Health Care Finance
CHAPTER 6 Planning and Budgeting
The planning process
Budget decisions
Budget types
Operating budget example
Flexible budgeting and variance analysis
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The Planning Process
The strategic plan is the foundation of the planning process. It contains
a mission statement,
a values statement,
a vision statement,
goals, and
objectives.
The operating, or five-year, plan is the portion of the planning process that outlines how the organization expects to meet its objectives.
The planning process takes place more or less continuously throughout the year.
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Operating (Five-Year) Plan Format
Chapter 1: Mission, values, vision, and goals
Chapter 2: Corporate objectives
Chapter 7: Functional area plans
A. Marketing
B. Operations
C. Finance
D. Administration and human resources
E. Facilities
Note that the plan is most detailed for the first year.
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Financial Plan Format
C. Finance
1. Current financial condition analysis
2. Capital investments and financing
a. Capital budget
b. Financing plan
3. Financial operations
a. Overall policy
b. Cash budget
c. Cash and marketable securities management
d. Inventory management
e. Revenue cycle management
f. Short-term financing
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Financial Plan Format (cont.)
4. Budgeting and control (first year only)
a. Revenue budget
b. Expense budget
c. Operating budget
d. Control procedures
5. Future financial condition analysis
What are the keys to an effective planning process?
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Budgeting Basics
Budgets are detailed plans, expressed in dollar terms, that specify how resources will be used over some period.
Budgets may be developed and applied to any level of an organization:
Aggregate
By department
By service line
By contract
By the nature of the expenditure
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Budgeting Basics (cont.)
To be effective, budgets must not be thought of as financial staff tools, but rather as managerial tools.
Budgets are used for
planning,
communication, and
control.
Three decisions must be made regarding a business’s budgeting process. (See the next three slides.)
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Conventional vs. Zero-Based Budgets
Traditionally, health providers have used the conventional approach to budgeting.
The old budget is the starting point.
Typically, only minor changes are made.
Changes often are applied equally.
In zero-based budgeting, each new budget is started from scratch.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
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Budget Timing
All organizations use annual budgets to set standards for the coming year.
Most also use quarterly (or more frequent) budgets to ensure timely feedback and control.
Not all budget types have to follow the same timing pattern.
Out-year budgets are more for planning than for control purposes.
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Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Budgets
Bottom-up budgets
begin at subunit (departmental) level,
are reviewed and compiled by the finance department, and
are approved by senior management.
Top-down budgets
begin at the finance department with senior management guidance, and
are sent to the departments for review.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
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Revenue Budget
Most businesses have
a revenue budget,
an expense budget, and
an operating budget.
The revenue budget uses volume and payment data to forecast revenues.
The end result is a revenue forecast
in the aggregate,
by department,
by service, and
by diagnosis (or other clinical basis).
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Expense Budget
The expense budget combines volume data with detailed resource utilization data to forecast expenses.
To be most useful, expenses must be broken down into fixed and variable components.
Like revenues, expenses must be forecasted at multiple levels.
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Operating Budget
For larger organizations, the operating budget, which focuses on projected profitability, combines information from the revenue and expense budgets.
Smaller organizations may use a single operating budget in place of multiple budget types.
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Operating Budget Illustration
Consider the 2008 operating budget of Carroll Clinic, shown on the following four slides. This budget was created at the end of 2007.
The budget is divided into four parts:
Volume assumptions
Revenue assumptions
Cost assumptions
Pro forma P&L statement
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2008 Operating Budget (Parts I and II)
I. Volume (Number of Visits)
A. Payer A 9,000
B. Payer B 12,000
C. Total 21,000
II. Reimbursement (Average Payment Per Visit)
A. Payer A $100
B. Payer B $ 90
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2008 Operating Budget (Part III)
III. Costs
A. Variable Costs:
Supplies $ 315,000
B. Fixed Costs:
Labor $1,035,000
Overhead 500,000
Total $1,535,000
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2008 Operating Budget (Part IV)
IV. Pro Forma P&L Statement
Revenues:
Payer A $ 900,000
Payer B 1,080,000
Total revenues $1,980,000
Variable costs $ 315,000
Fixed costs 1,535,000
Total costs $1,850,000
Projected profit $ 130,000
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Variance Analysis
Variance is the difference between the actual results and the budgeted (standard) value.
Variance analysis is a technique applied to budget data to
identify problem areas, and
enhance control.
Why is variance analysis so useful to health services managers?
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Simple Variance Analysis Example
To illustrate variance analysis, we will use Carroll Clinic’s forecasted 2008 budget presented in slides 15-17 as the simple (original) budget.
Assume it is now January 2009, and the operating results for 2008 have been compiled. These actual (realized) results are shown on the next slide along with a simple variance analysis.
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2008 Results (Parts I, II, and III)
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2008 Results (Part IV)
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Simple Variance Analysis Interpretation
Profitability was $22,500 (17.3 percent) below standard.
Revenues were $47,500 (2.4 percent) greater than expected.
However, costs were $70,000 (3.8 percent) greater than expected.
Higher revenues were attributed to Payer A, which had higher than expected volume and reimbursement.
Costs were higher across the board.
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Flexible Variance Analysis
The variance analysis just performed is a simple analysis in that it compares actual results with initial (beginning of year) assumptions.
We can glean additional information by constructing a flexible budget, which is based on the initial budget but is adjusted (flexed) to reflect actual (realized) volume.
Now, the variances will reflect financial performance differences other than those that stem from volume forecast errors.
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2008 Results (Parts I, II, and III)
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2008 Results (Part IV)
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Flexible Variance Analysis Interpretation
Profitability was $70,000 (39.4 percent) below standard.
Revenues were $7,500 (0.4 percent) less than expected.
However, costs were $62,500 (3.4 percent) greater than expected.
When volume is considered, both revenues and costs were less than expected.
Management needs to work on
increasing reimbursement rates (especially with Payer B), and
controlling costs.
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Variance Analysis Example Recap
In practice, variance analysis typically is much more detailed than that presented in this illustration.
Also, variance analysis is applied to operating data, such as census, labor hours, number of outpatient visits, and so on, often on a weekly (or even daily) basis.
Is all this work worth it?
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This concludes our discussion of Chapter 6 (Planning and Budgeting).
Although not all concepts were discussed, you are responsible for all of the material in the text.
Do you have any questions?
Conclusion
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Simple
Actual
Variance
a
Budget
Results
Dollar
(Visit)
Percentage
I. Volume (Number of Visits
)
A.
Payer A
9,000 10,000
1,000
11.1
%
B.
Payer B
12,000
1
1
,
5
00
(500
)
(4.2)
C.
Total
21,000
21
,500
500
2.4
II. Reimbursement (Per Visit)
A.
Payer A
$100 $105
$5
5.
0
%
B.
Payer B
$ 90 $ 85
($5)
(5.6)
III. Costs
A. Variable Costs:
Suppl
ies
$
315,000 $
320,000
($
5,000)
(1.6%)
B. Fixed Costs:
Labor
$1,035,000 $1,050,000
($15,000)
(1.4)
Overhead
500,000
550,000
(
50
,000
)
(10.0)
Total
$1,535,000
$1,600,000
(
$65,0
00
)
(4.2)
IV.
Forecasted
P&L Statement
Simple
Actual
Variance
a
Budget
Results
Dollar
(Visit)
Percentage
Revenues:
Payer A
$ 900,000 $1,050,000
$ 150,000
16.7%
Payer B
1,080,000
977,500
(102,500
)
(9.5)
Total
revenues
$1,980,000
$2,027,500
$
47,500
2.4
Variable costs
$ 315,000 $ 320,000
($
5,000)
(1.6)
Fixed costs
1,535,000
1,600,000
(65,000
)
(4.2)
Total
costs
$1,850,000
$1,920,000
(
$
70,000
)
(3.8)
Profit
$ 130,000
$ 107,500
(
$
22,500
)
(17.3)
Flexible
Actual
Variance
a
Budget
Results
Dollar
(Visit)
Percentage
I. Volume (Nu
mber of Visits)
A.
Payer A
10,000 10,000
B.
Payer B
11
,
5
00
11
,
5
00
C.
Total
21,5
00
21,500
II. Reimbursement (Per Visit)
A.
Payer A
$100 $105
$5
5.
0
%
B.
Payer B
$ 90 $ 85
($5)
(5.6)
III. Costs
A. Variable Costs:
Supplies
$ 322,500 $ 320,000
$ 2,500
0.8%
B. Fixed Costs:
Labor
$1,035,000 $1,050,000
($15,000)
(1.4)
Overhead
500,000
550,000
(
5
0,000
)
(10.0)
Total
$1,535,000
$1,600,000
(
$65,000
)
(4.2)
IV.
Forecasted
P&L Statement
Flexible
Actual
Variance
a
Budget
Results
Dollar
(Visit)
Percentage
Revenues:
Payer A
$1,000,000 $1,050,000
$ 50,000
5.0%
Payer B
1,0
35
,000
977,500
(57,500
)
(5.6)
Total
revenues
$2
,0
35
,000
$2,027,500
(
$ 7,500
)
(0
.4
)
Variable costs
$ 322,500 $ 320,000
$
2
,
5
00
0.8
Fixed costs
1,535,000
1,600,000
(65,000
)
(4.2)
Total
costs
$1
,85
7
,
5
00
$1,920,000
(
$
62
,
5
00
)
(3.
4
)
Profit
$ 177
,
5
00
$ 107,500
(
$
70
,
0
00
)
(
39
.
4
)