To prepare:
- Reflect on current gaps or opportunities for enhanced services within your healthcare organization.
- Select one of these gaps or opportunities that you would like to analyze and for which you would like to propose a healthcare product or service solution. Choose your product or service carefully as it needs to meet three distinct parameters for use in this course. It must have a capital investment (start-up costs) and there must be annual cost and revenue that you can estimate for each of 5 years. An example is a capital equipment purchase that is a direct charge to the patient such as a 12-lead EKG. There would be start-up cost for the purchase of the equipment in Year 0. Then each use requires some disposable electrodes and staff to perform the procedure. Revenue is based on the patient charge.
- Reflect on the impact this issue/opportunity and product/service solution have (or could have) on various stakeholders and systems across your healthcare organization.
- Identify one or more individuals within your healthcare organization to act as “finance counselor” with whom you can consult on financial and budget items such as costing, estimating, and budget request processes.
- Reflect on the current costs associated with the selected issue or opportunity, including direct financial costs to the organization and financial costs to patients, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders. Also consider non-financial costs, including opportunity costs.
- Consider how you would communicate a proposal to leadership that addresses the selected issue/opportunity within your organization.
The two part assingment: Develop an executive summary and structure for a healthcare budget request for your new product or service idea by completing the following:
Part 1: Executive Summary
Using the Healthcare Budget Request Template (attached below-page 2), develop a 1- to 2-page executive summary that describes the issue or opportunity that you are analyzing. In your executive summary, you should:
- Describe the healthcare issue or opportunity you selected. (VR Treatment)
- Describe the stakeholder groups impacted by this issue/opportunity.
- Explain which stakeholder groups would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue or opportunity you selected and why. Be specific and provide examples.
- Describe the healthcare product or service that you propose to address the identified gaps/opportunities and explain why.
- Provide scholarly support for the issue or opportunity and your new product or service idea.
Part 2: Excel Assignment Workbook
As you progress through this course on the development of a Healthcare Budget Request, you will apply financial ratios and other calculations to make the business case for your idea. In this component of the assignment, you will customize a spreadsheet workbook and prepare it for use in your analysis. To do this, you will:
- Review the Healthcare Budget Request Guide file found on page 14-15 (attached below). Open the Excel Assignment Workbook file (attached below); follow the instructions in the guide (page 14-15), which will help you:
- Create a template that you will use for future analysis you will conduct in subsequent parts of your Healthcare Budget Request.
- Format your spreadsheet for presentation of results.
- Save and close the spreadsheet file.