HCA 211: Health Care Finance

Course Description

This course will focus on the managerial aspects of financial analysis. It includes analysis of financial statements, costs, capital projects, and working capital, Medicare, Medicaid, changes and rate setting under reimbursement schedules, budgeting, ROI methodology, forecasting, and strategic planning. (3 credits)

Recommended Prerequisites

  • ACC 101: Financial Accounting

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  1. Summarize the four main elements of financial management and know how to structure the information flow to make a financial management system work.
  2. Explain the differences in and know how to group sources of healthcare revenue and costs for planning and control.
  3. Illustrate distinctions between expense and cost, and explain where to place individual items under these categories.
  4. Demonstrate how to distinguish between direct and indirect costs, ethical and unethical costs billed to patients, fixed versus variable or semi-variable costs, and product versus period costs.
  5. Describe the role of common sizing and use trend analysis.
  6. Explain the use of the Pareto rule and apply the financial principles learned in this course to a global problem facing.
  7. Effectively use present values, discounted cash flows, internal rate of return, return on investment (ROI), payback period, liquidity ratios, solvency ratios, and profitability ratios in their daily work activities.

Course Activities and Grading

AssignmentsWeight

Discussions (Weeks 1 - 7)

25%

Assignments (Weeks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7)

25%

Midterm Exam (Week 4)

25%

Final Exam (Week 8)

25%

Total

100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's Book Bundle

  • Ross, Thomas K. Baker’s Health Care Finance: Basic Tools for Nonfinancial Managers.6th ed. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2023. ISBN-13: 978-1-284-23316-2

Additional Resources

  • Financial Calculator: found on an Internet web purchased through an electronics store.

Course Schedule

Week

SLOs

Readings and Exercises

Assignments

1

1

Topics: Healthcare Finance Overview
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 1, 2, and 3
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions

2

2

Topics: Record Financial Operations
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Submit the Week 2 Assignment

3

2, 3

Topics: Tools to Analyze & Understand Financial Operations
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 8, 9, and 10
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Submit the Week 3 Assignment

4

1 - 4

Topics: Report, Ratios & Time Value of Money
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 11 and 12
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Complete the Week 4 - Midterm Exam

5

5

Topics: Constructing an Operating Budget and Variance Analysis
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 13, 14, and 15
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Submit the Week 5 Assignment

6

6

Topics: Benchmarking and Other Measurements Tools to Improve Financial Performance
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 16 and 17
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Submit the Week 6 Assignment

7

6, 7

Topics: Time Value of Money, Capital Budget Construction & Data Analytics
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 18, 19, and 20
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions 
  • Submit the Week 7 Assignment

8

1 - 7

Topics: Financial Terms, Costs, and Choices
  • Reading:
    • Chapters 21, 22, and 23
  • Read the assigned chapters
  • Review the lecture material
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Complete the Week 8 - Final Exam
  • Participate in the Course Evaluation process

02202025

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.