We have completed audit work at the Department of Financial Institutions to meet our audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats. The primary focus of our audit was to review the Department's fiscal operations and related activities to assess whether they are effectively managed, well-controlled, and in compliance with statutory requirements. The Department is responsible for regulating state-chartered financial institutions, the securities industry, and other financial service providers. In addition, it maintains corporate and Uniform Commercial Code filings, investigates consumer complaints related to credit transactions, and provides consumer financial education.
The Department is funded primarily through program revenue derived from fees and assessments paid by regulated entities and individuals. In recent years, it also was awarded almost $7.7 million in settlements as the result of nationwide actions against brokerage firms. In the past five fiscal years, over $128.3 million of the Department's program revenue has been transferred or lapsed to the General Fund.
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Overall, we found the Department has adequate fiscal management practices in place. However, we identified several areas in which it could further improve internal controls and fiscal processes, including the efficiency and controls of its receipts processing, password security, access to the State's central payroll system, and physical inventories of capital assets. The Department agrees with the recommended improvements and has identified its plans to implement our recommendations. Its responses have been incorporated into this letter.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Department's staff during our audit.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
April 12, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed audit work at the Office of the State Public Defender to meet our audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats. We reviewed the Office's fiscal operations and related activities to assess whether they are effectively managed, well-controlled, and in compliance with statutory requirements. The Office is responsible for providing legal representation that is constitutionally guaranteed for defendants who are unable to afford private attorneys. In fiscal year (FY) 2003-04, it provided legal services to almost 145,000 indigent clients through staff attorneys who are directly employed by the Office and private attorneys who are paid on an hourly basis through fixed-fee contracts.
The Office is funded primarily through general purpose revenue, although it receives some program revenue from the indigent clients it serves and through sponsorship of training conferences. In FY 2003-04, it had 527.5 full-time equivalent employees in 38 locations statewide, and its expenditures totaled $79.9 million.
Over the past five years, the Office's expenditures for private attorneys increased 44.1 percent. Such increases present continuing budgeting challenges for the State. Currently, the invoices that private attorneys and investigators submit during the final quarter of a biennium are not funded until the next budget period, which delays payment for up to three months after they are submitted. This budget practice has been in place for many years, but warrants careful review to ensure it is in compliance with established budget provisions. We also identified several areas in which the Office could improve internal controls and fiscal processes, including private attorney certifications, employee travel reimbursements, fixed assets, and password security. The Office agrees with the recommended improvements and has identified its plans to implement our recommendations. Its responses have been incorporated into this letter.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by Office staff during our audit.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
April 19, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, we have completed a review of the physician office visit data (POVD) program administered by the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS). Chapter
153, Wis. Stats., directs DHFS to collect, analyze, and disseminate certain types of health care information. The POVD program is intended to provide a centralized, statewide source of information for outpatient health care services delivered in physician offices.
The program is funded by fees levied on physicians who are licensed and practicing in Wisconsin. Since fiscal year (FY) 1999-2000, DHFS has spent more than $2.9 million to administer the POVD program and related projects. It is authorized 12.28 full-time equivalent positions for all health care data collection activities, but only 6.2 full-time equivalent DHFS staff worked on physician-related projects, including the POVD program, in FY 2003-04.
We found numerous problems with the program, including serious concerns with the quality, comparability, and comprehensiveness of the data. For example, there are inconsistencies in reported charges, service delivery locations, and types of services being provided. Further, DHFS is collecting information from 13 medical practice groups, representing only 30.9 percent of Wisconsin physicians, and has released data only for 2003. The data it has released have been of limited usefulness to researchers and health care professionals, although this results in part from statutory and other restrictions on data release. DHFS has yet to produce information that is usable by the general public.
In 2005 Assembly Bill 100, the Governor has proposed creating a new Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Board in October 2005. The proposed Board would be responsible for recommending changes to the POVD program, with the goal of replacing it with a new health care information system by July 2007. As it debates the Governor's proposal, the Legislature may wish to direct DHFS to address concerns with the POVD program; alternatively, the Legislature may choose to eliminate the program immediately.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DHFS staff as we conducted this review.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
