Verified Document

Operating Budget Over The Last Several Years, Essay

Operating Budget Over the last several years, the issue of rising health care costs has been having a dramatic impact on a variety of facilities. Evidence of this can be seen with a study that was conducted by the Kaiser Foundation, where they found that prices have risen by 47% since 2005. (Ableson, 2010) This is important, because it showing the budgetary challenges that many hospitals are facing. In the case of Patton Fuller Community Hospital, they are dealing similar kinds of problems. To fully understand how administrators can adapt to them requires examining effective financial management practices that can be utilized and ineffective policies. Once this takes place, it will provide specific insights as to what challenges are facing the facility.

Effective Financial Management Practices of Patton Fuller Community Hospital

In general, the financial management strategy that has been utilized (over the last year) is working. Evidence of this can be seen with the fact that the hospital had a reduction in the total operating loss by 66%. This is a sign that management has engaged in a strategy of: maintaining tight financial controls, they have strategically made investments in select areas and they are taking advantage of the deflationary environment. These different elements are important, because they are highlighting how the strategy is addressing the problems facing Patton Fuller.

Ineffective Financial Management Practices at Patton Fuller Community Hospital

Despite the tremendous amounts of progress that have taken place at the facility, there a number of issues that could have a dramatic impact...

A few of the most notable include: rising costs, declining customer demand and poor collection methods. These factors are significant, because if left unaddressed they could lead to major problems for the hospital in the future.
The way rising costs could have an impact on health care environment is by, negating any kind of improvements that were made over the last year. The operating budget of the hospital is indicating that the biggest advantages that they have are the 3% deflation rate (thanks to the weak economy). This is problematic, because once the economy begins to improve is when inflationary pressures will begin to have an impact on the cost structure. As, this will affect everything ranging from: the fees that are charged for services to the underlying costs for supplies. The negotiated long-term contracts could hurt the ability of the company to adjust to these changes, as they have little room for upward price increases. This is significant, because it showing how the facility is facing major challenges from: their poor cost structure that is in place. To prevent this from spiraling out of control in the future requires that the hospital use an approach that will give them greater flexibility for making adjustments.

Declining consumer demand is a sign that the underlying quality of care is decreasing. This is troubling, because demand for these services has been continuing to increase due to large segments of the population becoming older. Evidence of this can be seen by looking at the total number of Baby Boomers (78 million). As, this segment of the population ages, they will continue to…

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography

Ableson, R. (2010). Employers Push Costs for Health Care on Workers. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/business/03insure.html

Gignante, S. (2010). How Boomers Will Impact the Health Care Industry. CNBC. Retrieved from: http://www.cnbc.com/id/35524106/How_Boomers_Will_Impact_the_Health_Care_Industry
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Public Programs Over the Last Several Years,
Words: 1801 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Public Programs Over the last several years, the total amounts of spending for the federal government has been continually brought to the forefront. This is because of the high trade deficits and national debt is having an impact on how various services are delivered. In the case of Justice Department, they have been facing drastic cuts. The reason why is from officials using the funds they are receiving to provide

Chinese Currency Issues Over the Last Several
Words: 2177 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Chinese Currency Issues Over the last several years, the issue of China's currency revaluation has been increasingly brought to the forefront. The reason why, is because many of the developed nations (i.e. The United States and the European Union) are experiencing unusually large trade deficits, while China is seeing trade surpluses. This is important, because issues such as currency disputes can have ripple effects on the world economy. Where, the

Budgeting Kudler Fine Foods Budget the Budgeting
Words: 745 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Budgeting Kudler Fine Foods Budget The budgeting here will be from the absorption approach which is a budgeting process that considers all business overheads to be the product cost which eventually become an expense in the form of manufacturing cost of the goods and are sold as sales take place. Budget for Kudler Fine Foods Item Revenues (Net sales) $19,921,220 $22,092,633 $24,500,730 Cost of goods sold (less ending inventory) $13,307,028 $14,570,893 $15,879,815 Total expenses $1,928,722 $2,047,656 $2,177,855 Net operating income $5,477,292 $5,474,084 $6,443,060 Integrative Marketing Agency (2010). The growth rate of Kudler

Budgeting and Cost Control in Healthcare
Words: 3341 Length: 13 Document Type: Term Paper

Budgeting and Cost Control in Healthcare One of the most critical issues facing healthcare facilities and organizations is the rapidly increasing cost of providing services. Cost control and budgetary issues are the first consideration for many healthcare facilities. According to statistics, the "single most important thing on the minds of healthcare decision makers is cost management and containment." (Lawson, 2004). In fact, more than 95% of respondents to a survey concluded

Change Process Over the Last
Words: 1084 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

These are designed to prevent any kind of burn out issues. Some of the most common techniques that can be utilized by the leadership during this process include: rethinking goals / objectives, looking at the speed of the changes that are taking place, making things fun and altering the team structure / format. Rethinking goals / objectives is when you are looking at if they are challenging enough for

Corporate Finance Over the Last
Words: 3740 Length: 11 Document Type: Research Paper

To include: Rangers, Special Forces, Delta Force, Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and Navy SEALs. (Dunnigan, 2010) As a result, many people within the U.S. military and the government will often discuss the valuable services that these companies are providing. Where, private security contractors can bring a wide range of experience with them, in dealing with a host of possible security challenges that could be faced within a

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now