You Decide: Middleton Hospital

There are little reliable utilization and reimbursement data available. No one at Middlefield Hospital is assigned to manage these contracts or maintain ongoing relationships with managed care companies. The Joint Commission survey is scheduled for next year, and there are significant problems with the hospital's quality improvement program. The health plan offered to employees is getting more expensive each year. In fact, the costs are increasing at a rate of 20% each year. This is adding significantly to the hospital's operational costs. The inpatient mental health services and neo-natal intensive care unit continue to lose money for the

While Carson is developing a financial plan, she should also look to develop a completely new strategic plan for the company that sets the tone for how the company is going to direct itself for the next 3-5 years. This is another good opportunity to get the board involved and to make them a part of the conversation of what direction they want to move the company toward in the coming years. Carson should stress the companies market position with them and what they could do to improve on that position. Barclay Memorial is licensed for 400 beds but last year operated only 275 beds with an average daily census of 249 patients. Despite these low numbers, the number of deliveries last year was at an all time high with 3,216 and this number is likely to increase the following year. Surgeries also totaled 6,201, which has the potential to increase, if Carson can get the hospital on board with expanding the number of surgeons at the hospital to handle increasing patient volumes. Orthopedics should also be a topic of conversation as it is in a position to grow in the future. By looking to improve on these services, Barclay Memorial can expect to improve on their position in the market.

As the Chief Executive Office of Middlefield Hospital, it has been brought to my attention by the Chief Financial Officer that our financial performance has been deteriorating for the past six (6) months. It has also been brought to my attention that the new facility has been admitting more new patients and our admissions have been declining. The number of uninsured patients has increased over this period of time. The management team has identified some other interesting facts that are possibly hurting the reputation of Middlefield Hospital. My determination is that the financial performance of Middlefield Hospital needs to be improved.

Costs have escalated for a host of reasons. Americans’ health needs increased as their for example. Coverage grew to include catastrophic illnesses, not just common ailments. Ma added retiree health benefits. Medical techniques and technology became more sophisticate prescription drugs acquired an expanding role in disease management and illness preventio medical inflation had become a serious business issue; by some yardsticks, costs rose at a f decade than in the 1990s.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis between for-profit hospitals and not-for-profit hospital. It will discuss the characteristics of each as well as factors affecting the operations of both systems. Additionally, it discusses potential areas of improvement and some of the challenges associated with each relative to finance and operations.

As CEO of Middlefield hospital I am recommending that do a couple things to improve the current financial performance of the hospital. First I feel like we have to become more competitive with the new hospital. First we need to go in and visit their facility to see what they have over there and what they are doing differently to make all of our patients that have been coming here

Impact to Healthcare organizations - These increases in cost raise questions of health care expenses at the hospital level. As higher profits are sought, the cost will become unstable for all, thus causing many to postpone going to the doctor. However, there are many complicated problems associated with our healthcare system. We will focus on main issues that can correct many related problems within the current structure. More importantly, we need to find ways to ensure all Americans have access to health care; and we need to hone in on how we can get the best value for the $2 trillion dollars we spend annually on healthcare.

The cost of the health care industry has always been rising since the early 1980s. It has been a growing concern in both the industry and society. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is no exception. Even though the average length of stay (LOS) for the patients in MGH has been declining (Exhibit 10), it is still the highest compared to their competitors (Exhibit 6). Besides the cost, there is no uniformity of process and standardization across different facilities and departments of the hospital. MGH lacks communication and coordination between the facilities.

Though they are not entirely comprehensive tools, a great deal can be learned about a hospital or other healthcare organization for-profit or not-for-profit from an examination of their annual financial documents (Finkler & Ward, 2006). The balance sheet and statement of revenue and expense can both yield valuable clues even in the absence of other evidence about changes that might be occurring in the organization, a definition of the type and degree of certain problems that it might be facing, and potential opportunities for improvement in performance that might exist (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Comparing two or more years' worth of financial information yields even more valuable insights, tracking movement in the hospital or other organization's ability to finance its activities and thus continue providing services at the same level, quantity, and scope as current operation.

The intention of this research paper is to further understand the financial statement of four distinct hospitals located in the San Diego, California County. An analysis of the financial report for Sharp HealthCare, Scripps Health, Tri-City HealthCare, and Palomar Health will be briefly discussed individually on each important financial outcome’s Such as: assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, hospital debt, and investments. To analyze further, a break down between the hospitals assets, liabilities, and revenue will be compared in the paper.

Additionally, the unwillingness of the business office employees to accept onsite help from the hospital financial analyst team. They appear to be content with the status quo, which has resulted in their current financially precarious situation. They do not have the foundation needed, which should be as described by Weiss, Hassell, and Parks (2013) “…fertile enough to accept the seeds of change and to nurture them to grow” (p. 492).

“The amount people pay for health insurance increased 30 percent from 2001 to 2005, while income for the same period of time only increased 3 percent.” (Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). The rising cost of healthcare is a huge problem in America today. In this paper I will analyze the different issues and causes for the increase in cost.

Consequently, it become a financial problem where physician sees no improvement in their revenue/profit, and the cost of treatments continue to rise as reimbursement challenges the physician’s charges. There is always a cost to a better health care and coverage, and vast of it comes from taxation. Hospital and physicians function on funding to keep the door open and operating, and majority of the funding are from taxation. For

American people look at their insurance bills, co-pays and drug costs, and can't understand why they continue to increase. The insured should consider all of these reasons before getting upset. In 2004, employee health care premiums increased over 11 percent, four times more than the rate of inflation.

As performance improvement goals are reached, new financial opportunities are analyzed to help the governance board make financial arrangements. Additionally, a finance system provides an arc of safety “to protect assets and resources from theft, waste, loss and distortion” (White and Griffith 415). With this knowledge, it is important for each department to account for their expenses to keep the HCO in the positive financially. This takes time and effort to research, analyze, and forecast where funds should be allocated in the present and future. All stakeholders, including clinical professions, Chief Executive Officers (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), administration, governance board, and community play a role in balancing the financial