Financial Planning in Health Care Organizations [1:

Financial Planning in Health Care Organizations [1: Please note that all sources and facts utilized in this paper are from the customer provided reading material.]

Healthcare is on everybody's mind today. From the insurance debate in Congress to our own personal worries about dental or medical insurance and how we can obtain it at a low price, healthcare is not only widely discussed in our society, but it is necessary to our survival and well-being. With this aspect also comes the non-personal aspect of health care, and that is the fact that financial planning must be taken into account and put into place by health care organization. This must be done due to the environment today, and the changes that are taking place, for which traditional methods are often not the best. This paper will thus discuss how health care organizations can form strategic plans to help them cope with these changes, how they can benefit from financial planning and how different planning methods can also benefit health care organizations.

First, I will discuss the steps involved in formulating a strategic plan within health care organizations. Due to the fact that, as aforementioned, today's healthcare environment is volatile and the traditional planning tools are inadequate, one must plan for the surrounding market forces that can benefit health care organizations. Thus, they must focus on things such as an employee benefit structure, the future of Medicare and impact of all this on consumer behavior. This part thus recommends such things as scenario planning, collective bargaining for physicians, consolidation of health plane, employee benefit structure that will provide employees with benefit, federal healthcare reform, universal access, etc. These are quite a few things on the list that should be considered. Further, these organizations must also consider healthcare inflation and the possibility of Medicare managed care.

Due to the fact that this is a long list of requirements for healthcare organizations, they must thus employ strategies to cope with all these things and all these changes. This is where financial planning is vital for them. Healthcare organizations need planning for any scenario in order to address the major uncertainties that are popping up everywhere. These uncertainties can be anything from governmental reform changes to competitor expansion or changing attitudes of the healthcare consumer. Financial planning can help one plan for all of these uncertainties.