I highly recommend this book for both required reading and professional reading as it makes a relatively difficult subject easy to understand.


great   August 18, 2008
Yinersi D. Crisostomo
This item was great and a great price and on time. Amazon is one of the best websites to get books.


Business Plans 101 but Not Health Care Finance   March 7, 2009
Dr. Terrence McGarty (Cambridge, MA)
This text is a simplistic overview of how a business plan is prepared. It is not in any way a primer on the understanding financial issues associated with Health Care.

The text appears as if it were the compilation with more words of presentations made to low level staff at hospitals on what finance is and how business plans are prepared. It totally lacks the detail that is required to understand the finances of Health Care systems.

First, Health Care systems are either for profit or non-profit and there are material differences.

Second, cost allocations by procedures and the price setting of those procedures goes to the heart of understanding the financial statements. The detail on this seems to be totally lacking.

Third, the ratio analysis that is at the heart of assessing the operations of a Health Care system seems also to be neglected.

Fourth, the collections of payments, whether they be Medicare of Third Party and how these are handled in the Health Care System financials seem also to be lacking.

One could go on and on. The text was a disappointment. There clearly is a need for a text that goes into depth on these and many more issues of this type, especially with the new current emphasis on Health Care and its reform. The financial statements of a Health Care provider are as important as the medical records of the patients. They tell where the problems are in the delivery of care from the cost and revenue perspective. They are the defense line against any impairment of funds due to lack of meeting standards.

This book missed the mark in my opinion on all these issues.