In our Berkeley Fire Department Ambulance Billing Follow-up Audit, we found that the Berkeley Fire Department made significant improvements since our 2007 audit Fire Department Ambulance Billing. They improved ambulance billing efforts by implementing an electronic prehospital care report system and clarifying procedures. We recommend improving collection efforts and offering more payment options to the public. We continue to be concerned about the need for local hospitals to cooperate with the City in improving accuracy of data, and support Fire's continuing efforts to obtain that cooperation from the hospitals.
Berkeley's Ethical Climate,
Strong and Working to Make It Better
We thank City of Berkeley employees for participating in our confidential survey of the City's ethical climate, and the City Manager and staff for embracing our recommendations. Thank you to the City Council for your March 14 approval of our audit Berkeley's Ethical Climate Rated Strong Overall and Management Working to Make it Better. Our recommendations include clear communication and training to support leaders at all levels of the organization who are willing to listen and to act decisively to uphold ethical values. In our survey, we found that, overall, Berkeley employees rated the City's ethical culture as strong, at 7.67 points. A strong ethics program can control costs, improve service delivery, and build credibility with the public we serve.
Thank you so much for continuing to advocate for the work that we do on your behalf as independent performance auditors. With your support, we will continue to help make Berkeley better! See you at Council Tuesday night March 28!
Sincerely,
Ann-Marie Hogan, Auditor City of Berkeley Auditor's Office
