oviders as major players in the health services sector.
In the delivery of health care services through non profit or public sector organizations, it is not always possible to deliver all services, or to deliver specific services at the highest level. The reason for this situation involves the scarcity of resources, particularly financial resources.
In one sense, health care finance takes up where health care economics stops: once a health care services delivery pol icy has been made with due consideration for economic factors, the actual funds to finance the activity must be provided. In another sense, health care finance involves the preservation of financial resources available to a health care services deli very organization. In this latter context, the concept of risk control is involved. Financial management covers the gamut of the acquisition, use, management, and preservation of the financial resources available to an organization. Factors of 3significance include the time value of money, capital budget ing, working capital management, and cost of capital determina tions.
Health care accounting is closely associated with the bud geting process in health care services delivery organizations. On the one hand, accounting records provide a valuable data source upon which budget development depends. On the other hand, accounting records provide one basis for the monitoring and control processes associated with budgeting.
Health care accounting involves a wide variety of complex processes and concepts. Among the more significant are the following: (1) patient status and treatment must be reflected in all revenue and workload data, because cost allocations, and revenue pricing typically differs on the basis of inpatient or out patient status, and specific treatment; (2) all accounting records for services delivered must be maintained on both anaggregated and a disaggregated basis; (3) administrat...