Center for Health Information and Analysis-Examination of Annual Internal Control Questionnaire

This is a limited audit of the Center for Health Information and Analysis, focused on whether certain answers it gave about internal controls were accurate.

“I am pleased to provide this limited-scope performance audit of the Center for Health Information and Analysis.”

The audit checked whether CHIA’s fiscal year 2015 internal-control questionnaire answers matched reality.

“The objective of our audit was to determine whether certain responses that CHIA provided to OSC in its fiscal year 2015 ICQ were accurate.”

If CHIA does not document its inventory, it cannot show that public assets are protected from loss, theft, or misuse.

“Without performing and documenting an annual physical inventory, CHIA is not ensuring that its capital assets are properly safeguarded against loss, theft, and misuse and that its inventory records are complete and accurate.”

For an ordinary resident, this matters because the agency is responsible for public resources and health-information work, and accurate controls help protect state property and accountability.

“CHIA had a fiscal year 2015 budget of $32,267,893 and has approximately 155 employees.”

The main problem was that CHIA said it had done an annual inventory, but could not provide documentation proving it.

“In its ICQ, CHIA answered “yes,” but during our audit CHIA could not provide us with documentation to support its assertion that it had conducted an annual physical inventory of capital assets such as modular workstations, computers, and audiovisual equipment during fiscal year 2015.”

The auditor recommended that CHIA fix the reporting and documentation problems, keep signed certification records, and ask the Comptroller for guidance if needed.

“CHIA should take the measures necessary to address the issues we identified during our audit and should ensure that it adheres to all of OSC’s requirements for accurately reporting information about its capital-asset inventory on its ICQ.”

The issue is significant because outside auditors rely partly on these questionnaires when judging the Commonwealth’s overall internal controls.

“External auditors use department internal control plan (ICP) and ICQ responses, along with other procedures, to render an opinion on the internal controls of the Commonwealth as a whole.”

An Internal Control Questionnaire is a yearly form where state agencies report whether their safeguards, financial controls, and procedures are working.

“Each year, OSC issues a memo (Fiscal Year Update) to internal control officers, single audit liaisons, and chief fiscal officers instructing departments to complete an Internal Control Questionnaire designed to provide an indication of the effectiveness of the Commonwealth’s internal controls.”