Health Care Budget
Virginia Ivins
HCS/577
October 13, 2014
Robert Adams

Health Care Budget
Planning and budgeting helps ensure that operations are being carried out in a manner consistent with the mission and vision of the organization. There are several budgeting models that are effective. According to Louis C. Gapenski, (2008), “More detailed managerial guidance is contained in the operating plan, often called the five-year plan. The financial plan, which is the financial portion of the operating plan, contains a long-term plan, working capital management plan, and managerial accounting plan” (Gapenski, 2008). Good financial management processes for tracking resource utilization are essential for a department to make effective use of its resources. Not planning and budgeting properly can also lead to even bigger problems in the finances of an organization.
Most effective financial management practices
Effective financial planning and control helps each department in the organization keep track of its resources and hold each department accountable. Monitoring of expenditure is essential on a regular basis. The most effective financial management practices include variance analysis, benchmarking, environmental scanning, model development, forecasting, types of budgets, types of monitoring methods and frequency of monitoring. According to VarianceAnalysis.org, (2014), “Variance analysis is defined as the difference between the expected amount and the actual amount of costs or revenues. Variance analysis uses this standard or expected amount versus the actual amount to judge performance. The analysis includes an explanation of the difference between actual and expected figures as well as an evaluation as to why the variance may have occurred. The purpose of this detailed information is to assist managers in determining what may have gone right or wrong and to