Open Recommendations

Integrate documented contingency plans with the other relevant agency planning areas (2020 Recommendation).

Test the set of documented contingency plans (2020 Recommendation - Modified).

Develop and implement a plan to modify external emails to include information to assist the recipient of the level of risk posed by external email. For example, the Subject line of an email should be modified to identify the source of the email as external to the agency. In addition, the body of the email should contain warnings concerning the dangers of external email and attachments. Finally, warnings should include how frequently the sender has interacted with the recipient.

Implement a plan to increase the frequency of behaviortraining directed at the identification of unwanted spam emails with an emphasis on continual reminders of recognition techniques, appropriate actions, and confidence that self‐reporting poor behavioral actions will lead to a better outcome in the future.

Implement a process to improve the detection rate to reduce the occurrence of email spam that reaches the users’ inboxes.

Review all denials of compensation claims identified as burn pit claims completed from May 1, 2020, to May 1, 2021, for conditions claimed by eligible veterans to be due to burn pit exposure; correct any errors identified; and provide certification of completion of the review to the Office of Inspector General.

Review all denials of compensation claims not identified as burn pit claims completed from May 1, 2020, to May 1, 2021, for conditions of bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, allergic rhinitis, sleep apnea, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease submitted by veterans who served where and when burn pits were used even if not specifically cited in the claim; correct any errors identified; and provide certification of completion of the review to the Office of Inspector General.

(U) Rec. A.1.b: The DoD OIG recommended that the Commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command require the contracting officer for contract N00383-17-D-BA01 to reconcile and recover the cost of Government-furnished material that should have been applied to two delivery orders, valued at $919,613.44.

(U) Rec. A.1.a: The DoD OIG recommended that the Commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command require the contracting officials responsible for contract N00383-19-D-V001 to work with the program office to review the process for procuring long-lead materials and identify alternative options for procuring long lead materials, as appropriate.

(U) Rec. B.1.a: The DoD OIG recommended that the Commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command and the Commander of the Navy Regional Maintenance Center collaborate with major defense ship contractors to identify potential initiatives to increase the number of contractor-owned dry docks.

We recommend that the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office direct the Chief Information Officer to establish an LCCE and IMS for current and plannned PPL investments.

Enhance the Fiscal Management Information System or develop an agency-wide data management process to provide FHWA personnel with access to change order information for performing their oversight, which includes identifying and monitoring change orders.

Evaluate and revise as necessary the Agency processes, including Compliance Assessment Program reviews, to include an oversight methodology that can generate accurate, statistically valid, and representative compliance results for change orders.

Develop and implement guidance for use by FHWA and States that a. includes a consistent definition of "change order," b. delineates the differences between a major change and a significant change; and c. further clarifies what may constitute a major change.

Update FHWA's Contract Administration Core Curriculum Manual, dated October 2014, to clearly reflect that FHWA may assign its change order approval responsibilities to State DOTs through Stewardship and Oversight Agreements.

We recommend that the FWS require the Department to implement or revise policies and procedures to ensure leave allocated to a grant code does not exceed the value of leave earned on that grant.

Design and implement a comprehensive migration plan for the COVID-19 EIDL program, to include defined acceptance criteria and robust testing, with detailed project milestones and defined areas of responsibility for program management, information technology, and procurement groups so that data is preserved to meet the needs of all stakeholders.

We recommend that Lahey Clinic, Inc. refund to the MAC $6,015 in overpayments for critical care services.

We recommend that Lahey Clinic, Inc. 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 returned overpayments as having been made in accordance with this recommendation.

We recommend that Cariten Health Plan, Inc. refund to the Federal Government the $9,212,531 of estimated net overpayments.

We recommend that Cariten Health Plan, Inc. identify, for the high-risk diagnoses included in this report, similar instances of noncompliance that occurred before or after our audit period and refund any resulting overpayments to the Federal Government.

We recommend that Cariten Health Plan, Inc. examine its existing compliance procedures to identify areas where improvements can be made to ensure that diagnosis codes that are at high risk for being miscoded comply with Federal requirements (when submitted to CMS for use in CMS's risk adjustment program) and take the necessary steps to enhance those procedures.

Provide documentation, or a full and detailed written explanation, of the process Oklahoma used to determine the initiatives it supported with GEER grant funds and the entities it selected to administer the initiatives.

Develop and implement a process to ensure that it documents the criteria and decisions made for awarding future GEER grant funds in accordance with applicable requirements.

Develop and implement internal controls to ensure that it administers current and future GEER grants in accordance with applicable Federal laws and grant requirements, including ensuring that grant subrecipients are provided the proper award documentation; and that any entity that is awarded Federal funds retains records relating to those awards in accordance with Federal requirements.