...The Role of Accounting in the Medical Office By Joy Hicks Medical Office Expert An accounting department plays an enormous role within the medical office. As the backbone of the organization, the accounting department allows the organization to operate at its fullest potential. Without an accounting department, it would be impossible for any type of organization to operate in a cost effective manner. General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are the common set of accounting principles, standards and procedures that companies use to compile their financial statements. GAAP, are simply put, the customarily accepted ways of recording and reporting accounting information. Each organization may operate differently but all have to follow by set guidelines within the organizations community, state and at the federal level. If these standards and procedures are not followed the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) will fine the organization and possibly pursue criminal action to enforce compliance. Within accounting and financial management, there are four key elements recognized. The four elements are: Planning, Controlling, Organizing and Directing and Decision Making. The planning element allows an organization to set forth goals and guidelines to ensure the future success and accomplishments of the medical office. Controlling provides the organization the opportunity to ensure that all areas within the organization are following the previous planned...
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...Reporting Practices and Ethical Standards in Health Care Finance Ashley Riggs HCS 405 February 6, 2012 Jay Christensen Reporting Practices and Ethical Standards in Health Care Finance Healthcare managers engage in many important roles to create and sustain successful organizations. Managers must understand the crucial elements of financial management and the generally accepted accounting principles. They must also understand, adhere to, and enforce the general financial ethical standards. Four Elements of Financial Management Planning The first step in financial management is planning. It is the responsibility of the financial manager to first identify the goals of the company. Then it is the financial manager’s responsibility to decide on the appropriate steps that must be taken to accomplish the goals of the company. Controlling The second step in financial management is controlling. During this phase of financial management, it is the responsibility of the financial manager to ensure that each division of the organization is following the plans was decided. Managers should study current reports and compare them with earlier reports. This will help to decide what division of the organization needs the most attention. Organizing and directing The third step in financial management is organizing and directing. During organization, it is the responsibility of the financial manager to decide how to use the resources of the organization most effectively. The resources...
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...Reporting Practices and Ethics Paper HCS/405 November 30, 2014 Financial management in health care today like any other business should be conducted ethically, professional and accurately. The four elements of financial management need to be used and put into place to help ensure the financial stability and success of the organizations will be accomplished year after year. Generally, the same accounting principles and general financial ethical standards are practiced in every health care organization and these principles need to be implemented correctly if the organization wishes to be successful. Organizations need to keep up a certain level of transparency and this can only be accomplished by accurately reporting their financial statements. Several articles are going to be discussed reflecting the reporting practices and ethical standards in health care after a brief summary of the general accounting principles, ethical standards of finance and the four elements of financial management are given. Summary: Four elements of financial management The four elements of financial management are planning, controlling, organizing and directing and decision making. (Baker & Baker, 2011, p. 5) Each element is a task that is performed by the finance manager and they go in the order mentioned above. Like in any other aspect of business, planning has to be done to help identify the objectives that need to be accomplished and establish the steps necessary to ensure that each...
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...financially are outstanding ethical standards and reporting practices. Reporting financial data reports is important and information must be accurate and factual. Organizations obtain and maintain financial data to aid in the audits of the amounts, control, and potential uncertainties of cash flows. Keeping the financial data current is important because majority of the time the data contains information about the organization’s equity and economic resources. Developing and analyzing ethical standards carefully allows organizations to stay in compliance with those standards formed for the health care community. Poor ethics and financial planning sometimes effects consumers. According to Nelson (2011), “Basic ethics principles that make up our common morality, including respect for patients, acting in patients’ best interest, avoid bringing harm to patients and treating patients in a fair and equitable manner, serve as the foundation for healthcare values.” This paper will contain a summary of the four elements associated with financial management, generally accepted accounting principles, and general financial ethical standards. The reader will explore Examples from two articles “Ethical Decision making for healthcare Executives” and “Ethics: A foundation for quality” that reflect ethical standards of conduct, financial reporting practices, and the significance of each example. Four elements of financial Management The four elements of financial management are planning, controlling...
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...Financial Management of Health Care Organizations Latasha Rowell August 4, 2015 HCS/405 Conway Brew Financial Management In any business, financial managers should ensure that financial reporting practices and ethical standards are being met as well as maintained. These practices are vital in the financial success for any company, especially in health care finance. Within this paper, a summary of the four elements of financial management, generally accepted accounting principles, and general financial ethical standards will be discussed. Summary of the Four Elements of Financial Management There are four main financial statements of a profit earning organization. They include the balance sheet, the statement of revenue and expense, the statement of fund balance or net worth, and the statement of cash flows. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of what an organization's owns and owes. This is displayed as assets and liabilities. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of a company’s net worth. The income statement provides an overview of the financial flow of an organization. This report is commonly extracted for a specific period of time rather than a single point in time. This statement is most often utilized in an audited financial report on a quarterly and annual basis. The statement of net worth calculates the non-operating expenses and allows the income statement to tie back to the balance sheet when the three statements are prepared for the same point in time...
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...controlling, organizing and decision making make up the four elements of financial management Baker (2011). Standards and guidelines of financial reporting are known as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) ("Accounting Principles & General Financial Ethical Standards", 2014). Financial ethics and standards determine the success of an organization. The VA is accused of the death of over 1000 waiting for care and budget mismanagement (“Bad VA care may have killed more than 1,000 veterans, senator's report says,” 2014). The alleged deaths could have been avoided through the use of GAAP. The FBI has uncovered millions of Medicare fraud rings (“More Than 20 People Arrested Following Investigations into Widespread Health Care Fraud in D.C. Medicaid Program ” 2014,). The Four Elements of Financial Management According to Baker (2011), the four elements of financial management are: planning, controlling, organizing and decision making. Planning is the stage of identifying the organizations objectives and steps to obtain the objectives. Controlling allows management to measure data from previous and current reports to determine changes within the organization as needed. Organizing is the stage in which management coordinates each aspect of the plan, such as; who, what, when and where. Decision making is management’s final role in making an educated decision based on the other four elements of financial management. Through planning, controlling, organizing, management can...
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...Ethical Financial Management Dana Doody HCS 405 2 Sep 2014 Working as a financial manager comes with a lot of responsibility; and a lot of standards of practice. Just like physicians and nurses, financial managers of health care organization have a set of rules and ethical guidelines they must follow in their practices. In this paper, I will what the four elements of financial management are. There will also be a summary of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and financial ethical standards. Business’s mist follow these standards in order to comply with federal agencies such as the Financial Accounting Standard Board. I will also provide examples from articles that explain how corporations comply with these standards and deal with fraud or abuse. The four elements of financial management. The key to good financial management is to be well organized and have good finical discipline. Health care is a business and having a good concept of financial management will help those businesses run smoothly. “The healthcare industry is a service industry, its essential business is the delivery of healthcare services.”(Refaat, 2014) Having a good understanding of the elements of financial management can help to explain the financial management of that service industry. The first element is planning, planning helps identify the steps that must be taken in order to accomplish the organizations objectives. The second is controlling, this is in place to help ensure...
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...Financial Reporting and Ethical Standards Debra Castagnetta HCS/405 November 7, 2011 Todd Brown Financial Reporting Practices and Ethical Standard In health care finance keeping financial documents have become more detailed and the need for accuracy has increased and many guidelines have been established to ensure there are competencies, and ethical standards are upheld in financial management in health care organizations (Paul, 2008). The Four Elements of Financial Management Health care organizations and other organizations require an array of management actions to operate effectively (Baker & Baker, 2010). To accomplish these actions the four elements of financial management must take place. The financial manager must identifies the objectives and steps through planning, the financial manager must ensure that the organization follow the plan by using the controlling element, the financial manager must organize and direct by deciding how to use the resources of the organization, and provide daily supervision (Baker & Baker, 2010). In addition, the financial manager must make informed choice through the element of decision- making (Baker & Baker, 2010). The General Accepted Accounting Practices In order to have guidelines in the principles of accounting, it is a mandatory requirement that health care organizations and other organizations use the General Accepted Accounting Principles, also known as the GAAP (Paul, 2008). The General Accepted...
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...Financial management is very essential for health care organization’s to succeed and accomplish goals. As a financial management has a major aspect on how it incorporates the ethical standards and proper reporting practices. To report practices and ethical standards in health care finance assist financial managers in conducting. They conduct effect analysis of the organization’s revenues, expenses, assets, and much more. In the next few paragraphs in the paper will be discussed is the four elements of financial management, the accepted accounting principles, and a few general financial, ethical standards will conduct. Plus, there would be examples of conduct and financial reporting practices in the health care organizations from other articles that will be discussed. The four elements of financial management are planning, controlling, organizing and directing, and decision making. The first element, planning is to set up the health care organization goals and objectives. Then to see what steps have to take and which steps would be more effective to achieve the goal. The second element is controlling; as a financial management will need to consist of verifying whether the department is following the plans, instructions issued, and the principles established. The third element is organizing and directing; which this can be a process that follows planning and controlling element in the health care organizations. While organizing established how resources can be effective...
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...Reporting Practices and Ethics Paper Holly Polk HCS/405 Sandra DiPietro April 9,2012 Reporting Practices and Ethics Financial management helps health care organization's to assist in balancing the inflows and outflows that are part of the business. There are about four recognized elements of financial management which are planning, controlling, organizing and directing, and decision making. Planning help the financial manager identify the steps that must be taken to complete objectives for their organization. Controlling helps the financial manager make sure that each area of their organization is following the plans that have been set before them. Organizing helps financial manager to decide how best to use resources and also how to effectively carry out plans that have been established. Lastly decision making helps financial manager to make choices among available option's (Baker, Baker,2011). Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or ( GAAP) is a set of procedures, standards, and principles that a organization can all agree on in order to report their financial data. The GAAP has several components but we will only name the most important like debt, inventory cost, long-term and short- term investment, taxation, profits, stockholder's equity, revenues and sales, and goodwill and other intangibles. The GAAP is a very great way for organization to report the data and it is also the most consistent way to display data. The GAAP make it easier for companies to...
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... Reporting Practices & Ethics Paper In the health care environment financial practices and ethical care finance is very important to produce successfully organizations. In the health care industry and in any business, ethical and financial practices are adopted to increase the organization value and consumer confident as well as protected the services or products provide by the organization and maintain the organizations brand name. With the cost of providing health care services, patient’s way of payment for these services and the environment in which those patients reside and receive those services are important elements that affects care. This is why financial management and financial reporting is also essential factors for any organization. Most organizations have mission statements, values and visions created to uphold the utmost integrity, honesty and respect for not only the community it serves but also the employees. Financial management can create a positive atmosphere of teamwork or a negative one of turmoil and failure. That is why it is very important for health care organizations to abide by the four elements of financial management. Four Elements of Financial Management The four elements of financial management are planning, controlling, organizing and directing, and decision making. Planning is when the financial manager identifies the steps that must be taken to accomplish the organization’s objectives. The purpose...
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...Reporting Practices and Ethics Paper According to G. (2012), is that “the great thing about working in accounting is that everybody counts”. Accounting is vital in all organization for it is the root of a business. However, everyone in the business whether you are a front desk, professionals, management, they all play vital role in the day, month, quarter or annual financial statement that is generated by accountants with historical services that are being rendered to consumers as well as performance from each staff. In addition, Sowell (2012), “balanced budget requirements seem more likely to produce accounting ingenuity than genuinely budgets.” This quote explains that accounting is all about properly maintaining the finance of an organization, and focusing on both revenues and expenditures and how to go about it. One must make sure that more money is coming in versus money that is being spent also known as expenses. This paper includes the following on proper reporting practices in a medical facility and the four elements of financial management. As well as discuss the accounting principles and general financial ethical standards. Four Elements of Financial Management The four elements of financial management can be described as the four steps of the Control Process. According to Lombardi, Schermerhorn, and Kramer (2007), by regularly following the four-step control process, managers can make their department more effective, and productive....
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...ACC 557 Week 3 Assignment 1 Assignment 1: Review of Accounting Ethics Due Week 3 and worth 200 points Many organizations have been in the news over the past few years due to accounting ethical breaches that have affected their customers, employees, or the general public. Search the Internet or the Strayer Library to locate a story in the news that depicts an accounting ethical breach. You may select from any type of organization about which you have information or a curiosity. Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you: 1. Given the corporate ethical breaches in recent times, assess whether or not you believe that the current business and regulatory environment is more conducive to ethical behavior. Provide support for your answer. 2. Based on your research, describe the organization, the accounting ethical breach and the impact to the organization related to ethical breach. 3. Determine how the organizational ethical issue was detected and how management failed to create an ethical environment. 4. Analyze the accounts impacted and / or accounting guidelines violated and the resulting impact to the business operation. 5. As a CFO, recommend which measures could have been taken to prevent this ethical breach and how each measure should be implemented in the future. 6. Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources. The specific course...
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...healthcare organizations face an intimidating financial situation in today’s healthcare atmosphere. “Decreasing revenues, increasing costs, and high consumer expectations present a complex challenge for healthcare administrators and medical directors who must not only manage in today’s climate, but also position their organizations for tomorrow’s storms” (Gale Group, 2004, p. 2). This paper will summarize the four elements of financial management; summarize generally accepted accounting principles and general financial ethical standards; and provide examples from articles that reflect ethical standards of conduct and financial reporting practices. Four Financial Management Elements Planning, controlling, organizing and directing, and decision making are the four elements of financial management. The purpose of planning is for the financial manager to identify the objectives and identify the steps required to achieve those objectives. The purpose of controlling is for the financial manager to review and compare current reports against previous data to ensure the plans, set by the organization, are being followed properly and efficiently. The purpose of organizing and directing is for the financial manager to ensure effective resource use and provide daily supervision. Lastly, the purpose of decision making is for the financial manager to make informed choices through primary tasks of analysis and evaluation. These four elements of financial management are the key to leading a...
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...Reporting Practices and Ethics In financial management there are four components that include: 1.) planning; 2.) controlling; 3.) directing and organizing; and 4.) making decisions are (jblearning, 2010) tools enabling managers to identify and accomplish objectives, ensure plans are followed, ensure an effective use of resources, and make informed choices (Baker & Baker, 2011). The generally accepted accounting principles are the uniform least possible guidelines to and standards of financial reporting (Office of Financial Management, 2001). General financial ethical standards, determined by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, are standards that are general and determine the way accountants in the United States conduct and format reports (Morley, 2014). Abuse and fraud account for as much as 15 percent in annual expenditures in health care in the United States (Rudman, 2009). Independence, integrity, and objectivity make up the three components of ethics (Gallup, 2014). The four components of financial management are: first.) planning; second.) controlling; third.) directing and organizing; and fourth.) making decisions. In summarizing the components of financial management; in the area of planning the steps are identified by the manager to be taken in accomplishing objectives of the organization. In the area of controlling, the manager ensures areas of the organization are following the established plans. One method utilized is studying current reports comparing...
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