Trinity County Grand Jury
• 2010-2011
the Hospital, in prior years there had been*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 5 findings
F1
Present procedures can allow the possibility for one person to control all aspects of parcel tax payments recording and processing.
F2
The physical office set-up for the person handling direct parcel tax inquiries and complaints does not allow for a sense of confidentiality and comfort for the parties involved. While we recognize the merits of an open space office environment, there are instances when parcel taxpayers would be better served by having a private setting for a conversation with the supervisor of this area.
F3
Private/self-pay accounts receivable constitute approximately 30% of the accounts receivable, representing a significant collection exposure to the Hospital and its cash flow management and financial viability.
F4
The Grand Jury has not received any reporting on measurements of performance by the Hospital for collection and billing cycles as requested by the 2009-2010 Grand Jury. However, this remains a critical area for the improvement and the resultant favorable impact on the financial viability of the Hospital.
F5
The processing of data for claim payments has greatly improved from the past. While technology has helped with the improvement of Claim Processing and Patient Statement generation systems, there may be additional opportunities for improvement.
Recommendations 5
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R1The Grand Jury recommends the procedures for daily processing of parcel tax payments be modified to include steps that involve different individuals, preferably from separate departments. This would include a process for independent reconciliation of initial payment receipts to deposit records. Good internal control calls for receipts handling that includes check and balance procedures that involve more than one person.
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R2The Grand Jury recommends that a private area outside of the open office administrative area be created for the occasional use by the parties involved in a confidential discussion of parcel tax issues such as delinquency, liens, and billing.
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R3The Grand Jury recommends that the Hospital continue to investigate accounts that are past due, have no formal settlement agreement, or appear to be risks for collection. Additional avenues of collection should be pursued and investigated, including additional collection agencies, receivable factoring with a financial institution, or any other means of enhancing the collectability of private pay plans and agreements.
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R4This Grand Jury recommends that the District submit a report of measurements of performance by the Hospital for collection and billing cycles (aging report) to the Trinity County Grand Jury on a quarterly and annual basis.
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R5The Grand Jury recommends that the Hospital review the existing information technology infrastructure, including hardware and software, for possible cost savings and collection enhancements, through the use of smaller servers or a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, and a set of pre-integrated applications. Healthland, one of the applications currently used, offers such integrated solutions.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.