HCMT 560 - Healthcare Finance

The U.S. healthcare system is financed by every facet of society: individuals, businesses and government. This course will decipher the complex underpinnings of our system from a financing perspective, with a focus on who pays for it, how it’s paid for, who generates the costs and what does the future hold. The course will review the basics of managerial accounting in a healthcare setting, understanding balance sheets and financial statements and analyzing financial conditions of healthcare organizations. The course will also cover what goes into costs in a healthcare system, including labor costs, acquisition costs, regulation and insurance. The course will also explore the role and types of healthcare insurance in more detail, with an emphasis on contracting, cost-shifting and the role of government. After examining current and innovative payment structures, the course will take a macroeconomic view of the current landscape to examine what may happen under health reform. While the course will touch on the principles of healthcare economics, prior experience with economics is not a prerequisite.

(Cr: 3