This number may not vary, and typically in a budget the hospital CEO and/or CFO negotiates with the governmental bodies for regular subsidies to cover.
The billing cycles can be difficult to predict, particularly for Medicare and Medicaid patients, where there are famous irregular delays on payment. It is possible, as noted above, to go to outside banks or other bodies to get a/R funding to cover these contingencies
Particularly in older hospitals, the amount in the depreciation account may not be enough to cover unforeseen expenses, such as asbestos removal or deterioration. Hospitals can address this by auditing their depreciation accounts and making a better assessment of what might be needed in coming budgets.
Many organizations use a leveraged buyout vs. A merger or other type of acquisition strategy. Compare and contrast the different "purchasing" methods. Which is the best? Does one work better in a different situation than another? Explain your rationale.
An LBO must have good cash flow to cover the cost of the debt. Most LBO houses look for a 4-6-year coverage of the debt, i.e. they count on free cash flow (generally EBIT-DA) to pay back the borrowed amount in 4-6 years. Although the LBO house might make a lot of money on equity appreciation, it is debt coverage that is most important to them, and the equity appreciation is seen as a lagniappe.
Sale and leaseback makes sense if the hospital is not-for-profit, as the tax benefits accrue to the commercial buyers, and would not be used by the hospital itself.
Merger makes sense if a consolidation is needed. If two hospitals are in a price war, combining operations helps them to increase prices and negotiating leverage with PPO's and HMO's in their area. It also helps if there are redundant costs -- combining two hospitals' coronary units may result in focus in both institutions, perhaps one in surgery and the other in intervention.
Outright acquisition makes sense if there is a dominant hospital which would like to either (1) tie in referring physicians who are attached to the satellite hospital, or (2) the hospital would like to increase its bargaining power with the payors.
The cynicism of a doctor showed when he said, "When you've seen one joint venture, you've seen one joint venture." What did the doctor mean by the comment? Compare and contrast different options as alternatives to mergers and acquisitions.
Joint ventures are difficult for doctors and other health care professionals because the rules developed in one hospital may be different than those in another hospital. JV's make sense because they can combine and consolidate services; unfortunately, there is generally a loser and a winner in such combinations. As an example, if two hospitals come together in a pediatric venture, one of the hospitals may have to give up its own pediatric department in the interest of building expertise and...
Healthcare Financial Management To quote Jonathan Clark at the beginning of his article, "Improving the revenue cycle can be a daunting task due to the scope and complexity of the interdepartmental process." Of the suggestions offered by the authors, which concept(s) give you the greatest insight into creating an improved Revenue Cycle process in the organization where you work (or one in which you are familiar)? Be sure to identify which
Health Care Quality Management as it Applies to Managed Care In the current age of improved answerability for quality of care, every healthcare expert should be conversant in the theory and paraphernalia of quality management) Quality Management-QM is an all-embracing attitude that pervades the management infrastructure, rules and customs of an establishment. It characteristically comprises of five fundamental doctrines -- undivided attention on the customer/supplier relationships; a stress on functional and
"Whether it is the systematic denial of coverage and care in the private insurance system, the price-inflated private Medicare plans, the poor results of privatized Medicaid administration, or the costly Massachusetts health reform, in no instance has the market succeeded in providing equitable access to quality care at a cost affordable to individuals and society as a whole" (Ten Health Care Financing Principles to Ensure Universality, Equity, and Accountability,
What emerges from these efforts are two essential understandings. First, in spite of whatever evidence may exist to the contrary, system building will continue apace in the hospital industry. Whether the battlefield is risky is immaterial, for the battle is joined. Some individual hospitals may decide to remain solo or stay in modest-sized systems where problems are more manageable, at least until some future time when some of the cloud
Transparency empowers consumers to become better shoppers. Economists assert that transparency stimulates productivity, for example, in exchange for money, one individual obtaining fair value. In every aspect, except healthcare, Davis points out, transparency, is supported. The contemporary dearth of transparency in healthcare has led to many Americans not being able to effectively shop for the best quality of service at acute care hospitals. Davis argues that transparency permits consumers,
Healthcare Finance: What is the break-Even analysis approach and its application in health care organizations? Unfortunately, hospital and health care budgeting of resources has become increasingly important in this cost-conscious era of health care. The last decades of cost-controlled medicine have required fiscally conscious approaches to the healthcare for many organizations, often at the expense of patient services. A financial analyst must strive to minimize this, yet still keep the organization
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