| Unit name | Accounting and Finance in Healthcare Organisations |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EFIMM0087 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Professor. Ellwood |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Accounting and Finance - Business School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
• Understand the economics of health care financing and be able to discuss and explain the financing of public services generally and the funding and commissioning mechanisms for the constituent parts of the health service.
• Interpret accounting statements (balance sheets, operating statements and cash flow statements) used within the health service.
• Analyse costs within a health service context for decision-making, contracting, disinvestment and performance comparison.
• Understand the main budgetary techniques and approaches and be able to interpret budget statements.
• Explain models of performance measurement and apply them to particular NHS cases.
• Understand and discuss critically the economic and other issues surrounding NHS capital investment decisions and PFI arrangements.
The unit will enable students to:
1) demonstrate understanding of how healthcare organisations are financed, how financial planning and control is exercised and how financial accountability is ensured.
2) develop capabilities required to be able to contribute to successful financial management within a healthcare context.
3) demonstrate knowledge of financial management and reporting in the context of managerial decision making.
The unit will be taught through a mixture of short lectures, discussion, case study work, readings, and group and individual exercises. There will be some compulsory pre-course work which will include core readings and critical analysis which the students are required to carry out. The use of the Blackboard online learning environment will be actively pursued to develop students’ understanding and engagement with the unit content.
The unit structure offers 18 contact hours in total. The remaining 182 learning hours will be spent in independent study and in the preparation of assessment.
Formative Assessment (ILO 1,3)
Formative assessment will be delivered according to what is appropriate to the learning outcomes. It will allow students to evaluate the progress of their learning.
Summative Assessment (ILO 1,2,3)
75% Coursework (3,000 word essay).
25% Class test.
The coursework will assess a health service financial management topic in detail while the class test will assess the broad understanding of health care finance, accounting issues and techniques.
Core Texts:
Bergmann A. (2009) Public Sector Financial Management, Pearson.
Atrill, P., and McLaney, E. (2014) Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists, FT Prentice Hall, London.
Journal articles e.g.:
Chapman C, Kern A. and Laguecir A. (2014) Costing practices in healthcare, Accounting Horizons, 28 (2) 353-364.
Ellwood S (2009) Accounting for (a) public good: public healthcare in England, Financial Accountability and Management, (25) 411-433.
Ellwood, SM & Garcia-Lacalle, J. (2012), Old wine in new bottles: IFRS adoption in NHS Foundation Trusts, Public Money and Management, 32 335–342.
