Financial Audit Division Report 14-20 | Released October 24, 2014 |
The State of Minnesota has established 15 health-related licensing boards with the statutory responsibility to issue licenses and registrations to qualified individuals and firms and enforce laws, rules, and board policies related to certain health-related professions. Our audit focused on whether the health-related licensing boards had adequate internal controls to ensure that they properly accounted for licensing receipts and complied with related legal requirements.1 This work included verifying the accuracy and completeness of the receipts collected, deposited, and recorded for fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014. We also tested the boards’ licensing processes to determine whether they issued licenses only to people who submitted documents showing they met testing, educational, and experience requirements.
The boards of Chiropractic Examiners, Nursing, and Podiatric Medicine had adequate internal controls2 over their receipt and licensing processes and complied with finance-related legal requirements. We also concluded that the following boards had generally adequate internal controls3 over their receipt and licensing processes and generally complied with applicable legal requirements; however, some boards had internal control weaknesses and instances of noncompliance.
|
|
1 In addition to our audit of the boards’ receipt and licensing processes, we performed financial reviews of the boards’ expenditures. A financial review is less in-depth than an audit, but provides some assurance that financial data are reliable, and the risk of noncompliance is relatively low. Based on these reviews, we decided that it was not necessary for our office to conduct additional audit work on expenditures.
2 These boards designed and implemented internal controls that effectively manage risks related to its financial operations.
3 With some exceptions, these boards designed and implemented internal controls that effectively manage risks related to its financial operations.
4 We did not perform detailed testing of receipts for these boards and did not identify any findings related to the boards of Marriage and Family Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Social Work.