Finding 404103 (2023-001)

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Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
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Year
2023
Accepted
2024-06-28

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Tufts Medicine failed to properly consolidate Reporting Period 5 due to a staffing change and miscommunication, resulting in a separate and inconsistent filing by Home Health VNA.
  • Impacted Requirements: Reporting requirements for ARP Rural Distribution payments were not met, leading to potential compliance issues and lost revenue reporting inaccuracies.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement strict internal controls to ensure only designated personnel handle PRF submissions, preventing unauthorized filings and ensuring compliance.

Finding Text

FINDING 2023-001 – LOST REVENUE REPORTING Criteria As published in the October 27, 2022 Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements, recipients who received one or more ARP Rural Distribution payments exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate during a Payment Received Period are required to report in each applicable Reporting Time Period. For General Distribution Payments: A parent entity may report on its subsidiaries’ General Distribution payments regardless of whether the subsidiary TINs received the General Distribution payments directly from HRSA or whether General Distribution payments were transferred to them by the parent entity. The parent entity may report on these General Distribution payments regardless of whether the parent or the subsidiary attested to the Terms and Conditions. Condition Tufts Medicine received PRF funding between January 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022 and, therefore, was required to submit information for Reporting Period 5. All of the funds received during the time period were General Distribution funds. Therefore, Tufts Medicine, as the parent entity, was permitted to submit Reporting Period 5 on behalf of its subsidiaries. Tufts Medicine, as the parent entity, submitted Reporting Period 1, Reporting Period 2, Reporting Period 3, and Reporting Period 4 on behalf of its subsidiaries for all General Distribution funds received. Cause As a result of a change in staffing and internal miscommunication, Home Health Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) erroneously filed Reporting Period 5 separately from the Tufts Medicine filing, with data inconsistent with the previous filings and methodology. Effect The filing was not able to be removed or amended prior to the September 30, 2023 deadline. Consequently, the Tufts Medicine filing was not able to be submitted with the EIN of Home Health VNA. In order to file for all entities timely, the Home Health VNA EIN was excluded from the Tufts Medicine filing, but all financial data was included in the supporting lost revenue calculation. Recommendation The System should design and implement appropriate internal controls to comply with the reporting requirements, specifically to designate only certain personnel to be responsible for the PRF submissions to prevent any unauthorized submissions. Views of Responsible Officials See Corrective Action Plan

Corrective Action Plan

Re: Finding 2023-001 – Lost Revenue Reporting, Corrective Action Plan To whom it may concern: We agree with the auditor’s finding that the Home Health Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) erroneously filed Reporting Period 5 separately from the Tufts Medicine filing, with data inconsistent with the previous filings and methodologies. Management has implemented controls to ensure access is limited and that the reporting will be communicated and submitted by the Tufts Medicine Corporate Finance team. Management has communicated the matter with HHS and is currently in communications to resolve. Tufts Medicine Finance

Categories

Reporting Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $79.01M
93.498 Provider Relief Fund $16.67M
10.557 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children $1.79M
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $1.66M
93.867 Vision Research $367,735
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $352,957
93.361 Nursing Research $286,689
84.425F Education Stabilization Fund $262,841
93.421 Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services Through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation’s Health $248,420
93.226 Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes $188,770
93.350 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences $165,228
93.865 Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research $160,852
93.839 Blood Diseases and Resources Research $139,362
93.395 Cancer Treatment Research $138,702
93.283 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_investigations and Technical Assistance $119,365
93.RD National Institute of Health $102,144
93.103 Food and Drug Administration_research $84,487
93.870 Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Grant $82,026
47.076 Education and Human Resources $61,098
93.310 Trans-Nih Research Support $55,210
93.121 Oral Diseases and Disorders Research $53,543
93.855 Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation Research $49,080
93.866 Aging Research $48,488
93.110 Maternal and Child Health Federal Consolidated Programs $47,600
64.054 Research and Development $41,679
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $40,000
93.279 Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs $37,555
93.838 Lung Diseases Research $35,033
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $34,916
93.213 Research and Training in Complementary and Integrative Health $25,655
93.846 Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research $25,006
47.070 Computer and Information Science and Engineering $23,448
93.113 Environmental Health $23,165
93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research $22,646
93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research $20,108
93.307 Minority Health and Health Disparities Research $19,590
12.420 Military Medical Research and Development $14,770
93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders $14,019
93.394 Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research $7,703
93.396 Cancer Biology Research $6,174
93.399 Cancer Control $5,000
93.286 Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health $3,754
93.185 Immunization Research, Demonstration, Public Information and Education_training and Clinical Skills Improvement Projects $2,806
93.273 Alcohol Research Programs $1,571
93.837 Cardiovascular Diseases Research $704