Reporting Practices and Ethics
HCS/405
Victor Ho
January 8, 2014

Reporting Practices and Ethics This paper will include a summary of the four elements of financial management, a summary of the generally accepted accounting principles, and a summary of the general financial ethical standards. The four elements of financial management are controlling, planning, directing and organizing, and decision making. The generally accepted accounting principles are generally known as GAAP, and are the basic accounting principles and guidelines. A few articles will be examined and examples that mirror ethical standards of conduct and financial reporting practices will be cited. The articles are Medicare Fraud: California Is Well-Represented on Federal List of Health Fraud Fugitives and Medicare Fraud Arrests.
The Four Elements of Financial Management
The four elements of financial management are controlling, planning, directing, organizing, and decision making. These four elements are the duties a financial manager must perform. Planning is where the objectives are recognized and the steps that must be taken for accomplishing these objectives are established. In the controlling element the financial manager must make sure each department in the organization is following the plans for accomplishing the set objectives. To ensure all plans are being followed, the financial manager will study the current reports and compare them with older reports. During the organizing component, the financial manager decides how the organizations resources will be used most effectively in carrying out the plans which were established in the planning element. For the directing section the financial manager will provide daily supervision to keep the results of organizing running effectively. The decision making portion actually occurs parallel to the planning, the organizing, and the controlling elements and the purpose is to make informed choices.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Having the highest standards of ethical conduct is important in accounting because this is where financial decisions of the business are based. The information gathered by the accountants is the information evaluated by the financial manager in the four element process. The accounting department of an organization is very important to the success of the business. In order to avoid any fines or fees, the accounting department must follow the guidelines of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
GAAP is a set of detailed standards and other rules issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that determine how an accountant conducts and formats reports. An organization must follow GAAP regulations when disturbing the financial statements to anyone outside the organization. If the organization decides to trade the company stock, the financial statements must follow the rules and regulations established by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

General Financial Ethical Standards
The manner of the accountant or financial person has an effect on the reputation of the whatever the organization may be. For an organization to have a good reputation, the organization must perform with integrity, competence, appropriate confidentiality, and complying with the valid laws and regulations. Financial presons need to have the correct level of knowledge and skill set to be considered competent and confidential information that is acquired during the course of professional actions must be kept confidential and released when legally required to do so. To have integrity a financial person needs to practice honesty and correctness and avoid any conflicts of interest. Accountants must perform at the highest level of standards and encourage other employees to do so as well.
Articles that Reflect Reporting Practices
The California Watch featured an article called Medicare Fraud: California is Well-Represented on Federal List of Health Fraud Fugitives. This article discuss’ the “Most Wanted” list of health fraud fugitives across the United States, totaling around 170 (Jewett, 2012,). A man from California hired people to force the elderly into accepting a power wheelchair so then he billed Medicare for the cost. A woman is accused of laundering millions from ordering walkers and canes for people who have passed away. There is a whole group of people accused of billing Medicare for running blood tests on each other and then paid clients one hundred dollars to come to the clinic. Donald White, the spokesman for the Inspector General’s Office, believes the efforts of the “most wanted” list has made more people aware of this issue and people are now starting to seek out suspects themselves, which in turn is aiding in the capture of some fugitives (Jewett, 2012,). Most people don’t like fraudsters and this list shows the public how serious the Office of Inspector General is in catching these criminals.
Steven Mintz, a blogger, wrote a blog called Medicare Fraud Arrest: Can We Control Medicare Fraud? This blog scrutinizes the specifics of the Medicare fraud problem occurring through-out the United States. Mintz says, “If a corrupt system is manipulated by corrupt people, these corrupt people will always stay one step ahead of the system.” According to Mintz, medicare fraud has been going on for a long time and most of the time goes undetected which in turn is costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Mintz believes nothing will change until the Ethical foundation of our country is rebuilt.
Effects of Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Medicare and Medicaid fraud committed by anyone for personal gain, results in higher taxes and the possibility of reduced medical care for people who pay taxes. Any type of fraud steals from the people who need it the most and increases the cost for individuals who are in valid need of medical care. Not only does Medicare and Medicaid fraud wastes taxpayer’s money but it also increase the cost of health care for everyone in general.

References
Jewett, C. (2012, August 17). Medicare Fraud: California is well represented on Federal List of Health Fraud Fugitives. Huff Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/medicare-fraud-california_n_1798771.html
Mintz, S. (2010). Ethics Sage. Retrieved from http://www.ethicssage.com/2011/03/medicare-fraud-arrests.html