Hunter
11/09/21
A recent internal audit of the University of Iowa’s State Hygienic Lab hasn’t been consistently charging for their work, leaving as much as $1.1 million in fees for their work.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the lab, with facilities in Coralville and Ankeny , processes more than 1500 samples a day for a range of infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and herpes. Iowa code outlines which tests should be run without charge due to direct threats to public health. The code, however, also details disease tests that should be billed.
The newspaper quotes the audit, which says that the lab is “not consistently charging for samples tested or receiving the auxiliary data for each sample, increasing the risk of incorrect billing and potentially decreasing the amount of revenue received.” The audit found 11,400 tests with no associated auxiliary data that weren’t charged in the first six months of 2021 that have potential billiable value of over $1.1 million.
The audit didn’t address the lab’s role in Iowa’s COVID-19 testing, but Lab director Mike Pentella told The Gazette the State Hygienic Lab is a “long-trusted steward of Iowans’ public health and the funding that supports its efforts,” adding that they are currently looking into the audit’s findings.