CHERRY STREET SERVICES INC

2023-002 – Significant Deficiency and Noncompliance – Special Tests – Sliding Fee Program information: AL # 93.224 and 93.527, Health Center Program Cluster, Department of Health and Human Services. Criteria: Health centers must obtain sliding fee applications so that amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted (discounted) based on the patient’s ability to pay. Condition: We tested 40 sliding fee encounters and noted that 4 of 40 sliding fee encounters were discounted the incorrect amount, 2 of 40 were missing sliding fee applications, and 1 or 40 had an incomplete application. In addition, we noted the sliding fee policy stated that a household should consist of immediate family members living in the same dwelling, however, applications included all individuals living in the household, whether immediate or not. Questioned Costs: None Cause and Effect:…

Corrective action: Contact person responsible for corrective action: Cynthia Duncanson, CFO. All findings related to the sliding fee application and calculations are results of occurrences at the front desk. In order to gain a better management of training and monitoring of this process, we have formed a team through the revenue cycle with oversite of front desk staff training, performance tracking and reporting and competency testing. This team consists of 2 revenue cycle supervisors, and 4 superusers. Performance outcomes, including sliding fee application calculation efficiency and application completion, will be reported to the site supervisors monthly, carrying a significant weight on overall performa…