While healthcare organizations differ greatly, managers in various departments in organizations must propose changes to processes, the purchase of new
equipment, the addition of employees, and many other changes to executives and boards to obtain approval. For this course, you will place yourself in the role
of a manager in an organization of your choice. You are tasked with creating a written proposal that will add value to an organization and will impact the budget.
This may come in the form of adding updated equipment, changing a process to become more streamlined, and so on. You will be submitting your proposal to
your instructor, who will be playing the roles of CEO and budgetary board, for consideration. This assessment will require you to defend your proposal in terms
of the value added and the financial impacts to the organization, as you would need to in the real world.
You will select your organization using the specific guidance provided in the Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric document. You must ensure that sufficient
financial information is available to support your work on this project. You will confirm with your instructor that the topic or area of interest of your proposal
will allow you to sufficiently answer all of the questions in the prompt below. You also have the option of selecting your place of employment, within
healthcare, as approved by your instructor.
The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality
final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Three, Four, and Six. The final project will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
• Articulate key managerial accounting principles in healthcare using appropriate terminology
• Determine financial impacts in healthcare by analyzing major forces affecting the delivery of health services
• Utilize financial statements to inform short- and long-term strategic planning
• Craft high-level proposals that address budgeting consideration by justifying spending for healthcare services
Your proposal report should answer the following prompt: Considering the major forces in healthcare today, what improvements or changes would you propose
for your selected organization? How would your proposal add value to the organization, and what impact would your proposal have in terms of the financial
and budgetary considerations?
Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed, but the proposal that you are creating may require you to address these aspects in a
different order. Please organize your report in the manner that seems the most logical for your topic.
I. Introduction
A. What are the major forces affecting the delivery of healthcare today? Discuss these forces and their corresponding impacts on today’s healthcare
environment.
B. Impact of Forces: What healthcare service and delivery opportunities and challenges exist because of the forces discussed above? Define the
challenges and opportunities that exist for today’s healthcare leaders.
C. Opportunities: Based on your analysis of the major forces, impacts, and opportunities provided, consider the specific organization that you
selected. What opportunities exist for this organization, and how do these opportunities relate to the big-picture view of healthcare?
D. Proposal: What is your proposal for addressing identified issues or improvements within your organization? In other words, what changes are you
trying to incorporate in your selected organization?
II. Financial and Budgetary Considerations
A. Financial Statements: What financial statements will you utilize in making your proposal, and how will you use these statements?
B. Proposal Impact: What impact will your proposal have on the organization’s financial statements? Articulate the impact using appropriate
terminology.
C. Flexed Versus Fixed: How would your proposal be different if using a flexed budget versus a fixed budget? In other words, how would the use of
one type of budget versus the other impact your proposal, and how would your proposal impact the budget? (Evaluate the differences between a
fixed and a flexed budget.)
III. Proposal Justification
A. Ratio Selection: What ratios will you use to support your proposal and why? Select the ratio or ratios that would be the most appropriate.
B. Ratio Results: Calculate the selected ratios and articulate the results using accurate terminology. What do the results tell you about the viability of
your proposal?
C. Short- and Long-Term Impact: Based on your calculations and financial statement analysis, determine the short-term and long-term impact on
the organization and the organization’s financials. What is the short-term and long-term financial impact of your proposal for the organization?
How can you plan to strategically mitigate the impact on the financials of the company, or how will your proposal help inform strategic planning in
the short and long term?
