Management Functions and Roles
Please describe your responsibilities with regard to each of the following: Performance evaluation and improvement (including research, decision making, and support); Budgeting/reimbursement; Strategic planning
For Purposes of this study, a (CFO) of a healthcare organization was interviewed. He has over twenty years of experience in healthcare and patient services and said that the majority of his time is spent in budgeting, following by continual performance evaluation of business units and systems, and finally, strategic planning. His responsibilities in budgeting include variance analysis and assessment of the Return on Investment (ROI) in critical new technologies including information systems and . As the government is requiring an exceptional high level of compliance reporting he spends much of his time staying current on technologies that can streamline compliance analysis, and reporting (Niles, 2010). On the budgeting aspects of his position, the use of on each practice area is crucial for staying profitable. The use of and reporting systems is revolutionizing healthcare management (Ferrara, Foltz, Turisco, 2009). From a strategic planning standpoint, the objectives are to define recruitment and retention for each practice area including cardiovascular, orthopedics and pediatrician practices. Strategic planning includes the evaluation of each practice area, the staffing requirements for the long-term, and potential opportunities to increase services to profitably (McAlearney, Sinioris, 2010). This combining of staff, growth of services and investment in equipment form the foundation of much of what this CFO concentrates on. In addition to these responsibilities, the CFO is also responsible for the IT systems as well, which fall under the same frameworks of evaluation of specific practice areas.
2. Which of these functions is most pressing for you in your role with this organization? Why?
The most pressing by far is the performance evaluation and improvement, as this involves the use of financial reporting on a daily basis to determine how effective each practice area is running. Trending analysis through a balanced scorecard methodology is used to evaluate the level of performance of each practice relative to another based on patients served, costs, and support costs. The use of balanced scorecards as part of the strategic planning process in healthcare organizations is a best practice that delivers insights and intelligence that drives ROI strategies (Niles, 2010). This is certainly the case with the healthcare organization interviewed.
3. What are some of the most important practices or activities related to this function? What is your involvement?
Managing the underlying IT systems that make the reporting performance evaluation and improvement processes possible is the most important activity related to that specific function. As the acting CIO for the healthcare organization, the person interviewed must also manage the teams that keep the computer systems up and running over time. The have completely accountability and responsibility for keeping the entire IT systems supporting the healthcare organization up and running.
4. What experiences have been most beneficial to you for developing technical skills related to each of these functions?
From a technical standpoint, the most beneficial experiences have been the years spent in auditing and financial management with a large healthcare provider. Auditing each divisions’ financial statements and tracking the to make the creation of these same process in my current company much easier. This person mentioned that having to analyze why a financial reporting process did not work in one division should him how it could be designed more effectively in a new
