The Best Nursing and Healthcare Financing Options

Question one 

In every organization, time is an important factor and most people use different techniques to measure the amount of time spent on various tasks. Workload measurement refers to a tool used in measuring the amount of time spent in completing particular tasks. It can be measured through efficiency measures which refer to the cost per unit level of service provided by each employee. Effectiveness indicates the quality of services rendered. It shows how well a job is being done. Productivity can as well be used to measure workload. It indicates efficiency and effectiveness. 

Question two 

Nursing staff dimension method identifies variables that could go unidentified by using other measures. Patient classification system indicates measures such as workload at the hospital, the technical ratio of security and the actual amount of time which work took place. The nursing care unit workload refers to the product of the daily mean quantity of patients that attended the unit. It indicates the patients’ degree of dependence on nurses and the mean time that nurses used to attend to each patient. 

All these measures are carried out in accordance with the degree of dependence that is presented. Such measures cannot be carried out using other ordinary methods. The patient classification method is able to determine the mean quantity of patience attendance in a unit. This information is critical for decision making concerning allocation of human resource, level of productivity and it helps in monitoring the cost of nursing care. The method gives information about the profile of patients and this helps in planning and implementing health care programs that can support the needs of such patients. This also helps in the distribution of nursing human resource daily to give services to each patient, rendering the patient classification method as the best method for budgeting. 

Question three 

Full-time equivalent and position headcount are methods used in counting members of a certain organization or population. These two methods, however, have certain differences. By using the positioning method, only the actual number of a certain population is determined. It does not consider a person’s other attribute such as skills. This counting method has the assumption that all people have equal potential and abilities. 

On the other hand, FTE gives measurements on people’s full-time work or credits. It represents the actual hours of work as full-time work for all employees. The main factors used in calculations and measurements in full time equivalent are the individuals that are counted and total hours spent during working. It is a useful method when calculating working hours, hours allocated and overtime realignment. A company is able to make payments accurately or compensate for overtime hours worked. This method is used in schools during the enrollment of students for a new term or a new year. In this setting, it is applied in a way whereby one student attends as a full-time student for the rest of the academic year. 

Question four 

Some major types of other-than-personal expenses include travel expenses, contractual services and equipment and acquisition costs. 

Question five 

Overhead expenses are always out of control of the nurse manager because it entails a long process which requires a financial expert. IT experts are required to access the large amount of data through interconnected sensors, monitors and instruments. For such calculations to be accurate, an accounts expert is required. 

Question six 

The basic elements of a revenue budget include the income, fixed expenses, flexible expenses, unplanned expenses and general savings. Factors that complicate budget calculation include inaccurate or unreasonable assumptions which can result in an unrealistic budget. Poor decision making by the involved personnel can highly complicate budget calculations. 

Question seven 

Healthcare organizations do not collect an amount equal to their charges. They commonly give discounts, incur bad depts, or provide charity care. 

Question eight 

A nurse manager is responsible for setting prices in some cases. This is often referred to as rate setting. Prices can be market-based, cost-based, mark-up or negotiated. 

Question nine 

Capitation is a fixed payment per covered member. Capitation agreements are agreements signed on contract that are meant to provide health-related services in exchange of a flat periodic payment for each patient.