The Recovery Audit Contractor program is an essential topic for workers of the medical sphere. Although it is often viewed liked excessive bureaucracy outlay and waste of money by physicians, it helps control the payment system of the US clinics. The program evolved from the initiatives of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop an assessment of the various medical sphere’ departments. Multiple evaluation systems were arranged; RAC was meant to examine and control the financial correctness of the hospitals (Harrington, 2019). Initially, the program was employed as a demonstration projects with the three years term. It should have detected the errors in individual bills of contractors and organizations’ financial apparatus. However, the program was effective, and its executives proposed valuable solutions to payment methods and errors reduction. As a result, the Medicate approved the program for permanent work (Harrington, 2019). Thus, a project aimed at temporal problem solving proved to be a helpful tool for enhancing the healthcare system.
The program’s design is relatively complex, which produced numerous issues in the payment regulations. Namely, the RAC staff was given a part of improper payments recognized by them; this factor has driven some workers to attempt to find the most costly errors (Zelman et al., 2020). However, the Medicare Audit Improvement Act corrected the issue by implementing fines for a selective approach for work. Nowadays, the payments for revision are chosen by the criteria of frequent mistakes in the area. Additionally, clinicians with proper medical education review the reports of RAC workers. It is especially important since various medical services are not coded for payments, as a result being billed inappropriately (Zelman et al., 2020). Moreover, unnecessary services could be revealed after analysis provided by RAC professionals (Harrington, 2019). Therefore, the program was improved thoroughly since its inception in the clinics of the US.
The algorithms used by RACs are derived from years of experience. The workers are not given the cases of improper payments; instead, they should define the areas where the errors occur the most frequently or any suspicious organizations (Harrington, 2019). After that, the RAC workers send warnings to the providers of medical services who have received an underpaid bill or excessive amount of money for their work. Virtually, the improper fees are overpaid bills collected by dishonest or inexperienced providers (Harrington, 2019). Furthermore, medical assistants furnish detailed reviews of the cases, estimating the necessity of various services. The coding system developed by Medicate is used by RAC as well since it is composed by professionals in medicine. The appeals made by RACs undergone several stages; during them, additional analysis of a request is done, and a possibility to argue with the payment decision is given to providers. Finally, if providers do not meet the demand and cannot substantiate their position, the RCAs can transfer the case to the judicial organizations (Harrington, 2019). In brief, the RCA performance aims to control the improper payments that present a specific thread for dishonest clinicians.
The RAC program had the purpose of changing the medical financial sphere, and it still performs appropriately for achieving this goal. The initiative makes the process of billing a transparent one so that customers and providers participate in honest and reliable contracts. Hence, the RAC has impacted the organizational structure of clinics’ monetary policies positively, making them safe and open to reimburse in the unfair billing cases.
References
Harrington, M. K. (2019). Health care finance and the mechanics of insurance and reimbursement (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Zelman, W. N., McCue, M. J., Glick, N. D., & Thomas, M. S. (2020). Financial management of health care organizations: An introduction to fundamental tools, concepts and applications (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Having been created with access to healthcare for every American citizen in mind, Medicare was initially believed to be the main tool in addressing the weaknesses of the American healthcare system. Although after the integration of the Medicare framework into the target environment, a range of issues remained unresolved, the basis for an improvement has been created, the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program being one of them (Lind et al., 2019). Implying that healthcare providers should be paid respective fees as a part of the fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare plans, the RAC program represented a window of opportunity for addressing the current financial accessibility of the services.
However, despite the benefits that the RAC framework was expected to produce, several major problems have been spotted when implementing it. As a result, multiple citizens have filed a range of complaints concerning the quality of the program and its implementation. As a rule, these types of complaints have been prevalent over the past several years of implementing the RAC framework. Namely, access to care for mental health disorders has been one of the foundational problems of the RAC system.
In addition, the unreasonably short length of hospital stay, which does not allow for a full recovery and, therefore, may induce the further development of health concerns, can be named as another common issue with the implementation of the RAC tool (Davis et al., 2020). The described issue is particularly concerning since the release of a patient with poorly addressed mental health issues from a healthcare facility too early will imply a threat both to the patient’s well-being and that one of the community. Namely, the patient in question may harm themselves or community members due to unaddressed mental health concerns (Lind et al., 2019). Therefore, the specified part of RAC must be amended immediately so that the program could be used to implement the treatment fully. Moreover, tools for observing patients’ behaviors and overall demeanor after the release from the hospital must also be introduced to prevent future relapse and, thus, increase the safety of the patient and the community altogether (Davis et al., 2020). While the specified measures will not amend the RAC tool completely, they will become the first steps toward enhancing the quality and accessibility of the Medicare system within the mental health nursing context.
Finally, when addressing the RAC-related complaints, one must focus on the issue raised by multiple patients when addressing the issues with the reviews of hospital bills. Namely, the increased delays in payments have been observed quite a number of times, thus confirming that the established RAC system has not been tested fully and still contains certain internal issues due to which errors occur when the RAC program is run. Given the fact that the RAC framework was built to safeguard the needs of a particularly vulnerable population, namely, patients with mental health issues, the threat of financial inconsistencies must be placed at the top of the list of concerns and suggested improvements for the RAC system.
Due to the lack of focus on the implementation of the RAC program and the control tools used to supervise it, the main problems have merged as a result. Specifically, delays, access to appropriate healthcare services, and the absence of a framework for continuing to support outpatients that have been released from mental health facilities should be listed as the top complaints that must be handled immediately. As soon as the specified issues are addressed, opportunities for improving the quality of mental healthcare will rise.
References
Davis III, C. M., Swenson, E. R., Lehman, T. M., & Haas, D. A. (2020). Economic impact of outpatient Medicare total knee arthroplasty at a tertiary care academic medical center. The Journal of Arthroplasty, 35(6), S37-S41. Web.
Lind, K. D., Noel-Miller, C. M., Sangaralingham, L. R., Shah, N. D., Hess, E. P., Morin, P., & Fernanda Bellolio, M. (2019). Increasing trends in the use of hospital observation services for older medicare advantage and privately insured patients. Medical Care Research and Review, 76(2), 229-239. Web.
Recovery audit contractors (RACs) are professionals who work at the state level to identify payments that do not comply with Medicare and Medicaid regulations. Improper payments pose a risk to providers, so the goal of RACs is to track and correct them (Harrington, 2019b). Currently, rules are in place regarding the behavior of RACs, and providers can contact RACs coordinators for misconduct (Recovery Auditors / RACs, n.d.). Harrington notes that RACs allow for standardized payment processes because they operate according to clinical standards and Medicare coding and billing rules (Harrington, 2019b). It allows RACs to act as examiners for payment verification, maintaining financial stability within the organization. Consequently, RACs are tools for additional control of insurance program payments and regulation of improper payments.
Electronic health records (EHR) is a system that allows online tracking and collection of patient data. EHRs are IT products that simplify the processes of handling confidential information within an organization. EHRs provide quick access to information, access information remotely, and improve the accuracy of information (Harrington, 2019a). In addition, EHRs improve the quality of information and make care safer. The effectiveness of EHRs is determined by the ability to structure data (Blumenthal & Tavenner, 2010) and visualize data (Harrington, 2019a). EHRs provide systems for transferring information between employees to clarify diagnoses (for example, after laboratory tests) and up to the patient. Existing systems for patient access to information make it easier to provide a diagnosis and to convince treatment or hospitalization (Blumenthal & Tavenner, 2010). EHRs simplify motivational channels for staff: treatment data becomes visible, and staff can evaluate outcomes. EHRs are needed to visualize information and improve provider performance characteristics.
Harrington, M. K. (2019a). Electronic health records and meaningful use. In Health Care Finance and the Mechanics of Insurance and Reimbursement (2nd ed.) (pp. 205-220). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Harrington, M. K. (2019b). Recovery audit contractors. In Health Care Finance and the Mechanics of Insurance and Reimbursement (2nd ed.) (pp. 241-251). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
There is an ongoing discussion on various issues of environmental assessment, originating from presence of evidences concerning ecological deprivation as a result of economic expansion (Mohamed 138). Currently, because of economic crisis, client understanding, supply chain relationships and environmental practices pressure the organizations to implement environmental programs.
The community, especially from established states is greatly concerned regarding the impacts on health as a result of pollution. But similar concerns are a bit slow in establishing states. To avoid farther abuse on environmental protection, regulating institutions have endorsed various regulations concerning environmental protection, particularly in the UK and Europe, but the enforcement of such laws is subject to debate (Mohamed 139).
External pressure from legislations and society concerns, as well as business avenues based on environmental concerns, have forced organizations to incorporate environmental initiatives as part of their business organizing process by indicating company involvement in a broad variety of environmental operations, particularly in the manufacturing sector (Banarjee 38).
Both EIA and EA have become important tools in the monitoring and evaluation of environment-based and significant growth programs. The data derived from environment impact assessment and environment auditing activities offers significant details to numerous diverse interested groups.
Although assumed principally as tools in business, innovative use of EIA and EA approaches can enhance precision and communication in various aspects of community where there are needs for higher appreciation of relationships between environment and ecosystem (Pernilla 21).
This essay presents the benefits of using the two tools in an organization. To effectively illustrate these benefits, the essay aims at the application of EIA and EA to assess the basic metrics regarding the environmental initiative as successful tools to assess and improve business operation.
Literature
Dunk (720) examines how product and integration of environmental initiatives positively impact quality improvement. He proposed that adopting of environment concerns into production decision practices by applying EIA and EA would be an important step towards the promotion of quality products and overall company production. Although, the writer mathematically showed that the adoption of EIA and EA positively impacts quality improvement, he failed to measure extra aspects that can compromise quality standards.
Pernilla (22) discusses on the application of website as a data system for distribution of environment-based data to the society. Pernilla also explains the information about environment impact assessment for programs in Athens, as well as the geographical data platform and its application.
This particular program entails the usage likelihoods indicated above while incorporating ecological assessment and auditing through the web. The outcomes presented by Pernilla illustrate an important growth in the capacity of regulative institutions to expand their environment planning capability and to disseminate information to the society about possible environmental dangers.
Dittenhofer (42) explains the qualitative data about environmental concerns needed by managerial and the audit group in order to safeguard the company. Dittenhofer discusses on EIA and EA process. The author asserted that external auditing firms could carry out environmental assessment and auditing.
Also, the author discussed the right of polluting the ecosystem to a restricted level as described in the Clean Environment Legislation of 1990. He also outlined 13 ways for carrying out a successful environmental audit. The author failed to vividly indicate the use of EIA and EA operations to evaluate and determine possible environmental crisis and its associated costs.
Methodology
Environmental assessment and auditing framework in production sector was applied so as identify the benefits of EIA and EA. In this framework, the environmental assessment and auditing are applied in order to identify benefits of conducting Environmental Impact Assessment and auditing on the main ecological elements of pollution (figure below).
The framework is in addition applied to assess the environmental impacts created in all necessary procedures (Dittenhofer 48). This information platform will improve business operations through suitable deployment of funds towards environmental programs.
Discussion and Findings
Environmental planning platforms (EPP), is a basic portion of a general planning model that comprise organizational structure, coordination, goals, operations, roles, processes and protocols for establishing, adopting, attaining, assessing, and sustaining environmental practices as described in ISO14001:1997 legislation; section 3.5.
As environmental assessment and auditing for organization have increased with time, significance has increased to develop a healthier appreciating of environmental assessment and audit and tap from the benefits accruing due to EIA and EA application.
The principal incentive is increasing support that environmental-associated elements can improve the profit margin and monetary level of an organization. Environmental Impact assessment is applied to evaluate all environmental implications related to operations and/or manufacturing processes before implementation, while Environmental Auditing identifies environmental implications of an ongoing/existing project (Mohamed 140).
Environmental assessment and environmental audit, in addition, can be applied in tracking environmental wellbeing of a business in more transparent way. The main regions that require assessment and auditing are: air emission, contaminated water, soil pollution and high noise rate as described by the above model.
Conventionally, EIA and EA were applied as tools for evaluating and disclosing environmental impact reducing influences towards environmental protection expenditures. However, indeed today the EIA and EA in organization have developed; interest has developed to establish a more improved appreciation to environmental-associated benefits and monetary implications as a factor to traditional assessment and auditing.
It is significant for these tools to intrinsically determine and project the gains derived from organization operations and gains from the environmental assessment suitable for a company’s strategic plan and as per the UK’s legislation on environment. The businesses require identifying the ecological impact capability and/or environmental impacts in all processes, measure and assess the environmental impacts.
The firm also needs to measure and evaluate environment protection expenditures incurred by entire production lines and activities regardless the cost advances socio-economic impacts, organization profit margin, and regardless the environment effect of organization operations suit the company’s growth that results to a system for environmental assessment and auditing (Banarjee 43).
Conclusion
The relation between the environment and business is experiencing growing awareness. Today, discussion about climate shift and ecosystem is gaining popularity in management, as well as debate on air, water and soil contamination.
Even though the continuity of financial growth is an equitable role of company, regulatory institutions and stakeholders, but the companies can assume important responsibility in minimizing environmental deprivation. This is because a company has monetary capabilities, technological know-how and organizational ability and long-lived goal of finding environmental solutions.
Firms contribute to maintainable environment through innovation and improvement of their manufacturing process so as to utilize inputs more sufficiently, reduce wastage from manufacturing processes, improve effluent discharge techniques and create a good work environment. Through effective EIA and EA, a company can witness a growth in general environmental appraisal, stakeholders’ fulfillment and organization performance.
Dunk, Allan. “Product Quality, Environmental Accounting and Quality Performance.” Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. Print, 15(2002): 719-732.
Mohamed, Ismail. “Environmental Accounting as a Tool for Environmental Management System.” Journal of environmental Management. Print, 11(2007): 137-145.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) implies the condition of air within building structures, especially within places of residence. According to Brown (2019), the quality of IAQ tends to affect the health, contentment, and well-being of residents. The issue on poor indoor IAQ has been the main subject of study/research among real estate developers and public health officials. Since the beginning of the 19th century, there have been thousands of real estate agencies building residential apartments in the United States accommodating millions of occupants. These amenities have since been experiencing acute indoor environmental hazards due to substandard external conditions within and around the residential centers. The extent of this problem was realized in the late 90s after researchers proved that most residential premised in the United States gives an account of poor indoor air quality and insufficient ventilation.
This report indicates that tenants, based on the pre-existing poor IAQ and insufficient ventilation, are highly susceptible to health symptoms and illnesses. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports respiratory health concerns to be the core contributor to the tenant’s illness (Tham, 2016). The CDC also points out the causal factors of health symptoms are related to pollutant vulnerabilities in connection to molds, allergens, bacteria, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). From this perspective, the research and literature evidence demonstrates that poor IAQ and insufficient ventilation can affect the health of tenants in residential environments. The objectives of this paper, therefore, are to:
To determine residential environmental vulnerabilities pertaining to IAQ and ventilation.
To identify and assess the causal elements leading to health symptoms through evaluation of the existing data on Carbon (IV) oxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), humidity, temperature, dust and molds, and ventilation.
Identify possible solutions and recommendations on how property owners can improve IAQ.
Background
Most people are believed to spend a better part of their day indoors; hence indoor air is a significant environmental factor for most people. Deteriorating IAQ is one of the most critical contributors to poor health concerns, such as respiratory problems and allergies. Exposure to indoor pollution, therefore, needs to be minimized to reduce deaths related to poor indoor air quality. Certain elements, including material, human, and natural factors, have a negative impact on IAQ (Brown, 2019). According to brown, IAQ can be improved if property owners avoid using materials that are believed to be emitting pollutants. With the improvement in technology and change in lifestyle, most residences have introduced modern air conditioners to help improve air quality in the living rooms.
CO2 is among the most common pollutants of IAQ in places of residence and efforts to address this issue can improve air quality. Accordingly, optimized ventilation systems would save energy while at the same time, reduce CO2 in rooms. The high concentration of the gas can cause drowsiness and exhaustion, especially in poorly ventilated rooms. To resolve issues regarding IAQ, researchers have conducted studies on the effectiveness of the HVAC systems in maintaining good indoor air quality. For instance, Chang et al. (2018) described how the HVAC systems interact with both indoor and outdoor environments helping reduce indoor pollution. Proper maintenance of the HVAC systems can help minimize indoor air pollution. Efficient ventilation is considered to lead to good indoor air quality in rooms. Improper ventilation is believed to point to the accumulation of hazardous pollutants. Chang et al. (2018), in their experiment, to examine the relationship between particle movement and ventilation effectiveness established that high ventilation effectiveness results in better removal of fine particles than coarse ones.
Reports and scientific data continue to emerge, pointing out that IAQ directly affects an individual’s health. Indoor air quality typically depends on poor dusting/cleaning and insufficient ventilation that impacts on someone’s health within the surrounding residential environment. For example, in our residential environment, the occupants are exposed to substandard environmental conditions that make them more vulnerable to health symptoms and deterioration of their health standards. A considerable amount of evidence reveals there is a connection between poor IAQ and respiratory health concerns among residents, primarily due to poor cleaning and overuse of cleaning chemicals. Majorly noted health concerns include asthma, allergies, and acute irritant symptoms such as throat irritation, coughing, itching of the eyes, and wheezing.
Most residential apartments also have insufficient ventilation that brings about the growth of molds and bacteria, allergens, too-high or too-low temperatures, dampness, and heightened concentrations of CO2. As a result, the frequency of health symptoms and illness becomes so high within the premises. Improved IAQ in residential environments, on the other hand, is established to minimize health symptoms and respiratory illnesses among occupants. By learning about these details from peer-reviewed literature on IAQ, this paper generates a better understanding of the connection between poor indoor air quality (IAQ) in private residences and individual health. This aspect also includes some of the alleviative factors to be considered.
On several occasions, cases of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) have been reported to be the causal factors for severe health symptoms as well as inactivity among people in their places of residence. Reports have also suggested that poor IAQ lessens an individual’s intellectual and psychological processes. However, the big question is how indoor air quality affects people’s health in residential centers. To determine the validity of this possibility, this paper will investigate if, indeed, low indoor air quality in the private premises compromises or directly affects an individual’s health.
Method
Considering that no physical samples are allowed for assessment of IAQ at my place of residence, this report only utilized observations. On that note, the report relied on the first-hand audit comprised of observable deductions made at my residence. Moreover, further research on IAQ was made from inferences obtained based on observations made by immediate neighbors and visitors. Toward that end, an open-ended observation was conducted to help come up with this research. The survey aimed at finding the influencing factors affecting the residence IAQ and possible recommendations to help improve the condition of air. The common aspects to be observed include factors such as CO2 concentrations, dust and molds, humidity levels, temperature range, ventilation systems and air movement, HVAC problems, radon, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The survey seeks to explore the property owner’s building standards in regards to IAQ within the residential house. The questions are to be randomly distributed through various online platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter because the method is cheap and has the likelihood of reaching most visitors and neighbors. People who have visited my premises are to give their responses about the experience they had in the various living rooms concerning the quality of the indoor air. A rating strategy would be provided for each factor where the respondent is to choose an appropriate scale depending on available data regarding the contaminants. Respondents were, however, assured of privacy and confidentiality to enhance genuine responses. Once the observations are collected, the data would be carefully analyzed, noting down the main points highlighted by the visitors and neighbors concerning the significant factors affecting IAQ at the residence and possible recommendations for improvement.
Results and Discussions
CO2
Exposure to CO2 at places of residence is mainly through the consumption of carbonated drinks, the use of dry ice, or the burning of fossil fuels. High concentrations of CO2 in the indoor air reduce oxygen supply, which may lead to an individual becoming unconscious or even dying (Karnauskas et al., 2020). Property owners should use CO2 detectors in houses to monitor the levels of CO2 in the rooms to protect tenants from high levels of CO2 concentration (Ghaffarianhoseini et al., 2018). Rooms should also be well-ventilated to allow proper air exchange. Machines like the air conditioning system need to be maintained occasionally to avoid the emission of more CO2 in the rooms. Generally, when windows are open, the average indoor CO2 levels in the air-conditioned bedroom were lower compared to when the windows remain closed.
VOCs
The concentration of VOCs indoors is usually higher compared to outdoors, making the living room an easy target of the chemicals. Volatile organic compounds within the residence are commonly emitted by paints, building materials, and all furnishings done in the rooms. Since I often prepare meals, the overheated cooking oils do release acrolein, which also pollutes the indoor air in the rooms. Besides, many types of furniture and building materials used in the rooms have high counts of VOCs that are released to the indoor air over time, contaminating the air. Exposure to low levels of VOCs can lead to respiratory complications, dizziness, and memory impairment. Bad smells from chemicals may not be harmful by themselves but do cause symptoms like nausea and headache (Carrer & Wolkoff, 2018). House management should keep all the materials that emit VOCs far away from the guest rooms as well as ensuring plenty of air circulation in the rooms to reduce the level of exposure of customers to VOCs. Cleaning labels used in the houses should be zero VOC or low VOC.
Radon
Radon gas occurs naturally in some rocks or soils and is likely to diffuse through the soil into buildings. Considering that radon gas is common in America, it was imperative to consider it among the air contaminants in the living rooms. Radon is a leading cause of lung cancer in the mentioned countries, and as a heavy gas, it tends to concentrate at the lowest points of the house. Drinking water and bathroom water is one of the agents that introduce the gas into the rooms with building materials not being the primary source of the gas (Kukadia & Upton, 2019). Therefore, the management should consider testing for the presence of the gas in the rooms regularly to reduce exposure of the gas to occupants. Sealing of basement foundations and water drainage systems is critical in avoiding the leakage of radon gas into the rooms.
Temperature
The temperature in the rooms is very critical in determining the quality of indoor air. High temperatures in the rooms create a conducive environment for chemicals within the house to rapidly leak into the rooms. The chemicals lead to irritation, headache, or even cause serious health complications to the occupants of the room (El‐Sharkawy & Javed, (2018). Very low temperatures, on the other hand, lead to shivering and results in discomfort. Generally, very high or low temperatures in the rooms make the IAQ unpleasant to the occupant. Air conditioning units, together with ventilation in the house, should be used appropriately to enhance optimal temperatures.
Humidity
There should always be an optimal level of humidity in any indoor environment. High humidity levels in living rooms are caused by water leaks and moisture that condenses on cold surfaces (Mao et al., 2018). High humidity levels lead to poor IAQ as it facilitates the growth of molds. These plants, in turn, will release chemicals that, if one breathes them, can lead to respiratory distress and shortness of breath. The residence experiences poor IAQ during the winter season as it becomes a challenge to maintain humidity levels in the apartment. Despite the season, the management should strive to maintain an average indoor humidity level in the living rooms to avoid the growth of dust mites and molds.
Ventilation
Ventilation is one of the essential factors that determine the quality of indoor air. The residence has a moderate level of ventilation systems in every room. Low ventilation with a high concentration of various chemicals and toxic gases like CO2 are likely to lead to severe health conditions on the occupants of the room. Proper ventilation, even with high levels of CO2, is healthy and is said to contribute to safe indoor air cushioning occupants of a room from major health hazards (Ooi et al., 2016). Ventilation should, therefore, be a priority for house owners, and they should ensure effective ventilation of all rooms as a way of enhancing good IAQ.
Dust and Molds
Molds are biological chemicals released to the atmosphere that are facilitated by moisture. The growth of the plants can only be inhibited by keeping humidity levels below 50 percent. The living rooms, if not well dried, are likely to develop molds that eventually lead to emission of the biological chemicals polluting the indoor air (Qi et al., 2017). Moisture levels in rooms often go up due to condensation occasioned by the moderate ventilation, eventually leading to the growth of molds that pollute the indoor air. The plants also flourish because of mattresses in the bedrooms getting exposed to moisture through humidity or even body sweat. Substantial quantities of dust lead to chest tightness, wheezing, and difficulty in sleeping due to respiratory complications. Routine cleaning of the rooms stirs up the dust trapped inside the room with other contaminants, making it suspended on-air. The management should regularly check for molds in the house and ensure that the environment remains dry to reduce their growth.
HVAC Problems
The quality of indoor air is also affected by problems associated with heating and cooling equipment in the rooms. Microbes easily build up in the HVAC system resulting in poor IAQ (Chang et al., 2018). Moreover, filthy air filters and leakages from refrigerants also result in poor indoor air. Routine maintenance of all HVAC systems in apartment and regular replacement of filters plays an essential role in creating clean indoor air.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The report reveals that the factors discussed affect the quality of indoor air, implying that the pollution of indoor air has a severe health problem in residential apartments. Besides, it is also clear that most people spend a significant part of their day indoors hence risk of the negative implications of poor IAQ. As Chan et al. (2017) note, there is an urgent need for property owners to develop practical measures that will assist in addressing the health concerns by reducing the contamination of IAQ. The real estate sector provides shelter for millions of Americans annually, thus increasing the need for implementing viable solutions to enhance a comfortable and secure environment for tenants. The residence where I stay will gain the trust of more clients through the assurance of improved IAQ because there will be an increased willingness to live within the residence. The following recommendations, if well adopted, will help the property owner to create good IAQ in the apartment by reducing air contamination.
Optimization of HVAC
The management should ensure they optimize on their heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems to enhance good IAQ. The HVAC systems must be regularly maintained and inspected as they are central in determining a room’s indoor air quality. Besides, the filtration systems must also be periodically inspected and replaced depending on whether the residence is in an environment with dirty outdoor air. Similarly, they need to install CO2 detectors in strategic places to help regulate levels of the gas in the living rooms. Since the residence receives different occupants every season, there is a need for the hotels to change air filters at least once every two months. Also, the management should ensure that the HVAC systems are maintained to operate as per the original specifications (Afroz et al., 2018). Furthermore, the managers must ensure that the HVAC systems are in operation at all shifts.
Training of House Maintenance Employees
The management should ensure that all its staff is well trained on how to perform their day-to-day activities as well as better ways of minimizing indoor air pollution. Employees involved in the maintenance of the residence need to undergo training on how to maintain adequate ventilation of air contaminants generated during cleaning or maintenance (Quansah et al., 2017). Besides the employees need to know how to minimize adverse effects of IAQ in the process of using and disposing of chemicals and other agents. Employee training should include informing all employees of the contents of the IAQ compliance plan as well as the signs and symptoms associated with building-related illness.
Monitor Possible Sources of Pollution
Most indoor air pollutants within the residence usually arise from various activities in the house. For example, CO2 arise from combustion activities during the preparation of meals using fossil fuels. Besides, materials used in residences during renovations and painting also leads to indoor air pollution. It is, therefore, imperative for the management to ensure that during renovations, they only use low-VOC paints, flooring, and furniture to minimize harmful emissions. Besides, the HVAC systems need regular cleaning and maintenance to ensure it does not keep dust particles. Sources of molds like water-stained ceiling tiles should be monitored and addressed once noted to avoid the effects of the plant. Besides, the management should use environmentally friendly building materials and cleaning products as a way of reducing VOC emissions in the hotel rooms (Afroz et al., 2018). Additionally, the kitchen should be located far away from the guest room to keep the rooms safe from indoor air pollution.
References
Afroz, Z., Shafiullah, G. M., Urmee, T., & Higgins, G. (2018). Modeling techniques used in building HVAC control systems: A review. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 83, 64-84. Web.
Brown, N. J. (2019). Indoor air quality [Electronic version]. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
Carrer, P., & Wolkoff, P. (2018). Assessment of indoor air quality problems in office-like environments: Role of occupational health services. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15 (4), 741. Web.
Chan, W., Lee, S. C., Li, D., & Chen, X. K. (2017). Cigarette induced PM2.5 in hotel rooms: An assessment of the effectiveness of management’s mitigating measures. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 60, 42-47. Web.
Chang, D. Q., Liu, J. X., & Chen, S. C. (2018). Factors affecting particle depositions on electret filters used in residential HVAC systems and indoor air cleaners. Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 18, 3211-3219. Web.
Ghaffarianhoseini, A., AlWaer, H., Omrany, H., Ghaffarianhoseini, A., Alalouch, C., Clements- Croome, D., & Tookey, J. (2018). Sick building syndrome: Are we doing enough? Architectural Science Review, 61(3), 99-121. Web.
Karnauskas, K. B., Miller, S. L., & Schapiro, A. C. (2020). Fossil fuel combustion is driving indoor CO2 toward levels harmful to human cognition. GeoHealth, 4(5), Web.
Kukadia, V., & Upton, S. (2019). Ensuring good indoor air quality in buildings. BRE Group.
Tham, K. W. (2016). Indoor air quality and its effects on humans: A review of challenges and developments in the last 30 years. Energy and Buildings, 130, 637-650. Web.
Mao, Z., Yang, Y., & Wang, M. (2018). Sleepless nights in hotels? Understanding factors that influence hotel sleep quality. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 74, 189- 201. Web.
Ooi, S. S., Mak, J. W., Chen, D. K., & Ambu, S. (2016). The correlation of Acanthamoeba from the ventilation system with other environmental parameters in commercial buildings as possible indicator for indoor air quality. Industrial health, 5, 2015-0218. Web.
Qi, M., Li, X., Zhu, E., & Shi, Y. (2017). Evaluation of perceived indoor environmental quality of five-star hotels in China: An application of online review analysis. Building and Environment, 111, 1-9. Web.
Quansah, R., Semple, S., Ochieng, C. A., Juvekar, S., Armah, F. A., Luginaah, I., & Emina, J. (2017). Effectiveness of interventions to reduce household air pollution and/or improve health in homes using solid fuel in low-and-middle income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International, 103, 73-90. Web.
For the economic wellbeing of a country, it is crucial to carry out financial analysis at the end of each fiscal year. Data from various years can be compared in order to evaluate the economic and financial position of the country.
In general, the financial position of a country can be measured using parameters such as income tax, revenue or consumers’ purchasing power. These parameters and variations within the fiscal years can give adequate data that can be used to declare the financial status of an economic entity.
Data can be collected from a sample town and assumed as fair sample for a country. In this article, Swobodaville has been taken as the hypothetical sample town and a subject of the analysis.
In Swobodaville, it is clear that the revenue per household is constant. It falls slightly in the second financial year, rises in the third year and then remains constant for the next 3 years of the analysis.
Additionally, the sales tax as a percentage of the total revenue experiences a constant drop as the expenditures per household rise. This shows that the growing population has a reduced purchasing power, which is an evidence of a retarding economy (Carroll, 2009).
Moreover, the data show that the sales tax-exempt households as a percentage of the population increases progressively with time, while the number of low-income earners is on the rise.
According to the data, the economic position of the town is deteriorating with each fiscal year. The increase in expenditure despite a constant revenue is a clear evidence that resources are diverted towards other non- profit able activities. Therefore, limited resources are overwhelmed by the constantly increasing population.
A decrease in resources implies that there is low employment rate, and higher number of low-income earners. Therefore, this reduces the number of individuals paying tax to the government because significant taxpayers are the few employed individuals.
Another factor contributing to a poor economy is the unproductive public, which concentrates on non-profitable activities; thus making their revenue to decrease (Carroll, 2009).
In this society, the public should dedicate their revenue to income generating activities in order curb the existing economic crisis in this town. This would ensure that the available resources are multiplied to cater for the growing population. Another possibility would be to implement new management policies.
For example, it would be worth reducing the tax burden from the income earners to enable them invest significant part of their savings (Thorndike, 2002). In addition, the government should fund small-scale entrepreneurs to uplift their business capital, hence maximize their profits.
This would open up employment opportunities to the public. In this economy, it would also be necessary for the government to diversify their sources of income. This is essential to avoid over dependence on external sources of income such as loans and grants.
To achieve this, they need to start income generating projects such as industries and intensive agriculture. These strategies should be implemented wisely, and in an order of priority.
In conclusion, the economic situation of a country should be evaluated periodically in order to establish its financial position at any given period. This is to ensure that any crisis is mitigated in time.
Such a correction would involve amendment of financial policies; focus on development and enlightenment of the citizens. This would ensure a sustained growth of the economy and hence a firm financial foundation.
References
Carroll, D. (2009). Diversifying municipal government revenue structures. New York: John Wiley & sons.
Thorndike, J. (2002). Tax justice: the ongoing debate. Washington: The urban institute press.
Financial audit is the review of financial statements of the organization. A financial audit exercise is taken to be the process that seeks to verify financial statements of an entity. This is done with a view of expressing or making an audit judgment about a legal entity.
On the other hand, financial audit ensures that monetary information is recorded and reported in a just way. This encompasses all material aspects of the entity and seeks to give a just view as stipulated by financial frameworks. Thus, the main principle of providing financial statements is to develop confidence among the users of financial statements.
A financial audit examines all the procedures and ways that are used to transmit financial information in an organization. Besides, it requires one to gather all documents related to financial aspects of the firm. Some of the documents reviewed include; sales receipts, bank statements, and even invoices.
Assessment of proper recording is done so that all forms of errors can be detected. Furthermore, there is a check on compliance with the accounting policies and principles. The next step involves assessing the record-keeping policies to ensure that there is efficiency. Here, auditors determine the accessibility and retrieval of financial records.
The next step involves reviewing of the elements of the entity’s accounting system (Rezaee & Riley, 2009). Various accounts should be checked for compliance with the accounting system. For instance, it is a requirement that such systems should identify and correct errors.
Furthermore, the auditing firm looks at the internal control policies and the level of protection that firms provide against fraud. This would involve the procedures for accessing all financial documents and even the signatories. Besides, financial auditing involves making a comparison between internal cash holding and external records.
It also involves a comparison between external and internal records relating to incomes and expenses. Finally, the process involves making an analysis of internal and official tax returns relating to the company. Deductions and credits should also be reviewed to check for error and inflated expenses.
On the other hand, fraud auditing encompasses a careful review of all financial credentials with the aim of determining the differences. In fact, it is searching for aspects that do not mesh in financial statements of the firm. Moreover, a financial audit increases confidence in financial statements, whereas fraud audit addresses issues of fraud in an entity (Rezaee & Riley, 2009).
At other times, it is done to avert the occurrence of fraudulent activities. Unlike financial audit that has various steps and assessments, fraud audit encompasses a series of interviews. This is aimed at determining the depth of fraud in an entity. Thus, the auditing firm can interview people such as managers, employees and even business owners.
This is essential in obtaining information that will identify or show people or departments responsible for fraudulent actions. The next step involves the issuing of reports on the findings. This is aimed at providing information to stakeholders about the entity.
Obligations of CEOs
A CEO is entrusted with numerous responsibilities. Their actions should show good faith, accountability and even stewardship. They have an obligation to maximize returns to shareholders and employees. Accountability will ensure that mismanagement of funds is eliminated (Dyck & Neubert, 2010). Therefore, there will be no cases of losses to the company.
Besides, matters of stewardship and good faith will ensure that all actions taken serve the interest of employees and shareholders. CEOs have an obligation to make available all financial information to interested parties in the entity. Besides, the law requires CEOs to act in the best interest of the corporation. The information provided will show that there is sufficient monitoring of the actions of the people in managerial positions.
This will ensure that hoax is detected. This will facilitate the establishment of the appropriate actions taken to avert mismanagement of resources (Dyck & Neubert, 2010). This will ensure the interest of all stakeholders has been taken into consideration. Thus, conflicts will be averted, and the organization will efficiently achieve its goals and objectives.
Global instruments
There are global factors that contributed to failure and fraud in MF Global. First, there was the exposure to the European sovereign debt. This is believed to have triggered Moody’s Fitch and S&P to downgrade the credit. Besides, there had been an announcement of poor quarterly results during that period.
Thus, there was an escalation in the credit risk that saw the increase in the exchanges for aspects such as collateral (Rowland & Lawson, 2012). For instance, a large amount of capital was paid to support sovereign debts. It is because of doing the transactions above that the fraud was facilitated. What is more, computer systems would not handle the transactions that were being carried out.
Besides, due to the enormous transactions, employees of the organization made many errors. Most of the transactions were improperly recorded, and in some cases transactions were not recorded at all. This was the main reason behind the fraud in the organization. Besides, the auditors did not perform their work efficiently.
What is more, they did not identify that most of the financial records were omitted. Moreover, there were malpractices in the movement of cash (Rowland & Lawson, 2012). Further, the inefficiency of the auditing department resulted in the collapse of the organization.
Whistleblowing
To increase the chances of ‘whistleblowing’, internal auditors should be allowed to issue their reports to directors. There is also need to act on matters of fraud once an issue has been reported. This will encourage ‘whistleblowing’ in the organization because people will be sure that an action is being taken to ensure accountability.
Besides, the organizations should set rules and guidelines to give protection to people that report fraud in organizations. This will avert unfair treatments because of their ethical behavior. Moreover, adopting whistleblowing regulations that are meant to protect employees acting in good faith should be implemented in an organization.
Rewarding ethical behavior
It is my conviction that auditing firms and other business entities will eliminate fraud by rewarding staff that observe ethical behavior. This will foster actions of good faith in an organization. Besides, it will eliminate and avert any form of corruption. In fact, when people are rewarded for their ethical behavior, they feel appreciated, and no one can attempt to carry out deceitful activities.
For instance, people will be demoralized if they are not rewarded for ethical behavior. This will enhance unjust practices and hoax in the organization. People will steal and practice dishonesty in the organization. This will injure the reputation of the firm. Thus, it is appropriate to reward good deeds done by employees of an organization.
References
Dyck, B., & Neubert, M. J. (2010). Management: Current practices and new directions. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Rezaee, Z., & Riley, R. (2009). Financial Statement Fraud: Prevention and Detection, Epub Edition. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Rowland, C., & Lawson, M. (2012). The permanent portfolio: Harry Browne’s long-term investment strategy. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
Auditors need to check for warning signs when reviewing the financial statements of a company. There are several red flags that the auditor can check. A large change in the values reported is the first red flag. The second red flag is changing the external auditor. The third one is ambiguities in reporting and changes in footnotes. Similarly, there are a lot of warning signs that auditors need to check.
Recording of revenues before they are earned is the first warning sign. In this case, a company can recognize the whole amount of income expected before the execution of a contract or recording revenue that is more than the contract amount.
The warning sign guides auditors in determining if the revenues reported are earned. The second sign is the record of bogus revenues. In this case, a company can define revenues that lack economic value or inflate revenues. The warning sign aids auditors in ascertaining that all revenues are correctly estimated and that they arise from the permitted transactions.
The third sign is escalating income using activities that cannot be sustained. This entails recording transactions in wrong accounts. It guides the auditors in ensuring that all revenues from unusual activities are entered in the correct book of account and are properly disclosed.
The fourth sign is moving expenses, which relate to the current period, to future periods. This can be in the form of capitalizing operating expenses, failing to write-off valueless assets or increasing the period of depreciation. It guides the auditors in reviewing the cut-off period for expenses.
The fifth sign is “employing other techniques to hide expenses or losses” (Schilit & Perler, 2010, p. 137). This contains failing to record expenses to reduce tax liability. This type of manipulation may be difficult to detect though it guides auditors in ascertaining if all expenses are disclosed.
The sixth sign is recording income that related to current period to future periods, which understates the current income. It guides the auditors in defining the cut-off period. The final warning sign is recording expenses that relate to future periods in the current period. This reduces current earnings and guides the auditors in reviewing the cut-off period for income (Schilit & Perler, 2010).
Earnings manipulation
One way of manipulating earnings of a company is increasing the cash flow from operations using activities that cannot be sustained. This can be achieved by “failing to segregate unusual and non-recurring gains or losses from recurring income” (Schilit & Perler, 2010, pp. 93 – 95). Such income often arises from one a -time sale of an operating business unit or a manufacturing plant.
For instance, in the financial statements for the year 1999 of IBM, the company recorded $4.057 billion as a reduction of the selling, general, and administrative expenses. The gain was received from the sale of Global Network Business to AT&T. The improper recording of this transaction resulted in a decline of the selling, general, and administrative expenses by 11.6% and a corresponding increase in operating income by 30.2% (Schilit & Perler, 2010).
The managers’ motivation in this scheme was to conceal the declining financial performance of the company. During that period, the company’s costs were growing faster than revenue. Therefore, the management wanted to hide the declining performance of the company from various stakeholders. These actions can be detected by the auditor by reviewing the percentage change of different items in the income statement over the years.
For instance, it can be observed that the revenue grew by 7.2% between 1998 and 1999. The cost of sales increased by 9.5% while gross profit increased by 3.4%.
However, the operating profit escalated by 30.2% from the previous year (Schilit & Perler, 2010, pp. 93-95). It is worth noting that there is a large inconsistency between the change in gross profit and operating income. Therefore, by observing the consistency of the values, an auditor will be able to point out the fraud.
Reference
Schilit, H., & Perler, G. (2010). Financial shenanigans: Detecting accounting gimmicks that destroy investment. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Publishers.
State Audit Institute (SAI) is an independent organisation which is aimed at conducting research in the financial sector of different companies to check their performance. The main purpose of this organisation is to make sure that the company functions according to the current legislation and the financial situation in the company is safe. Being the central organisation in the country which has the specialists of the highest range, SAI has an opportunity to conduct an audit of different kind with various goals and in different organisations.
According to the company mission, it aims to “safeguard public funds and assist the Federal Government in improving public sector governance and performance standards and to grow Emirati professional capabilities” (State Audition Institute, 2011). The company attempts to fulfil the duties it has before the legislation and tries to achieve its objectives via performing its obligations. It should be noted that the fundamental priorities of the company make it play a crucial oversight role “when it comes to federal and local government operations in UAE” (Ibrahim, 2010, p. 464).
The wide range of objectives and the opportunities SAI has, allows it to provide the following work, regularity audit, performance audit, investigation and information system audit. Regularity audit is a kind of control which is provided annually in the specific companies, obligatory for all Federal Government Organisations. Performance audit is aimed at tasting the performance and efficiency of the part or all activities of the company. Investigation takes place when the case of financial violation is identified, where one of the main goals is to detect wasted money or illegally spent funds. Information system audit is considered to be the central kind of audit for the company as it helps to implement control of performance and financial audit (Profile, 2011).
Being an independent organisation, SAI has an opportunity to audit such organisations as Ministers and Departments of Federal Government, Federal Nation Council, different public organisations accounted to the government, other companies where the government share comprises at least 25%, the organisations which are subsidised by the country, or any organisation which needs independent opinion about its financial situation (Profile, 2011).
To achieve the goals the company sets, it is important to employ highly professional staff. Apart from auditors, the company offers jobs in administration sphere, finance, human resources, IT, etc. (State Audition Institute, 2011). One of the main priorities for SAI is the training opportunities it offers. The organisation cares greatly of graduates and tries to give those as many opportunities for employment as it can (Profile, 2011). A lot of graduates in accounting and financing can find jobs in SAI if their qualities and professional skills and knowledge satisfy the company demand. Moreover, the professional development programs give employees an opportunity to study abroad, for example, for Master of Science in accounting offered by UK University or for Graduate Certificate in Performance Audit in Australia, etc (State Audition Institute, 2011).
Thus, it may be concluded that SAI is an independent company which is aimed at providing different kinds of audit in the country. Functioning for the sake of the country, it offers great possibilities for the graduates and provides training programs for its employees all over the world. Being considered as one of the best audit institutions in the world, the company always improves its performance by means to employing the best professionals in the sphere.
Reference List
Ibrahim, M. (2010). State Audit Institution in United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Law and Management, 52(6), 464-468.
Profile. (2011). United Arab Emirates State Audition Institute. Web.
Many organizations like to measure their compliance level against certain standards even without any legal obligation. This process is known as pre-assessment audit, which is used by many organizations as a tool for evaluation and learning to help in the improvement of the management systems. Through this process, the management will identify all the areas that need improvement. Organizations are also required to carry out pre-assessment audit before they can receive the credential of certification.
Pre-assessment audit is part of internal audit where organizations are required to evaluate their management systems as a way of ensuring that there is good corporate governance. This paper will analyze procedures for pre-assessment audit and internal audit using the case of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). The bank is ranked the best financial institution in the Middle East and it was awarded standards for quality management ISO 9001-2008.
Procedures for pre-assessment audit
Pre-assessment audit involves a number of steps which organization ought to follow for a successful process and certification by the registrar. These steps include
Commitment of the top management
The success of the entire process starts with the commitment of the top managers who play the critical role in the audit. Top managers need to be convinced that pre-assessment audit is necessary and successful certification and registration will benefit the organization by showing its commitment to quality for its customers. The management needs to be in the forefront for successful pre-assessment audit; nevertheless, this will only happen if the managers realize that good management systems will improve the efficiency of the business by minimizing duplication of the management systems that are wasteful. In the case of NBAD, the top management of the bank is committed to improve the quality of its services and systems to meet the needs of its customers. This commitment drove the managers in 2008 to carry a successful pre-assessment test required before ISO certification.
Establishing a team for implementation
Pre-assessment audit needs a committed team of staff for its successful implementation. After having a committed top management team, the plan must be made known to all the employees of the organization for them to own and support it. The quality assurance department ought to select a capable team that will spearhead the implementation process. As Asare, Davidson, and Gramling argue, an audit committee may be established to help in this process of auditing (181).
The team may consist one of the member from the top management who will oversee and plan the implementation process together with the other people who are appointed from all the departments of the organization. These departments may include planning, marketing, quality control, and production among others. The representative of the management will motivate and direct all the other managers towards the implementation of the pre-assessment audit. In the NBAD, the quality assurance department, led by its manager, spearheaded the 2008 pre-assessment audit.
Start awareness program
The purpose of the awareness program is to inform all the stakeholders of the intended audit to incorporate them in the process. Awareness program may involve sensitizing the customers and employees on the benefits of the process. NBAD carried out several awareness programs to sensitize its employees and customers on the benefits they will gain from improved quality systems of the bank before its certification in 2008.
Provide training
Internal quality audit will affect all the personnel and departments in the organization. It is therefore important to come up with training programs to prepare all the staffs for any change that may come with quality assurance certification. Many procedures and systems of the organization are affected hence the need to train staff for these changes.
Conduct a survey for initial status
This will involve carrying out a simple survey in the whole organization just to give an idea of what is expected during the audit process. It may require visiting several units or departments, a process that NBAD accomplished.
Steps for internal auditing
Internal quality auditing involves a number of steps, which are necessary for a successful process. The steps include scheduling, planning, conducting, recording, and reporting.
Scheduling
Scheduling involves the process of coming with an annual schedule that will be used for quality audit. Quality assurance department has a duty to come up with the said schedule that will run for a whole year. This schedule ensures that there is proper timing of the activities involved in the process. After preparing the schedule, it is forwarded to the management team for any amendment and approval. As Dacey indicates, an audit manual provided by the Government System Control Department may be used when planning for the audit (1).
Planning
Planning process involves preparation of the documents necessary for the audit taking into consideration the specific procedures that will be used in each unit or division. Quality assurance team also informs all the department of the audit schedule to enable them to prepare in advance.
Conduct
The audit is carried out using a checklist where auditors compare what is in the list with what is already happening in the organization. At this step, the auditor will note the findings on the checklist, which will then be used to assess the position of the organization.
Recording
In this step, the findings of the audit are recorded in preparation for reporting and implementation. The recording shows what has been observed during the auditing process and what is expected to be happening. It shows where there is variation with laid down requirements. If necessary, a follow up audit may be planned at this stage before giving the final report.
Reporting
At this step, the findings of the internal quality audit are reported to the top management for action. The findings will show the present position of the organization in relation to the laid down requirements and the expected position in accordance with these rules. Many governments have laid down all the audit requirements that should be followed by all organization (Franzel 1). From this report, the management may now come up with an action plan to implement the recommendations if they are not satisfied with current position of the organization.
Conclusion
Pre-assessment audit and internal audit are important processes for assessing quality compliance of any organization. All the organizations are required to undertake audit process before quality certification by the registrar. NBAD carried a successful audit before its certification in 2008 as a way of improving quality of its services and systems. Pre-assessment audit will involve initial preparations before the actual quality audit is conducted. Actual audit may involve scheduling, planning, conducting, recording, and reporting.
Works cited
Asare, Stephen, Davidson, Ronald, and Gramling, Audrey. “Internal Auditors’ Evaluation of Fraud Factors in Planning an Audit: The Importance of Audit Committee Quality and Management Incentives.” International Journal of Auditing 12.3 (2008): 181-203.
Dacey, Robert. “Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual (FISCAM): Exposure Draft.” GAO Reports, 2008: 1-611.
Franzel, Jeanette. “To audit officials and others interested in: government auditing standards.” GAO Reports, 2010: 1-192.