Budget Management Analysis

t Management Analysis

Budget Management Analysis

HCS 571

Budget Management Analysis

With the rising costs of health care, many organizations are facing massive budget cuts. Managers and hospital administrators are compelled to find creative ways to make do with decreased resources. The challenge is to remain cost-conscious without compromising quality patient care. Nurse Managers have a responsibility to the organization to prepare and control operating budgets so that their specific cost centers can be in line with the organizations goals and desired outcomes (Finkler, Kovner, & Jones, 2007). Personnel and staffing costs use the largest majority of a budget because of the process of providing care to patients. Managers are confronted with having the ability to remain within budget, motivate staff to work towards organizational goals while working with limited resources while providing high quality, patient care. This paper will determine specific strategies to manage budgets within forecast. Expense results from a health care organization will illustrate budget expectations, variances and potential reason for the variance. Lastly, three benchmarking techniques will identify methods to improve budget accuracy in future forecasts.

Budgeting strategies

The budgeting process for health care organizations is quite involved. An organization’s master budget is established, but carried out by all employees (Finkler, Kovner, & Jones, 2007). Nurse Managers must involve their staff in all aspects of the budget process to ensure successful execution. Following several strategic steps in the budgeting process enables the management of budgets within forecast. The first step of strategic budgeting is to plan. Planning a budget includes an environmental scan, identifying goals objectives and policies, and of stakeholders. Goals are usually “broad, long-term objectives, reassessed in light of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses”...