§ 54.631 - Audits and recordkeeping.

§ 54.631 Audits and recordkeeping.

(a) Random audits. All participants under the Telecommunications Program and Healthcare Connect Fund Program shall be subject to random compliance audits to ensure compliance with program rules and orders.

(b) Recordkeeping. Participants, including Consortium Leaders and health care providers, shall maintain records to document compliance with program rules and orders for at least five years after the last day of service delivered in a particular funding year sufficient to establish compliance with all rules in this subpart.

(1) Telecommunications Program.

(i) Participants must maintain, among other things, records of allocations for consortia and entities that engage in eligible and ineligible activities, if applicable.

(ii) Mobile rural health care providers shall maintain annual logs for a period of five years. Mobile rural health care providers shall maintain annual logs indicating: The date and locations of each clinical stop; and the number of patients served at each clinical stop. Mobile rural health care providers shall make their logs available to the Administrator and the Commission upon request.

(iii) Service providers shall retain documents related to the delivery of discounted services for at least five years after the last day of the delivery of discounted services. Any other document that demonstrates compliance with the statutory or regulatory requirements for the rural health care mechanism shall be retained as well.

(2) Healthcare Connect Fund Program.

(i) Participants who receive support for long-term capital investments in facilities whose useful life extends beyond the period of the funding commitment shall maintain records for at least five years after the end of the useful life of the facility. Participants shall maintain asset and inventory records of supported network equipment to verify the actual location of such equipment for a period of five years after purchase.

(ii) Service providers shall retain records related to the delivery of supported services, facilities, or equipment to document compliance with the Commission rules or orders pertaining to the Healthcare Connect Fund Program for at least five years after the last day of the delivery of supported services, equipment, or facilities in a particular funding year.

(c) Production of records. Both participants and service providers under the Telecommunications Program and Healthcare Connect Fund Program shall produce such records at the request of the Commission, any auditor appointed by the Administrator or Commission, or any other state or federal agency with jurisdiction.

(d) Obligation of service providers. Service providers in the Telecommunications Program and Healthcare Connect Fund Program must certify, as a condition of receiving support, that they will provide to health care providers, on a timely basis, all information and documents regarding supported equipment, facilities, or services that are necessary for the health care provider to submit required forms or respond to Commission or Administrator inquiries. The Administrator may withhold disbursements for the service provider if the service provider, after written notice from the Administrator, fails to comply with this requirement.

Effective Date Note

Effective Date Note:

At 84 FR 54979, Oct. 11, 2019, § 54.631 was revised. Section 54.631(d) contains information collection and recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective until approval has been given by the Office of Management and Budget.