Texas State Auditor's
Office SAO Reports: An Audit Report on Internal Controls and Financial Processes at the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners |
June 2002
Report Number 02-050
We are concerned that weaknesses in the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners'
(Board) complaint resolution process impair the Board's ability to protect the
health of Texas dental consumers. The Board's inconsistent application of rules
and policies and flawed investigation process severely weaken its oversight
of dental professionals. The Board has an ongoing history of weaknesses in its
complaint resolution process. Prior State Auditor's Office reports issued in
August 1997 and March 2000 made recommendations to the Board to strengthen controls
over enforcement. We found that certain weaknesses we identified in these reports
continue to exist.
The Board does not consistently enforce policies regulating dental professionals. As a result, dental professionals who have committed similar infractions have received different sanctions or no sanctions at all. The Board also does not complete investigations regarding complaints about dental professionals in compliance with its own policies for evidence and timeliness. Staff investigators lack the authority and medical qualifications that could expedite the investigation process, particularly for high priority complaints involving death or injury.
Examples of the specific weaknesses we identified in the Board's complaint resolution process include:
It should be noted that our review of the Board's licensing process indicates that this process is timely and efficient. Although we found no issues associated with the licensing process itself, our findings regarding the complaint process indicate that the effectiveness of licensing is impaired when sanctions regarding license revocation are not implemented.
We tested certain financial processes at the Board for accuracy and compliance
with state rules and regulations. Nothing came to our attention that indicated
the Board had violated either the State's three-day deposit rule or the
State's travel regulations. We also tested the accuracy of two performance
measures. We were unable to certify the Board's reported average time for
complaint resolution. We certified with qualifications the Board's reported
average licensing cost for individual licenses issued.
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