- Reflect on the volatility of the market, and discuss how you could leverage your knowledge of healthcare financial management to increase productivity and financial stability of your organization (or an organization where you want to work).
- If you were tasked with starting a new healthcare clinic, would you lean toward using the cash or accrual method of accounting? Why? How would revenue recognition and expense-matching principles be related to your decision.
- As a healthcare manager, reflect on how you think financial statement analysis and operating indicator analysis would be useful. What do you think are some of the problems or challenges inherent in financial statement analysis?
- Suppose an organization uses the activity-based costing (ABC) model. How do you think this model differs from traditional costing approaches? What do you see as advantages or disadvantages for this healthcare organization?
- Healthcare organizations strive to manage working capital in such a way that they can reliably cover their short-term expenses while also getting the best possible benefits from their capital. In managing working capital, healthcare organizations face some common challenges, as well as other challenges that are particular to the institution. Reflecting on your experience, what do you think the main capital management challenges would be in a facility that has a constant stream of revenue?
- Bring to mind a wide range of healthcare organizations, such as a long-term care facility, large for-profit hospital, a physicians’ practice, Veterans Affairs hospital, or a state-run clinic. Consider two types of organizations, and explain how you think the purposes or uses of a budget vary would vary for management according to the kind of healthcare organization.
- Reflect on a situation where a business did not take steps to prepare for unexpected cash flow emergencies. As the manager of a healthcare facility, what steps could you take to assess and minimize the riskiness of expected cash flows in capital budgeting analysis?
- Identify a task that you would need to perform in your current career or future career, and explain how you would apply the knowledge you have learned in this course to succeed at performing the task in a real-word scenario.
