Trust Your Mother but Cut the Deck (Internal Controls in Local Hospitals)

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    Trust Your MotherBut Cut the Deck

    Applying COSO Guidance on MonitoringInternal Control Systems to Local Hospitals

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    Incoming Fire

    n Senator Grassley

    n Fewer Insured Patients

    n Tighter Credit Markets

    n Investment Lossesn Recovery Audit

    Contractors (RAC)

    n 990 Reporting

    n Internal Control Lettersfrom Auditors

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    One Constant in Life

    Change

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    Proactive or Reactive

    n Recognizing problems before they occur

    n Having a plan to answer those problems

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    But Im Too Busy

    n Tyranny of the Urgentq We only see the present

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    Double Vision A Good Thing

    n Seeing the present

    n Seeing the future

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    Overview of COSO Documents

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    COSO (ERM)

    n Enterprise RiskManagement Integrated Framework(2004)

    q Strategicq Operations

    q Reporting

    q Compliance

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    COSO Internal Control Integrated Framework (1992)

    1. Risk Assessment

    2. Control Environment

    3. Control Activities

    4. Information and Communication

    5. Monitoring

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    New COSO Guidance

    n Guidance on Monitoring Internal ControlSystems (2009)

    n Issued January, 2009

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    Internal Control Reports

    n Many hospitals provide no internal controlreports to the board or to management

    n Hear no evil, see no evil

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    Internal Control Reports

    n Most hospitals have no internal audit staff

    n Hospitals that do have internal audit staff often

    use them to perform special projects (i.e.revenue enhancement) rather than to examinethe accounting system

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    Compare

    Time creatingmonthly accountingreports

    Time creatingmonthly internalcontrol/system

    reports

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    Thats What My Auditor Does

    n Opinion states fairly stated: Numbers

    n No opinion on working properly: Process

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    Why Little Attention toControls?n More comfortable with numbers than

    processes

    n Easier for board members to understandnumbers than processes

    n Smaller hospitals may not have theexpertise or manpower to review theaccounting system

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    Typical Internal Report

    n Denials by Category

    n Net Accounts Receivable Days

    n Gross Accounts Receivable Days

    n Total Patient Cash Collectedn %Third Party A/R >90 Days

    n Days from Discharge to Billing

    n Contract Accounts Receivablen Self Pay Account Receivable

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    Imagine This Internal Report

    n IT is not appropriately documenting changecontrol

    n Third party collection agency receives cash

    payments on bad debt accounts; noreconciling report is provided to hospital

    n One HR person controls the master pay ratefile; no one reviews the changes

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    Nasty SAS 115 Letter

    n Often more discussion between theexternal auditor and the hospitalabout internal control letters thanthe audited numbers

    n Why?

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    True or False?

    n The accounting system is a reflection on theCFO and Accounting Staff

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    So?n When fraud occurs or systems fail and

    you are in charge, who will the boardor legal authorities look to?

    n

    Trust Your Mother, But Cut the Deck

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    Chutzpah Defense

    n Deaf, Dumb and Blind Defense

    n Dog Ate My Homework Defense

    n The Hey Im just the CFO Defense

    n The Aw Shucks Defense

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    What Can I Do?

    n Plan your work, work your plan.

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    How Do You Eat an Elephant?

    One bite at a time

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    Board Support

    n Develop controls monitoring asa normal month to monthoperation

    n Secure financial support forimplementing your plan

    n

    Create an internal audit charter

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    Stakeholders

    n Potential relevantparties:q Compliance Committee

    q Internal Auditors

    q External Auditors

    q Audit Committee

    q Information Technology

    q Accounts Payable Staff

    q Payroll Staff

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    Stakeholders

    n Consider meeting jointly with stakeholders todetermine information that will be needed

    n Can internal audit perform tests that lendthemselves to your external auditors needs?

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    COSO Monitoring Process

    1. Establish a Foundation

    2. Design and Implement

    3. Assess and Report

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    Establish a Foundation

    n Map your processes

    q This may be the most difficult part

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    Establish a Foundation

    n Scalable Documentationq Based on:

    n Size

    n Complexityn One size does not fit all

    n A checklist is a tool, not an end result

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    Establish a Foundation

    n Dont forget about:q Outsourced accounting functions

    n E.g. Payroll

    q Related entitiesn E.g. Nursing Home, Physician Billing

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    Design and Execute

    n What if I cant afford an FTE?

    q Consider contracting with an outside auditor

    q Consider a quarterly or semi-annual internal auditplan as opposed to a monthly audit plan

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    Design and Execute

    n Can my external auditor be my contractinternal auditor?

    It Depends

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    Design and Execute

    n AICPA states: To perform internal auditassistance for a client and maintainindependence, your firm may not actor

    appear to actas a member of the client'smanagement. For example, you and your firmmay not:q make decisions on the client's behalf, or

    q report to the clients governing body.

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    Design and Execute

    n The Institute of Internal Auditors positionis that total outsourcing of internal auditing tothe hospitals external auditor impairs the

    independence of the external auditor.

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    Design and Execute

    n Who should the internal auditor report to?

    q No perfect method, however consider:

    n Independence: consider having internal auditreport directly to the audit committee

    n Practicality: consider having internal auditreport jointly to the CEO/CFO and the auditcommittee

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    Design and Execute

    n Annual internal audit program (approved byboard)

    n Consider how compliance and accountingcomplement one another

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    Design and Execute

    1. Prioritize risk

    2. Identify controls

    3. Identify information

    4. Implement monitoring

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    Design and Execute

    n Entropy

    q Systems will naturally declinewithout attention to changes

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    Design and Execute

    n Annual Brainstormq See what has changed

    n 990 reportingn RAC implementation

    n OIG Work Plann New Managed Care contractsn Alternative Investmentsn Swapsn Banking relationshipsn Demand for Community

    Benefits

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    Assess and Report

    n Board Members

    n Management

    n External Auditors

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    Assess and Report

    n Some organizations prioritize controlissues by severity along acontinuum:

    q High

    q Medium

    q Low

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    Assess and Report

    n Consider the effect of compensating controls

    q A control weakness in one area may be completely

    offset by a related control

    q Can the transaction error or fraud occur withoutbeing detected in a timely manner?

    COSO G id M it i

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    COSO Guidance on MonitoringInternal Control Systems

    n Purchase from COSO

    n Web Site: URL:http://www.coso.org/

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    Contact

    n Call Charles Hall at 478-330-5248.

    n Email: [email protected]

    n Blog: cpa-scribo.com

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]