Case 3 Assignment: Working Capital & Materials Management

Required Reading/Viewing
Nowicki, M. (2018). Introduction to the Financial Management of Healthcare Organizations (Vol. Seventh edition). Chicago, Illinois: Health Administration Press. Part 3; pages 229-242, and pages 252-281. Retrieved from the Trident Online Library.

View: Great Business Videos for Great Entrepreneurs: Financial Reports 101 (Balance Sheet and Income Statement Overview – Basics and Best Practices). Available at: https://youtu.be/CfG7e0Za5-E

Homework Assignment:

WORKING CAPITAL, MATERIALS MANAGEMENT, AND EVALUATING FINANCIAL HEALTH
Assignment Overview
In the management of the revenue cycle in the healthcare environment, we have four clear steps: establishing effective policies and procedures, implementing/evaluating an accounting system, implementing/evaluating a medical records system, and implementing/evaluating a credit and collections system. Each of these steps are central to the success of the organization, and any weakness at just one of the steps leaves your organization critically vulnerable.

The passing of HIPAA (as a transactional standard) gives us the unique opportunity to improve revenue cycle performance. As you grow in financial managerial skills, it will help you to conceptualize the revenue cycle as a continuum, instead of a set of isolated happenings. This Module’s Case will challenge you to study each of the four steps, and then explain their central nature to organizational success.

Assignment
Once you’ve read the assigned background readings, as well as completed some peer-reviewed research of your own, please answer the following:

What are the four distinct steps of the revenue cycle?
How does each portion of the cycle specifically support organizational success?
How can revenue cycle management be improved using the five key areas noted by Dr. Nowicki (2018; see required background reading)?
Which step do you feel your organization (or most organizations) struggles with the most, and why? Be as specific as you can in your explanations.

Assignment Expectations
Conduct additional research to gather sufficient information to support your analysis.
Provide a response of 3-5 pages, not including title page and references.
As we have multiple required items to be addressed herein, please use subheadings to show where you’re responding to each required item and to ensure that none are omitted.
Support your paper with peer-reviewed articles and reliable sources. Use at least two from peer-reviewed sources. For additional information on how to recognize peer-reviewed journals, see http://www.angelo.edu/services/library/handouts/peerrev.php and for evaluating internet sources:
https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content
You may use the following source to assist in your formatting your assignment: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/. Paraphrase all source information into your own words carefully, and use in-text citations.