Finding Text
Sliding Fee Application ‑ Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Award Name: Community Health Centers. Program Year: January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024. Assistance Listing Number: 93.244/93.527. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Criteria: The health center must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule in accordance with the patient's sliding fee application so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted (discounted) based on the patient's ability to pay. Condition: During compliance testing, for some patients it was identified that the sliding fee applications were not appropriately maintained within their patient files. Context: Approved sliding fee applications were not retained within some patients' medical records. Cause: Health Access Network, Inc. transitioned all physical sliding fee applications to eClinicalWorks (electronic medical record system) during 2024. During the transition, there were instances where files were lost in the upload due to a lack of adequate controls over the conversion. Effect: As a result of the condition, there were multiple instances where patient files did not contain a sliding fee application. Recommendation: The Organization should implement procedures and controls to ensure patient files are complete and data was adequately uploaded to eClinicalWorks. View of Responsible Parities: The Organization will implement a process to ensure all sliding fee applications are properly retained within the patient's file.