As you have learned, benchmarking is useful not only for ascertaining a health care organization’s overall financial “health” but also for decision-making around introducing new services or products. Let’s explore this further together. As you discuss each question, in addition to applying your reading which is of course required, please be sure to bring in real-world experiences that you may have had benchmarking in one way or another. The best learning can be from others’ successes and even failures. Remember that an active discussion is the key to an interesting and engaging online course, so start early!

Please note that the first question is opinion based, so use your knowledge learned so far in the course and your experiences. As you progress, you will need to meaningfully apply the readings, using APA 6 formatting for any citations.

Please discuss the following questions over the course of this week.

1. Let’s imagine that the local college asks you as fiscal manager in a large primary care physician’s office to submit a proposal to conduct pre-employment physicals on all new employees.

• Based on what you have learned so far in the course, what financial or accounting information do you need to prepare your proposal? Provide some hypothetical financial numbers you think you will need, e.g. costs, etc….
• Now, let’s start applying the readings. What will you charge the college per physical based on costs? Would you need a minimum number of physicals to be cost effective? Let’s say you are new to offering physicals outside of your regular patient base. Would you consider doing it at cost to gain access to future referral business or access to more local colleges? Why, or why not? Please support your decisions based on your readings (required) and any experiences or external research as if you actually were preparing a proposal to provide this service to the college.                                                                                2.Now, let’s look at a situation where benchmarking is to be performed in this same provider’s office. You will recall that benchmarking is a common tool used in comparative analysis and assists managers in identifying where need for improvement is greatest. You have budgeted 1000 employee hours per week for the practice. This includes all non-working days, e.g. vacations, personal days, and holidays. In your monthly review the Human Resources staffing reports, you find that there has been a steady increase in overtime that is not budgeted. Using internal benchmarking measures, what process will you take to identify the reasons for this increase, and to decide whether or not you need to hire more employees? What external benchmarking measures could you use? Support and cite your response with scholarly resources through the Excelsior Library.                                                                                                                      REFERENCES FOR USE IN WRITING

1.  

   • Baker & Baker Text:
     • 2014 – chapters 18, 22, 23, and Mini-Case Study #1 – Chapter 29
   • Bennett, A. (2012). Accountable care organizations: Principles and implications for hospital administrators. Journal Of Healthcare Management, 57(4), 244-254.
   • Klazinga, N., Fischer, C., & ten Asbroek, A. (2011). Health services research related to performance indicators and benchmarking in Europe. Journal Of Health Services Research & Policy, 16(s2), 38-47.
   • Shoemaker, W. (2009). Benchmarking tools for reducing costs of care. (cover story). Hfm (Healthcare Financial Management), 63(4), 54-63.
   • Talley, L. B., Thorgrimson, D. H., & Robinson, N. C. (2013). Financial literacy as an essential element in nursing management practice. Nursing Economic$, 31(2), 77-82.
   • Watch Films Media Group. (1995). Boeing reinvents the airplane [Video file][02 min 51 sec]