Review of Controls to Report Wage Data at Florida Hospital Heartland for the Period January 1, 2003, Through December 31, 2003

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The objective of our review was to determine whether Florida Hospital Heartland (the hospital) complied with Medicare requirements for reporting wage data in its fiscal year (FY) 2003 Medicare cost report.  The hospital did not fully comply with Medicare requirements for reporting wage data in its FY 2003 Medicare cost report.  The hospital overstated its wage data by $909,856 and 52,895 hours.   

We recommended that the hospital (1) submit a revised FY 2003 Medicare cost report to the fiscal intermediary to correct the wage data overstatements totaling $909,856 and 52,895 hours and (2) implement review and reconciliation procedures to ensure that the wage data reported on future Medicare cost reports are accurate, supportable, and in compliance with Medicare requirements.  The hospital agreed with our findings and recommendations except for our finding regarding home office costs resulting from unallowable supplemental executive compensation.