Coursera

Introduction to Healthcare Accounting (Coursera)

Offered by University of Michigan,

To remain sustainable, it's crucial for healthcare organizations to effectively manage their finances. In Introduction to Healthcare Accounting, you’ll learn how to understand and manage hospital finances. This includes the cost of patient care, major payers and reimbursements, resource efficiency, and the modernization of facilities. Hands-on course assessments will allow you to apply financial analysis to gain a deeper understanding of institutional revenues and balances, so that you can make informed decisions for your institution. With this course, you’ll emerge with a crucial understanding of institutional finances and become a more effective leader.

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This course is part of the Healthcare Management and Finance Specialization.

What you'll learn

Develop an understanding of basic financial accounting concepts and principles.
Explain the format and use of the financial statements for healthcare organizations.
Apply basic financial statement analysis techniques to evaluate the financial condition and performance of healthcare organizations.

Syllabus

Introduction to Healthcare Financial Accounting
This week provides an introduction to healthcare financial accounting. The learning objectives are: (1) define the term financial accounting; (2) describe the unique characteristics of the healthcare industry that impact the work of financial accountants; and (3)summarize the basic principles applied by financial accountants when they prepare the financial statements.

Financial Statements Part 1
This week, we'll continue our discussion of the financial statements. The learning objectives are: (1) explain the purpose and content of the balance sheet; and (2) explain the purpose and content of the statement of operations.

Financial Statements Part 2
This week we'll continue our discussion of the financial statements. There are three learning objectives: (1) explain the purpose and contents of the statement of changes in net assets; (2) explain the purpose and contents of the statement of cash flows; and (3) use the notes to complement the information provided in the financial statements of a health care organization.

Evaluating Financial Performance
This week, we will wrap up our introduction to healthcare, financial accounting by exploring how we can use the information provided in the financial statements to evaluate the financial position and performance of a health care organization. There are three learning objectives: (1) describe the three primary techniques used in financial statement analysis; (2) compute key financial ratios to assess the profitability, liquidity, capital structure and efficiency of a healthcare organization; and (3) develop recommendations to improve the financial performance of a health organization, based on the results of your financial statement analysis.

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