Establishing a New Medical Facility

Healthcare Management (discussion Questions)

Health care management (Discussion questions)

According to Stone et al. (2008) health care is the second-fastest budding sector of the American economy. Stanton (2002) argues that the discontent with the health care system is rising despite increasing health care providers. With increasing private health clinics and public hospitals, it is pertinent that health practices maintain a safe working environment. The environment should reflect a level of vigilance and compassion for patient welfare. One has to follow certain steps to come up with the best and cost effective plan. For instance, one has to ask him/herself why he/she wants to own a practice to ascertain if he/she has the entrepreneurial spirit and dedication. One must also choose a good location for practicing in terms of accessibility and visibility. One should also survey the location to determine the number of existing practices offering similar services. One has to incur numerous expenses when starting a health practice.

The first expense is incurred relates to obtaining a license of operation and other government regulatory fees like obtaining a clinic operations permit. According to the Florida Optometric Association (n.d), the operations permit must be obtained for the purchase of a prescription drug to be administered at the clinic once it is established. Like all other business entities, a health care practice must abide to all legal requirements of the state such as acquiring a license or permit. Expenses incurred when obtaining licenses are recurring costs since one must always renew the license annually.

The second top expense to be incurred by the practice is insurance. Health practices like other business entities should be insured from various risks such as fire and theft. Insurance expenses are recurring costs since they are paid annually. The third top expense is medical equipment and non-medical expenses. Based on the practice type and the intended services to be offered, the expenses of developing and maintaining a practice will vary. For instance, if the practice will carry out certain surgical procedures, the practice will incur surgical equipment expenses. Additionally, a practice that intends to conduct lab tests on its patients will also incur certain expenses to acquire lab equipment. The practice may also incur expenses for non-medical furniture. A practice often requires a lobby or a client waiting area where patients can wait for their turn. Other expenses that one may incur when developing and maintaining a practice include expenses on utilities such as water and electricity, staff wages and salaries, office rent and other miscellaneous expenses.

In most cases, the expenses incurred in developing and maintaining a successful human medical practice are not different from those in veterinary practice. An individual seeking to develop and maintain a veterinary medicine must first incur license fees and other government regulatory fees. This is because veterinary practices are business entities just like human practices. This also allows the government to regulate the practice to avoid illegal business deals. In addition, a veterinary practice will also incur costs when purchasing medical equipment and non-medical furniture. For instance, a veterinary practice will incur expenses to procure surgical equipment and lab equipment. The only difference is based on the medical equipment used. While a human medical practice will procure human-related equipment, a veterinary practice will acquire veterinary kennel equipment. Costs incurred in the veterinary practice are related to insurance and the recurring expenditures like wages and salaries, stationery costs, and rent.

In conclusion, developing and maintain a health practice entails numerous costs or expenses, depending on the size and services offered. However, certain expenses such as license fees and insurance fees are present in both human practices and veterinary practices only with varying amounts.

Student Two

An individual seeking to develop and maintain a health practice incurs numerous costs. These costs can be classified into two main classes: start-up expenses and recurring costs. Start-up expenses include expenses paid for renting an office. One must always find an office that is convenient in terms of costs and accessibility. As such, a health practice should be located in a location that is visible and easily accessible by roads.