Strayer Univeristy Healthcare Finance Research Paper

PART I

This activity will help prepare you for the assignment in Week 3. For this activity, you will choose an organization to research and create questions to ask as part of that research.

Instructions

Your Week 3 assignment ask you to research the financial condition for a specific healthcare organization of your choice. You will need to submit a Microsoft Word document with each of the following:

1. Use the Strayer Library or another verified source to identify a healthcare organization of interest. This should be 1–2 sentences that clearly identify the chosen healthcare organization and provide a high-level overview of what kind of organization it is and who the organization serves.
   • You will want to be sure there is plenty of information available about the organization, particularly financial information. This means you’ll likely need to choose a large organization that is required to make financials public.
2. To gain a better understanding of the financial condition of your chosen healthcare organization, its budget preparation process, and fiscal planning strategies, you will develop five questions that you will answer as part of your research. Ideally, these would be questions you would ask a management official responsible for the financial planning for the organization. Provide a rationale for the questions you chose.
   • Think about questions that will give you insight into what the company looks for when preparing their yearly budget, their fiscal planning strategies, and how they monitor their financial condition throughout the year and make adjustments as needed.
   • Note: You may also choose to use these questions to interview a financial manager within a healthcare organization. The interview would then be the source of your information instead of the research.
   • PART 2
   • Week 2 activity, you selected a healthcare organization and developed five research questions related to the financial management of the organization. For this assignment, you will find the answer to those question and report your findings.
     

     Instructions

     Using the healthcare organization you identified in the Week 2 activity, use the- Strayer Library and other reputable sources to locate publicly available financial information that will provide you with the answers to the five questions you developed in Week 2.You will then write a three-page paper in which you include each of the following parts:

     • Develop an introduction to your chosen healthcare organization.
       • The name of the selected organization and background information, such as its location, size, focus, services provided, demographics of patients served, for-profit or nonprofit status, et cetera.
       • Indicate whether the organization has a separate finance or business department and, if so, who is responsible for the department.
       • Any other information that may help explain the chosen organization. For example, is it unique in how its finances are managed? If so, how?
     • Develop research-based answers to the five previously created questions.
       • A response to each of the five questions you created in Week 2. This should include specific information pertaining to the chosen healthcare organization’s budget preparation process, fiscal planning strategies, and how the financial condition of the organization is routinely monitored and corrective actions are taken when necessary.
     • Assess any differences and similarities between what you have learned from the textbook, videos, and other readings with what you have learned in your research.
       • This is the part of the paper where you assess any differences between what you have learned in this course and what is reflected in your research. This is also an opportunity to identify connections between cost and quality and explore the interplay of performance improvement, regulatory compliance, provider relationships, and payors. Keep in mind that the background and context of the organization play a role in how these pieces fit together.

     This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

     Resources

     There are a few ways to access public information on healthcare organizations.

     • Google Operator Search: You can use symbols or specific words in your Google search to make results more precise. For healthcare organizations’ finances:
       • If your chosen healthcare organization has a website of www.communityhospital.org, you would use the following search to look within their website for financials:
       • • • site:communityhospital.org “financial statements”
           • To narrow your search even further, you could add filetype: to the end of your search to look for specific files. For example, filetype:pdf.
       • EMMA: EMMA (Electronic Municipal Market Access) is a great resource for locating reports on large nonprofit hospitals. Simply use the “browse issuers” at the top, and then click on the state your hospital is located in. From there is populated list of bond issuers within the state. Many of them are just the city name, but it is easiest to put the word health in the “Search within this list:” box to narrow it to bond issuers for hospitals. On the next page in the same search box, you can put the name of your hospital and you will select the most recent result. This will take you to a page with different tabs containing financial information.
       • EDGAR Report: All companies are required to fill out periodic EDGAR reports through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This applies to public, for-profit organizations. You can learn more about the reports, how to read them, and how to access them at the SEC’s Filings & Forms.
       • GuideStar: GuideStar offers a way to look for finances from nonprofit healthcare organizations.