Course Description

Prerequisite: None

The course introduces students to fundamental management principles of budgeting and accounting used in health care organizations and assumes no prior knowledge in accounting or financial management. This course will focus on the relationship between financial management and organizational decision making in order to maximize efficiency as defined by the provision of the maximum amount of high quality care utilizing the least amount of inputs. In this course we will learn basic health care financial management and accounting terminology and how to apply financial information to organizational planning, implementation, and methods to evaluate and control costs. Managerial accounting techniques of capital and cash budgets, indirect cost allocation, and variance analysis will be reviewed as well as their relation to operating an efficient organization. Students will learn how to analyze an organization’s financial condition through balance sheets, cash flow statements, and publicly reported financial documents. We will review the workings of capital markets (bond and equity), asset valuation techniques, and financial decision-making based on pro forma analysis and lease versus buy as it relates to service expansion and debt financing. Students mastering these techniques will be able to apply them in a variety of health care settings to help the organization employing them meet mission-based and strategic and tactical objectives.