70135 - ACCOUNTING IN HEALTHCARE

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

This course provides students with some frameworks concerning the use of accounting in the healthcare sector. In particular, it focuses on how management accounting information can support managers of healthcare organizations in decision making. Starting from the basic tools of management accounting and management control, the course explores the issues that healthcare managers face in working within an organization where professionals (especially clinicians) influence decision making, and where a growing demand for services can compromise financial sustainability. Students who complete the course successfully know about: • The characteristics of healthcare organizations that affect the way they do business, and that influence how they design their management accounting systems • Ways that organizations can account for their costs and how the cost accounting effort can assist managers to deliver more efficient services, and also help them to determine appropriate prices when necessary • How responsibility centers can be used to encourage all the actors to adhere to the organization’s strategic goals • Why some programming decisions require a capital investment analysis, and how to undertake the appropriate analyses through accounting information • Some ways to prepare the operating budget in a healthcare setting • The important characteristic of performance measurement in healthcare organizations • How to design a useful set of reports (both financial and non-financial) for managers of a healthcare organization • How the technique of variance analysis can improve a manager’s understanding of the reasons underlying the differences between actual and budgeted financial results, and thus help the manager to choose the appropriate course of action

Contenuti

The title of each session, its focus (Goals and Content of the class), and the preparation requirements (Assignment) are as follows:

Class #1 - Introduction to course (Mon. Apr 22, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: To review the syllabus, discuss course expectations, and answer questions about the course.
(Assignment: Read Chapter 1)

Class #2 - Full Cost Accounting (Wed. Apr 24, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: To discuss and train on fundamentals of full cost accounting.
Content of the class: Be prepared to actively participate in solving the problems related tu full cost accounting presented by the teacher.
Assignment: Read Chapter 2.

Class #7 - Mid-term ass’t + Responsibility Acco. (Mon. May 13, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: To evaluate your level of knowledge of full cost, ABC, cost behavior, and differential cost; introduction of the concept of Responsibility Accounting.
Content of the class: Be prepared to solve two exercises in your team (1.30 hours); introduction of the concept of Responsibility Accounting (1 hour).
Assignment: Training on practice cases in the book, Ch. 2 to 5; read Chapter 11

Class #8 - Measuring & Reporting (Thu. May 16, 10am-1pm)
Goal of the class: To compare actual results to the budget using cost drivers.
Content of the class: Introduction of the concept of variance analysis; starting case analysis and discussion in teams.
Assignment: Read Chapter 11 and case published (one day in advance) on Virtuale e-learning platform.

Class #3 - Full Cost Acco. (cont’d) (Mon. Apr 29, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: As class #2.
Content of the class: As class #2.
Assignment: Re-read Chapter 2.

Class #4 - Activity-Based Costing (Thu. May 2, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: To discuss and train on Activity-Based Cost (ABC) concepts (class #4 builds on the concepts of Full Cost Accounting discussed in class #2)
Content of the class: Be prepared to actively participate in solving the problems related to ABC presented by the teacher.
Assignment: Read Chapter 5.

Class #5 - Cost Behavior (Mon. May 6, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: To discuss and train on cost behavior concepts.
Content of the class: Be prepared to actively participate in solving the problems related to cost behavior presented by the teacher.
Assignment: Read Chapter 3.

Class #6 - Differential Cost (Thu. May 9, 10am-1pm)
Goal of the class: To discuss and train on differential cost concepts.
Content of the class: Be prepared to actively participate in solving the problems related to differential cost presented by the teacher.
Assignment: Read Chapter 4.

Class #9 - Cost analysis in practice (Mon. May 20, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: Enhancing the educational experience by integrating real-world contexts into the classroom environment
Content of the class: presentations of cost analysis in concrete contexts.
Assignment: none.

Class #10 - Case discussion & Closure (Wed. May 22, 1-4pm)
Goal of the class: Teams’ presentation and plenary class discussion .
Content of the class: Case discussion, plenary session.
Assignment: case analysis.

Testi/Bibliografia

David W. Young (2019) Management Accounting in Healthcare Organizations, The Crimson Press, Cambridge, MA

You can obtain the book from The Curriculum Center by sending an Email to Tony at CrimsonCenter@TheCrimsonGroup.org.

Tony will send you an invoice for US$50 (the physical book retails for US$70). Once the invoice has been paid, he will send the pdf file, watermarked for that student's use only.

Metodi didattici

The course uses a combination of readings, interactive lectures and case discussions.

Classes 1 to 8 are based on a mix of readings and interactive lectures, with several practical short cases to get acquainted with the basic concepts of cost accounting.

Class 9 enhances the educational experience by integrating real-world contexts into the classroom environment

In the last class (10) students are required to present the solution of a case in teams; the case will be assigned on class 8. Cases bring a small chunk of the real world into the classroom setting, where students can examine it, determine what problems exist, discuss optional approaches to dealing with them, and assess the consequences of alternative courses of action.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Grading is based on a combination of one mid-term assessment and two written case analyses. The mid-term assessment and the first written analysis is done by teams. The second written analysis is an individual effort, that corresponds to the final written exam. How to prepare a good written case analysis is discussed on class 6 and is contained in the Note on written analyses of cases distributed to students via Virtuale (e-learning) platform.

Attending students.

Your grade will be based on the sum of the followings:

1. 0-6 points, for the mid-term assessment (in teams) on Class 6: each team's member is awarded with the team's grade
2. 0-6 points, for team's written analysis of a case problem on Class 8: each team's member is awarded with the team's grade
3. 0-25 points, for the individual written final exam that will consist of a case analysis.

Non attending students. 1. and 2. will be replaced by an interview after the individual written exam.

Grading system (0-30 scale)

• <18: fail, the student can't apply the basic concepts of the course to real problems
• 18-23: fair, the student applies the basic concepts of the course mechanically to real problems, but lacks to understand how to use them for decision making
• 24-27: good, the student applies the concepts learnt during the course to real problems and proves to have a somewhat critical analysis perspective, suggesting courses of actions
• 28-30: very good, the student applies the concepts learnt during the course to real problems, proves to have a critical analysis perspective suggesting courses of actions, and present his/her ideas in a clear and convincing way
• 30 with honors/cum laude: excellent, the student applies the concepts learnt during the course to real problems, proves to have a critical analysis perspective suggesting courses of actions, presents his/her ideas in a clear and convincing way, and demonstrates capacity to links different disciplinary areas

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Emanuele Padovani