ALL/EACH QUESTIONS SHOULD HAVE REFERENCES

Question 1

Read Hirsch, J.A., Harvey, H.B., Barr, R. M., Donovan, W. D., Duszak, R., Nicola, G. N., … & Manchikanti, L. (2016) (https://www.ajnr.org/content/37/2/210). Once you have read the article, discuss the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate. “The SGR target is calculated on the basis of projected changes in 4 factors:

1) fees for physicians’ services,

2) the number of Medicare beneficiaries,

3) US gross domestic product, and

4) service expenditures based on changing law or regulations (Hirsch, et al. 2016).”

How have these 4 factors been tied to fiscal performance? Find some additional sources and support your position through an original post in a few paragraphs.

Question 2

Cost accounting is one of the most challenging areas in accounting to understand. “A cost accounting system is a system for recording, analyzing, and allocating cost to the individual services provided to patients (e.g., medications, procedures, tests, room and board) (Becker’s Hospital Review, 2014). The healthcare industry has been working toward the goal of correlating cost with quality. Read Porter, M. E., & Lee, T. H. (2016) (https://www.waportal.org/sites/default/files/resources/From%20Volume%20to%20Value.pdf). From volume to value in health care: the work begins. Jama, 316(10), 1047-1048 (ATTACHED). Discuss how healthcare providers and patients can benefit when cost is correlated with quality of the healthcare services provided. Post an original discussion of a few paragraphs and support your statements with research.

Question 3

Financial reporting is critical to the success of any organization because this is how managers and other stakeholders evaluate the sustainability and profitability of an organization. The healthcare industry accounts for nearly 20% of the US GDP as of 2018 (BEA, 2019). While there is guidance for financial reporting to the respective government agencies, there is no consistency in the development of financial reports among private healthcare organizations. Discuss the importance of consistent financial reports across all healthcare organizations. Support your statements with research and post your discussion in a few paragraphs.

Question 4

Financial ratios help stakeholders and potential investors to determine the sustainability and potential profitability of an organization. Performing a ratio analysis on the financial statements provides stakeholders and investors with insight of how the organization has performed. The ratios are an indicator as to the financial health of the organization. Healthcare providers should track the operating margin, operating EBIDA margin, days cash on hand, debt to capitalization, and capital spending ratios (Becker’s Hospital Review, 2012). Why are these ratios important to the healthcare industry? Support your response with research in a few paragraphs.

Question 5

Managing a healthcare organization through revenue generation and cost control is beneficial for the sustainability of the organization. “There is a statistically significant relationship between hospital financial performance and quality of care (Dong, G.N., 2015).” Evidence supports the concept that well fiscally managed healthcare organizations deliver better healthcare to patients then organizations that do not. In a few paragraphs, conduct some research to either support or refute this claim.

Question 6

Cost overruns and extraordinary spending by healthcare organizations harms the sustainability of the healthcare organization. Through activity-based costing (ABC), the healthcare industry is working to combat disproportionally rising costs to GDP in the United States (HealthCatalyst, 2018). Read Service Lines and Activity-Based Costing Reveal True Cost of Care for UPMC, available at: https://www.healthcatalyst.com/success_stories/activity-based-costing-in-healthcare-upmc and discuss how activity-based costing can be used to mitigate rising costs and the change in patient perception. Use research to support your statement.

Question 7

Read “5 Approaches to Effective Budgeting & Forecasting in Healthcare” (ATTACHED). After you read the article, discuss the most effective approaches to budgeting in the healthcare industry. Which approach is the most effective and why? Answer the question with research to support your statements.

Question 8

Many of the regulations you have read about this week were developed from prior actions within the medical community that warranted changes to be made to protect patients, individuals, investors, and other stakeholders. The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 was born out of several accounting scandals at the time. One of these accounting scandals was HealthSouth Corp., the nation’s largest provider of outpatient surgery, diagnostic and rehabilitative healthcare services at the time (Sec.gov, 2003). Discuss the importance of fair and accurate financial reporting in the healthcare industry in a few paragraphs and post this discussion to the discussion forum. Be sure to support your statements through research.

Question 9

Read “Hospital revenue cycle trends to watch in 2019 — 8 thoughts” (ATTACHED) (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/hospital-revenue-cycle-trends-to-watch-in-2019-8-thoughts.html. Based on the trends you read about in the article, which of the eight trends are most evident in the healthcare industry today? Support your statements with research in a few paragraphs.

Question 10

Unlike the other weeks’ discussions, for this week, first, take the time to review at least one (1) of the four HFMA topic areas presented in this week’s s content and discuss your perceptions, suggestions, ideas, or inspiration drawn from the material. Part 4-Transformative Innovation (ATTACHED). In your conversation, consider how finance is related to the topic. For example, can technology decrease the cost of care? Another example might be to examine what sort of financial implications consumerism might require health care leaders to deliberate? Where appropriate, reach beyond the HFMA materials and bring in other resources that pertain to your chosen topic. Upload the link(s) and then draft a short paragraph that discusses why you found the link valuable or interesting.