Finding Text
COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan Rural Distribution Reporting
Cluster: Not applicable
Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”)
Award Name: COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan Rural Distribution
Assistance Listing #: 93.498
Assistance Listing Title: COVID-19 - Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan Rural
Distribution – Period 4 and Period 5
Award Year(s): January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2022 and January 1, 2020 – June 30, 2023
Criteria
Step Six of the Steps on Reporting on Use of Funds section of the June 11, 2021 Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”) General and Targeted Distribution Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements requires recipients that apply PRF payments toward lost revenues to use one of the following three options for calculating lost revenues:
• Option (i): difference between actual patient care revenues and actuals for each quarter during the period of availability;
• Option (ii): difference between budgeted (budget approved prior to March 27, 2020) and actual patient care revenues for each quarter during the period of availability; or
• Option (iii): any reasonable method of estimating revenues
Condition
Through our testing of the JHHS affiliate, Johns Hopkins Regional Physicians’ (JHRP) period 4 HRSA reporting portal submission, we identified a $168,000 discrepancy between the actual patient care revenue amount input into the portal for Q3 2021 and the actual patient care revenue amount per JHRP’s general ledger, which supports it’s lost revenue calculation.
Cause
The actual patient care revenue for Q3 2021 used within the lost revenue calculation reported via the HRSA portal differed from the amount per the general ledger due to additional revenues other than patient care revenue being included in the HRSA portal reporting.
Effect
Inputs into the lost revenue calculation were not accurate and impacted the total lost revenue calculated by JHRP for Q3 2021. However, the amounts input incorrectly into the “Total Revenue/Net Charges from Patient Care” line for Q3 2021 did not have an impact on lost revenue that JHRP could claim in the reporting period as JHRP maintained sufficient capacity in amounts that qualified for use. Additionally, the impact from correcting the input error increased the lost revenue of JHRP for Q3 2021 by $168,000.
Questioned Costs
There are no questioned costs associated with this finding as the exceptions noted relate to an aspect of reporting which would have increased the potential qualifying funds of JHRP.
Recommendation
Management should implement procedures to ensure that the lost revenue calculation used to report data into the HRSA portal is reconciled to patient care revenues per the general ledger.
Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan
Refer to Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan at the end of this report.