Department of Correctional Services

Arthur Kill Correctional Facility: Controls Over Medical Service Expenditures (Follow-Up Review)

In our prior audit of the medical services provided to the inmates of Arthur Kill Correctional Facility 97-S-60, we were assisted by an organization that performs hospital utilization reviews for the Department of Health. In that audit, we determined that about $148,000 had been overpaid because some of the hospital admissions were not medically necessary, the length of some hospital stays was longer than medically necessary, and some services were billed at incorrect rates. We also determined that security expenses of $138,000 were incurred in connection with the unnecessary admissions and the longer-than-necessary stays. In addition, when we reviewed other medical payments, we identified a number of overpayments, underpayments and duplicate payments, and determined that many medical services were not adequately documented. We recommended that the internal controls at Arthur Kill Correctional Facility be strengthened and the overpayments be recovered, where possible. In our follow-up review, we found that all of the recommendations in our prior report had been implemented.

For a complete copy of Report 2001-F-18 click here.