 and 2019 JFA allocation methodologies along with the methodologies used during subsequent FYs to determine whether the costs were allocated to each office based on appropriate methodologies, and correct any improper allocations to avoid potential Antideficiency Act violations.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response maintain documentation of the work performed by employees whose salaries are paid using BARDA funds to ensure that appropriations are used for their intended purposes in accordance with Federal requirements.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response review the 10 remaining sampled employees that we could not interview to determine whether any salaries were improperly charged to BARDA appropriations and identify potential Antideficiency Act violations.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response report any Antideficiency Act violations identified.