Health Care Finance
In this unit, your assignment is to complete a research paper that gives basic background information about a FICTIONAL healthcare facility that you make up and present current budget information. Create your own facility name, background, and information about what type of healthcare facility it is. Give a brief description of your facility, including information about its history, its current financial situation, and whether it is for-profit or nonprofit.
Part two of the assignment for this unit is to outline the budget information for your facility for 2018. Include the revenues, costs, and profits (or losses). With this information, present a budget and actual results for the facility with the difference in dollar-terms and percentages based on the actual numbers. Explain the relationships of these. Based on this information, calculate and interpret the revenue, cost, and profit variances for the facility. You are creating this facility, so the budget information is up to you. For instance, if you want to concentrate on turning operations around in a struggling facility, that facility might face losses in its 2018 budget.
Expert Answer:
The healthcare facility that I have created is called “Healing Hearts Hospital.” It is a nonprofit, general acute care hospital located in a small, rural town. The hospital was founded in the 1950s by a group of community members who saw the need for healthcare services in their area. It has since grown and now offers a range of services including surgery, inpatient and outpatient care, emergency services, and diagnostic imaging.
In terms of its current financial situation, Healing Hearts Hospital is facing some challenges. The town has experienced population decline in recent years, leading to a decrease in the number of patients seeking care at the hospital. Additionally, the hospital has faced rising costs for supplies and equipment. As a result, the hospital has experienced budget deficits in the past few years. However, the hospital’s leadership team is committed to finding ways to improve the financial health of the facility, including implementing cost-saving measures and seeking out new funding sources.
For the 2018 budget, Healing Hearts Hospital is projecting total revenues of $20 million. This includes $10 million in patient revenues and $5 million in donations from the community. The hospital is also expecting to receive $5 million in government grants. Total costs for the year are projected to be $22 million, including $15 million in salaries and benefits for staff, $4 million for supplies and equipment, and $3 million for other expenses such as utilities and insurance. Based on these projections, the hospital is expecting a budget deficit of $2 million for the year.
Actual results for the year showed that the hospital was able to bring in slightly more revenue than expected, with total revenues of $20.5 million. However, costs were also higher than projected, with total costs of $
