Corporate Compliance

Tests of evidence

Healthcare Auditing Weekly, November 9, 2004

According the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) auditing standards, evidence gathered by auditors and compliance officers should be sufficient, competent, and relevant. But what does that mean, exactly?

  • Sufficiency: Sufficiency is the presence of enough relevant, factual, and convincing evidence to sustain the findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Statistical sampling selection and appraisal techniques can be used to establish sufficiency.

  • Competency: This refers to the reliability of evidence that is attained through reasonable and reliable methods. The credibility and soundness of evidence should be appraised on an ongoing basis.

  • Relevancy: Evidence used to support an audit finding is relevant if it has a logical, sensible relationship to that finding. Irrelevant information should not be considered evidence or be included in the working papers.

    To learn more about audit evidence, order the book "Guide to Compliance Auditing: Applying OIG Techniques and Tools," published by HCPro, Inc. This book provides compliance officers and internal auditors with the same principles and tried-and-true techniques that the OIG uses to conduct audits of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

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