HSM 340 All Week Discussions DeVry

1. HSM 340 All Week Discussions DeVry Just Click on Below Link to Download This Course: https://www.devrycoursehelp.com/product/hsm-340-all-week-discussions-devry/ Or Email us help@devrycoursehelp.com HSM 340 All Week Discussions DeVry HSM 340 Finance and the Regulatory Components and Reimbursement and Payment Determination Discussions Week 1 DeVry HSM 340 Finance and the Regulatory Components Discussions 1 Week 1 Are there any other types of information besides financial that may be useful in making financial decisions? Identify the major components of a corporate compliance plan, including the establishment of internal controls relating to the finances of an organization. How does legal and regulatory issues shape and define good financial management of a health care organization? What about compliance and internal control? What are they important? Why does financial management need to be conscious of various legal issues? What defines a well-written compliance plan? nternal control is a key focus of financial management. Things will be out of control and chaotic if there are no compliance rules and information to the staff . Also, healthcare is a very delicate industry and the welfare of employees is at stake here. The government is also the biggest insurer and it must look after the welfare of its citizens. Does the government have too many rules which make it harder on providers to meet all the requirements and stay in business?… HSM 340 Reimbursement and Payment Determination Discussions 2 Week 1 Discuss the major reimbursement methods used in health care. Discuss the major aspects of Medicare benefits. List some of the important considerations when negotiating a health plan contract. We know in healthcare there are various reimbursement methods. One major payer is Medicare which is a government entity that is a major player in the reimbursement field. What about commercial plans and how do they negotiate with providers? Fee for Service. This method has pros and cons, but we see that fewer reimbursement methods use this type of payment. Why do you see that happening? Reimbursement is a major financial task as it determines the revenue coming in to keep the doors open. Looking at other financial aspects, management needs to establish internal control principles and abide by them to protect the assets and ensure the firm is running efficiently. All these rules and regulations must be established and followed by managers and employees. But who is in charge of ensuring that these rules are being followed? Does management really have to do that? As we see now, bundled payment is becoming popular. What does that mean and how is is going to help, the provider or the insurer?…

2. HSM 340 Accounting Conventions and Methods and Financial Performance Discussions Week 2 DeVry HSM 340 Accounting Conventions and Methods Discussions 1 Week 2 Discuss the accounting conventions that affect the application of accounting principles. Materiality allows treatment in accordance to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). More than that, it has a certain significance because it makes it necessary for material expenses to be booked in the appropriate time period. What happens if it is not and why not? Historical cost convention is one important factor. If an asset is purchased 5 years ago and recorded at cost, it must be kept recorded at cost in the books. The reason why costs are not updated and changed to market value is the fact that assets fluctuate in value. Do you agree with the cost concept or are there suggestions to treat it differently? A dollar today is worth more than a dollar in a year, mainly due to inflation, but are there any other reasons? If the firm is not consistent on how to book its transactions, it can create a problem and make the financial statements not comparable or even useable. Outside auditors have to check and certify. What other roles does the audit firm play here? What about internal audits versus external?… HSM 340 Financial Performance Discussions 2 Week 2 Explain why it is important to know the scope of business being reviewed when using financial statements. I look forward to reading your responses and to discuss Health Services Finance. Reviewing financial statements is important and we need to keep our focus on the healthcare area . Being aware of the scope of business puts things more in perspective. Different scopes have different measures of performance. A clear understanding leads to more success and that is why we say that we need to continuously develop the analysis and make it relevant. . Managers who do not have this understanding cannot perform as desired. Who is in charge of ensuring that managers have the understanding of the scope of business? It is important to understand the business to manage the finances. We try to stress that to our managers. It is not only important to stay within budget but it is also important to understand why you go over budget. Let’s take a look at the Study Tools section in the lecture. What ratio is the most useful to express or discuss this concept?… HSM 340 Cost Categories and Cost Information Discussions Week 3 DeVry HSM 340 Cost Categories Discussions 1 Week 3 Discuss the role of direct and indirect cost in the overall costing process. How does each type affect the decisions made in expense control and analysis. Healthcare entities classify their cost as direct and indirect. What is the meaning and significance of these cost categories. How do they influence the costing and also the decisions made based on these classification. Focus on our TCO, lesson and text to try to understand these concepts and come-up with your answer. Indirect costs are administrative costs and they can also be the cost of services provided to the entity at large. Take IT services, they cannot be directly linked to a patient, but we know that no patient care can be completed without IT support. What other major areas do you feel can be classified as overhead? What about fixed and variable costs? Housekeeping is one cost that comes to mind. Why is it called indirect even if workers clean and maintain patient treatment rooms?… HSM 340 Cost Information Discussions 2 Week 3

3. Describe how cost information relates to the three key activities of management: planning, budgeting, and control. Cost information is useful in the three categories mentioned in this question. We know that all the activities need cost information and especially in this current healthcare environment where many decisions are based on cost data. Let’s discuss how cost is related to these categories and how they are used in management decision-making? How are planning and control related? Our TCO this week focuses on cost control. Also, in the course objectives it asks to explain what is meant by cost behavior, and differentiate between the five general types of cost behavior. How is cost behavior determined to be fixed or variable. Which type of cost is easier to control in the short-run or the long-run? What is the break-even in patient days for this nursing home, assuming no profit is required? How is that information needed for planning and control?…. HSM 340 Financial Sources and Variance Analysis Discussions Week 4 DeVry HSM 340 Financial Sources Discussions 1 Week 4 List the major nonhospital and nonphysician sectors of the healthcare industry. We know that hospitals and physicians are dominant sectors in the industry. What are some other sectors and what is their role ? How do they compare to the main sectors. Does the fact that healthcare entities buy services on behalf of patients make the cost containment harder sometimes? As we see, the new healthcare system encourages preventive care. It will reduce cost in the long run. But, why are you covering non-physician sectors? Which do qualify as that?… HSM 340 Variance Analysis Discussions 2 Week 4 Variance analysis is crucial to understand why the actual is different from the budget . The concepts of financial analysis are the same, but we should understand that within the overall health care industry, operating and financial indicators vary by health sector, e.g. hospitals, nursing homes, medical groups, health plans. It’s important to use the appropriate benchmark to evaluate performance.”. I look forward to our discussion of this important topic. Variance analysis is part of the investigation process. Management should look to this analysis to make decisions and take corrective action. We need to know why there are differences between the budget and prior year. Which one do you see as more important? When you produce a flexed budget, does that make the static budget less relevant?… HSM 340 Capital Investments and Future and Present Value Discussions Week 5 DeVry HSM 340 Capital Investments Discussions 1 Week 5 List some of the kinds of information that is needed to evaluate a capital investment project. As you know, healthcare requires a lot of equipment. This week,let’s talk about capital budgets. Since this is usually a big investment, a lot of information is needed for the analysis. Let’s talk about the data and information needed to make the proper decision. What would be needed to do this job most appropriately? I look forward to a lively discussion about this important topic. How is cash flow estimated? However, from a financial point of view, cash is scarce and the returns are not as high. We focus on high returns and our mission. If the project is not consistent with our mission, we do not accept it because cash is not always available. What other considerations do you see?…

4. HSM 340 Future and Present Value Discussions 2 Week 5 List some of the pros and cons of retiring debt early. Some firms decide to retire debt early. Generally, it seems like a good idea. Let’s discuss how and when it is done. What do we need to consider when the decision is made? Interest rates, the availability of excess cash play a major role. When does it make sense to retire debt early? Retiring debt early needs to be always evaluated. For businesses it has to be supported by calculations and math. When the debt is paid off, how can they buy assets? To finance the purchases, there has to be some debt incurred. So, retiring the debt means there is no prospective investment and in this case, there is no need or no point to invest. Do you agree?… HSM 340 Cash and Assets and Cash Resources Discussions Week 6 DeVry HSM 340 Cash and Assets Discussions 1 Week 6 List and describe where cash is generated by an organization and where an organization uses its cash. We always say that operating cash flow is the most important source of cash, why is that? Is it possible for a firm not to have positive operating cash flow? How can a healthcare firm try to reduce the utilization of lines of credit? How can cash flow be managed to generate cash from operation? How can that be done? We said that many banks give their commercial customers lines of credit to meet situations like that. How does this help firms meet their cash needs? Are short-term loans better?… HSM 340 Cash Resources Discussions 2 Week 6 List and explain the criteria that should be used when investing an organization’s cash in the short term. We know that cash needs to be managed and handled properly to ensure there is enough liquidity but to also earn some fair return. We need to understand the criteria that a healthcare entity should consider when cash is invested and managed. There has to be a balance between risk and safety/liquidity. We try not to take risk when we invest for the short-term. When we talk about marketability, what do we really mean and consider here? Cash management is an essential task that can affect performance and survival. Why would firms invest short-term? How is yield considered and evaluated when making an investment? We know that short-term investments have a lower yield. Why do we even consider that option?… HSM 340 HMO, MCO and Health Plans and Financial Policy Discussions Week 7 DeVry HSM 340 HMO, MCO and Health Plans Discussions 1 Week 7 Discuss legal and regulatory issues that affect MCOs. Negotiations with HMO’s are important but they can also be challenging. It is all about proper business and clinical management working together. There are also a lot of legal and regulatory aspects that need to be watched and monitored. Doctors and hospitals need to work together more than ever before. Will the new healthcare system change things? It is all about negotiations and competition. Sometimes are satisfied and sometimes they are not very happy. It is all about negotiations. Do you see the new healthcare system changing things in this area? How is that going to take shape? We know that there is an impact on reimbursement, especially after the Affordable Care Act was passed. Do we see the MCO role changing as a result?

5. Comprehensive net work organization and proper alignment is very crucial here. Quality is gaining more visibility and importance. What do you see as the challenges for MCO’s and their organization?… HSM 340 Financial Policy Discussions 2 Week 7 Describe the relationship between financial planning and strategic planning. We all heard of financial and strategic planning. How are these two similar and how they are different? How do healthcare entities engage in these types of planning aspects and how are they affected over the short and long-run? If there is no ability to raise capital, should financial plans be scrapped? Are there other alternatives? What type of correction plan do you see a healthcare entity adopting to improve performance? What methods do you see healthcare firms adopt to raise capital?… DeVry Courses helps in providing the best essay writing service. If you need 100% original papers for HSM 340 All Week Discussions DeVry, then contact us through call or live chat. Download File Now