Planning and Budgeting Essay

â€Å"Planning and budgeting are the two key major roles in the financial functioning of a healthcare organization. Planning covers the entire process and procedures of preparing the organization for their future financial goals. Budgeting include all of the detailed plans, which are expressed in dollar terms and they tell how the organizations resources will be obtained and used during a specific time period† (Gapenski, p. 253 & 259). In this paper there will be a brief discussion of what Ben Massell Dental Clinic, should take into consideration, when making pricing and service decisions. As well this paper will also cover the overall planning process and the components of their financial plan. Also this paper will briefly discuss how time analysis may help Bill Massell Dentistry to make sound management decisions. And lastly there will be a recommended major investment and a likely determination of how Ben Massell should address any financial risk and required returns. â€Å"In 1912 a philanthropist by the name of Morris Hirsch established the Morris Hirsch clinic with a goal in mind, which was to provide an out-patient medical service to those within the community, who weren’t able to afford proper medical care. Years later in 1929 a dental clinic was soon added. Then, in 1956 Dr. Irving M. Goldstein a dentist and former chief of staff of the Morris Hirsch clinic, he and his brother Dr. Marvin Goldstein decided to relocate their establishment to Pryor St, located in downtown Atlanta. They sought after one of Atlanta’s most premier builders and developer who had his eyes on the exact same building that the Goldstein brothers had chosen† (Massell, 2012, para. 1). The clinic resided in its new location for the next three years, and then in 1959 urban renewal and eminent domain laws, made it possible for the clinic to relocate once again. Soon, Ben Massell with the help of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta was able to obtain a secure home on for his clinic located on 7th St in the Midtown area of Atlanta. And from that point on the clinic has remained there for the past 49 years. In honoring Ben Massell’s involvement, assistance and his financial generosity with the clinic it was then named, the Ben Massell Dental clinic (Massell, 2012, para. 2). When making pricing decisions, the managers of Ben Massell Dentistry Clinic, need to determine whether or not if their services are not only affordable, but are beneficial to the clients they serve. The managers of the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, also need to determine whether or not if they’re offering a substantial amount of volume discounts to clients and payer groups, and they need to determine exactly how large of a discount should be given to all of their clients. When making service decisions since the managers are not the ones who set the prices for the services, they have to decide whether or not that the payment is sufficient to assume the risks associated with providing services to the covered or non-covered population. The Planning Process is where the financial plans and budgets are developed for an organization to reach its financial goal. The process includes, value statement which describes the things the company values the most, mission statement describes the overall purpose for the existence of the company, and vision statement defines the company’s goals. Since, The Ben Massell Dental Clinic is a non-profit organization, their overall planning process consist of providing clients with the most advanced dental care. They describe themselves as the only resource for comprehensive and quality dental care at no cost to those in need of dental care. They offer a variety of services with the help of 140 volunteer dentists to better serve individuals who do not have access to proper dental services. Also The Ben Massell Dental Clinic is in partnership with, St. Joseph’s Mercy Care Services. With this partnership it allows clients to receive a general health screening for various health conditions. Along with the help of The Georgia Lion’s Lighthouse, clients are also able to receive a free exam and eyewear if needed. In order for clients to qualify for dental service without payment, they must meet certain guidelines. These guidelines include the following: new clients must live in one of the 13 major counties, Butts, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale. Other qualifications include: showing proof of residence for the last six months, having no insurance or dental coverage and having a household income that falls below 125% of the current poverty level. The chart below gives us an exact example of a client’s eligibility. The components of the Ben Massell Dental Clinic financial plan arrive from the donations of major funding organizations in which some they have partnered with and other businesses that surrounds the Atlanta area. Also donations can be accepted directly from their website from those individuals of the community, who have a desire to take part in helping others to get the proper dental needed. These include, â€Å"The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, which provided 14 percent of the clinics budget for the fiscal year of 2009-2010, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta provided 6 percent through the support of United way employees, other organizations such as, the Google grants program assisted in the advertisement of the Ben Massell Dental Clinic website and the Grants to Greens Foundation contributed towards the materials in reconstructing, the building using recycled materials that are energy savers and cost efficient† (Jewish Family & Career Services [JF&CS], 2012, para. , 2, 3, 4). Time value analysis is the use of time value of money techniques to value future cash flows. â€Å"The reason why time analysis is so important in healthcare is because current amount of made being made is worth more than future dollars. By using this method this gives the dental clinic an opportunity to accept 25 new clients per week and 100 new clients within a months’ tim e. Using the time lines method allows the clinic to keep track of 5 new clients per day during a five day work week. It also helps managers to keep track of payments from other organizations and makes it easier to administer their services to everyone with ease of access, which will allow the operation to flow evenly without hassle. An example of this would be, when new clients are referred over to their clinic, they can easily keep track of what organization has sent the client and who’s responsible for assisting in making the payments for particular procedures administered to the clients. Adding an additional certified dentist could be a possible major investment for the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, even though they offer a large amount volunteer dentist, they only spend half a day’s time within the office. So by adding an additional certified dentist to the organization, this could not only lessen the wait time for clients, but it would also bring in additional revenues, grants and other sources of income to assist the clinic in progressing towards a better financial goal. The average salary of a dentist in Atlanta Georgia is $108, 00. 0 per year (â€Å"Dentist Salary,† 2012, para. 2). Which, can be considered as the net present value, the pertinent financial ratios consists of those organizations making payments for clients that, they refer to the clinic and the break even analysis would be the clinic meeting 25 patients per week on a weekly basis, 100 new clients a month and 1,200 new clients a year to cover the salary of the new dentist that may be add ed to the organization. Financial risk and required returns are two very important factors in healthcare financial management. Financial risk is defined as the risk an investor takes when investing in something and the expected return on that investment is much less than expected. Required returns are defined as the expected outcome on an investment made by an investor whether it is higher or lessor. In order for managers at The Ben Massell Dental Clinic to address financial risk and required returns, managers first need to look at their current financial status and the amount of new clients being referred over to them on a daily weekly to monthly basis. Depending upon the current numbers of incoming new client and their current financial status, managers can then make their decision on whether or not if hiring another dentist would be a great idea for the clinic. In conclusion planning and budgeting covers the entire process of preparing a business for the future. Since it is so important to the success of any organization, especially in healthcare many managers of an healthcare organization have a tendency to spend a great deal of time focusing on the overall planning process in order to keep the business in a successful financial state.