Report 2011-113 Recommendation 7 Responses

Report 2011-113: Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System: Increased Transparency and Stronger Controls Are Necessary as It Focuses on Improving Its Financial Situation (Release Date: March 2012)

Recommendation #7 To: Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System

To ensure that the Health Care System, its board members, medical staff, employees, and consultants are engaged only in appropriate business relationships with respect to their economic interests, the Health Care System should implement the requirement in its recently updated conflict-of-interest policy that board members, medical staff, employees, and consultants disclose potential conflict-of-interest situations to their supervisors and the ethics and compliance officer, who shall review each situation and make a determination on the appropriate resolution.

6-Month Agency Response

According to the Health Care System, 24 individuals who submitted statements of economic interests for 2011 identified financial interests in their statements. The revenue integrity and compliance director determined based on her review of the 24 statements that 11 of them required further discussion between the individuals and either the revenue integrity and compliance director or the individuals' supervisors. Following these discussions, according to the revenue integrity and compliance director, she determined no actual violations of conflict-of-interest laws occurred in 2011. In addition, all 24 individuals understood that moving forward they needed to be alert for potential conflicts of interest associated with their identified financial interests. (See 2013-406, p. 83)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2011-113

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.