November 20, 2012
Mark Williams
Reporting Practices and Ethics
Financial practices and ethics can play an important part of any organization including the health care environment. In order for the health care organization to be successful one must adopt an efficient financial practice and possess ethical standards. The management of finances for a health care organization may be a challenge for managers. This is why the health care manager will follow four basic elements for financial management. The basic elements include planning, controlling, organizing and directing, and decision making (Baker & Baker, 2011). Health Care Organizations have accounting principles generally acceptable and will comply with the financial practice and the practice of ethics to avoid fraud or abuse of the reporting practices.
Elements of Financial Management
Financial management has four basic elements, which assist the manager in making effective decisions for the health care organization. The first element of financial management is planning. The financial manager needs to identify the steps that he or she needs to take to accomplish the goals of the organization. However, first the manager must determine what the goal is for the organization and at that time determine what steps to follow to achieve the goal.
The next element is controlling; a plan is in place that each area of the organization must follow. The financial manager must ensure that the areas are following such plans. The staff can view the current reports and make a comparison with reports from the past. In comparing previous and current reports the financial manager can see if an area in the organization needs more attention because the area may not be meeting its goals.
The third element is organizing and directing. In organizing the financial manager must decide on
References: Baker, J. & Baker, R. (2011). Health care finance: Basic tools for nonfinancial managers (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Cox, B., & Draa, M. (2008). Back to basics with account reconciliations. Business Finance, 14(6), 38-38. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/211076250?accountid=35812 Hern, W. (n.d.). Corporate compliance is a necessity, not an option – healthcare financial managers’ role in helping their organizations prevent financial fraud. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3257/is_n1_v51/ai_19146070