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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFollow-up of DOC and Onsite PharmacyFollow-up report of Health Benefits Trust - Onsite Clinic and Pharmacy #14/15-3 August 2014 FOLLOW-UP REPORT Health Benefits Trust – Deschutes Onsite Clinic and Onsite Pharmacy Performance (Internal audit report #12/13-11 issued October 2013) To request this information in an alternate format, please call (541) 330-4674 or send email to David.Givans@Deschutes.org Deschutes County, Oregon David Givans, CPA, CIA, CGMA Deschutes County Internal Auditor PO Box 6005 1300 NW Wall St, Suite 200 Bend, OR 97708-6005 (541) 330-4674 David.Givans@Deschutes.og Audit committee: Jennifer Welander, Chair - Public member Chris Earnest - Public member Gayle McConnell - Public member Michael Shadrach - Public member Anthony DeBone, County Commissioner Nancy Blankenship, County Clerk Dan Despotopulos, Fair & Expo Director Follow-up report of Health Benefits Trust - Onsite Clinic and Pharmacy #14/15-3 August 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background ………………………………………...………………................................... 1 1.2. Objectives & Scope ……………………………………..………………………….…….… 1 1.3. Methodology ……………………………………………………..…………………….……. 1 2. FOLLOW-UP RESULTS ……………….…...………………………….............................. 2 3. APPENDIX I – Internal Audit Recommendations - Updated Workplan for Report #12/13-11 (Status updated as of August 2014) ……...…................................ 3-4 Follow-up report of Health Benefits Trust - Onsite Clinic and Pharmacy #14/15-3 August 2014 Page 1 1. Introduction 1.1 BACKGROUND Audit Authority: The Deschutes County Audit Committee has suggested that follow-ups occur from nine months to one year after the original report issuance. The Audit Committee’s would like to make sure departments satisfactorily address recommendations. 1.2 OBJECTIVES and SCOPE Objectives: The objective was to follow-up on the outstanding audit recommendations. Scope: The follow-up included seven (7) recommendations from the internal audit report on Health Benefits Trust – Deschutes Onsite Clinic and Onsite Pharmacy Performance (#12/13-11) (issued October 2013). The follow-up reflects the status as of August 2014. The original internal audit report should be referenced for the full text of recommendations and discussion. 1.3 METHODOLOGY The follow-up report was developed from information provided by Kathleen Hinman, Benefits Coordinator. In cases where recommendations have not been implemented, comments were sought for the reasons why and the timing for addressing these. The follow-up is, by nature, subjective. In determining the status of recommendations that were followed up, we relied on assertions provided by those involved and did not attempt to independently verify those assertions. Since no substantive audit work was performed, Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States were not followed. DESCHUTES COUNTY INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT DESCHUTES COUNTY INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT DESCHUTES COUNTY INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT Follow-up report of Health Benefits Trust - Onsite Clinic and Pharmacy #14/15-3 August 2014 Page 2 2. Follow-up Results Figure I - How were recommenda- tions implemented? The follow-up included seven (7) recommendations. Management agreed with all of the recommendations. Figure I provides an overview of the implementation status of the recommendations. The details of the updated workplan are provided in Appendix I. With this follow-up, there has been a reasonable effort in moving items along to completion. Given the new staff in the Personnel department, it is understood some of these items are still being worked on. Expected completion dates were provided for all outstanding items. Follow-up report of Health Benefits Trust - Onsite Clinic and Pharmacy #14/15-3 August 2014 Page 3 3. Appendix Appendix I –Updated Workplan for Report #12/13-2 (Status as of August 2014) Rec# Recommendation text Agreement Updated Status Expected Completion Date Updated Department Comments 1 It is recommended for management of the Plan to develop and implement a consistent approach to assessing the performance of the DOC. Agree Planned/ Underway Jan-15 Due to the change in personnel (Benefits Coordinator and Human Resources Director), the Personnel Department is working with Medcor and EBMS to create a better reporting system. Medcor has been able to provide Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, which is a more accurate method of reporting expenses and savings; however, it does not include the fixed costs associated with the DOC. This process is labor intensive and cannot be performed each month and will be changing the process to report the information quarterly. Staff has requested Medcor provide service data that includes fixed costs and shows costs as compared to community costs. 2 It is recommended for County management to develop an approach to handling Plan and DOC staffing and oversight. Agree Planned/ Underway Dec-14 Medcor will provide a capacity report to identify staffing needs. Personnel staff will work with Medcor to develop, evaluate, and implement the most appropriate staffing model moving forward. 3 It is recommended for the County to identify how to better collect information on employee DOC visits. It is suggested all employees be required to indicate on their timesheets their use of the DOC. Agree Planned/ Underway Dec-14 Personnel staff worked with Finance to create the payroll code “AC.” Personnel staff will work with departments to determine current practices in regards to recording and paying for time spent at the DOC. Staff will then work to develop and distribute an educational message for employees regarding the use of this payroll code and the guidelines for DOC visits on work time. Staff will review to see if a policy should be created. 4 It is recommended, after adequate time sheet information has been collected, the County assess the cost to the County and departments for employee usage of the DOC on work time and whether they want to continue the practice at this level. Agree Planned Jul-15 Personnel staff will review DOC usage during work hours to assess the impact on the County. The policy/practice will be reviewed to determine if changes will need to be made or if the practice will continue. Follow-up report of Health Benefits Trust - Onsite Clinic and Pharmacy #14/15-3 August 2014 Page 4 Rec# Recommendation text Agreement Updated Status Expected Completion Date Updated Department Comments 5 It is recommended for the Plan to identify the processes and policies required to charge for use of the DOC in workers compensation matters. Agree Completed/Ongoing Personnel staff continues to charge the worker’s compensation fund for DOC visits on a regular basis. Personnel charged the worker’s compensation fund retroactively to January 2013. Staff will work on documenting the current practice. 6 It is recommended the Plan evaluate how the DOC Pharmacy arrangement is working under coordination of benefits and whether the arrangement needs to be modified. Agree Completed DOC Pharmacy bills a member's primary insurance first if Deschutes County Benefit Plan (the Plan) is the second insurance. Members of the Plan with secondary insurance will need to submit for reimbursement to their secondary insurance if eligible. 7 It is recommended for the Plan to consider sharing the DOC Pharmacy ingredient pricing with the Pharmacy Benefit Manager. Agree Completed Staff reviewed the DOC Pharmacy contract and determined that we can't share ingredient pricing with our PBM. This is considered proprietary information and probably will not be able to get into a contract with any vendor. {END OF REPORT}