Introduction
The finance department in Al Baraha Hospital has to perform the following functions: 1) allocation of budget; 2) the management of cash flows; 3) auditing; 4) the procurement of drugs and equipment; 5) estimation of future costs and revenues; 6) the development of cost-cutting programs. These activities are critical for the proper functioning of this medical organization. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that in many cases, the employees of this department need to work with divisions, especially when they work on tasks such as procurement or the development of cost-reduction programs. This is one of the points that can be made. This department is accountable to the administration of this hospital and the government of the UAE. In particular, one can speak about such the Ministry of Health. The work of this department is governed by the regulations of this institution and the statutes adopted by Al Baraha Hospitals. Moreover, one can speak about the laws adopted by the Dubai Health Authority. For example, one can mention the health insurance law which was enacted in 2013 (Leijen, 2013). These are some of the main aspects that should be taken into consideration. Currently, the annual budget of this department is $ 425.423. This division is located on the first floor of the building, and it includes only four employees. The following chart illustrates the structure of this department and its interactions with other divisions of Al Baraha Hospital:
- Hospital Administration
- The head of the department
- A worker who is responsible for the management of revenues
- An employee, who monitors patients’ insurances and accounts
- An employee, who monitors expenditures within the hospital
So, this discussion suggests that the finance department plays an important role in the work of this healthcare organization. It is important to assess the performance of this division and provide recommendations that can improve its work. These are the main tasks that should be examined more closely.
Analysis
Quality
It should be noted that this department does not have a clear definition of quality. However, while evaluating its work, the managers pay attention to such criteria as the accuracy of data inputs or budget estimations and the cost-efficiency of the organization. This approach is quite justified because a finance department has to make sure that the medical institution uses its resources in the most productive way (Dunham-Taylor 2006). Furthermore, the accuracy of data is vital for the time-efficiency of a healthcare organization (Dunham-Taylor 2006). Overall, the activities of the finance department are driven by the needs of the two stakeholders. In particular, one can speak about patients attending Al Baraha Hospital. These people expect the department to process their financial data as quickly as possible. Apart from that, they expect the employees to ensure the confidentiality of their private information. Secondly, one should speak about healthcare professionals who need to have access to various financial resources to do their work properly. Overall, there are no quality standards that are consistently applied by the management. Nevertheless, judging from my observations, I cannot say that this limitation adversely affects the major stakeholders. This result can be partly explained by the fact that the management attaches importance to innovation and improvement of the services that it provides to internal and external stakeholders. This is one of the key aspects that can be distinguished.
Innovation
In this department, innovation is defined as the improvement of the existing tools that are needed for financial planning, transfer, or storage of data. The employees of this department are encouraged to provide recommendations that can improve the work of this division. For example, much attention is usually paid to the use of software which is necessary for making projections about future costs. The employees of this department often suggested the use of various techniques that could improve financial planning within this organization. This is one of the contributions that they often make. As a rule, their recommendations are recognized and rewarded by the head of this division. Nevertheless, this process is not institutionalized. In other words, there are no organizational statutes that guarantee extra rewards to workers who made valuable recommendations to the department. This is one of the drawbacks that can be singled out.
Performance
On the whole, the performance of this department is closely linked to the work of the entire Al Baraha Hospital. So, the managers of this division inevitably attach importance to the quality of patient care and time efficiency. Nevertheless, they have other concerns, for instance, the ability of the organization to meet the budgetary requirements. This finance department cooperates with other medical organizations, working in the UAE. This policy is aimed at identifying and adopting the most effective methods of financial planning or auditing. In the long term, this policy can significantly improve the financial performance of Al Baraha Hospital because this organization will be able to use the methods that have already been tested by other medical organizations (Banedj-Schafii 2010, p. 49). One of the limitations is that the performance assessment does not always affect the compensation that employees receive. Furthermore, there are no specific standards that should be met. Nevertheless, this limitation can be explained by the complexity of factors that affect the work of this department.
Productivity
It should be kept in mind that the productivity of this department cannot be accurately measured accurately only with the help of quantitative means because this division because the main goal of this division is to support healthcare professionals. One cannot evaluate their productivity in terms of some specific outputs that can be described numerically. Moreover, their work is dependent on the availability of funding to Al Baraha Hospital. Admittedly, there are some criteria that are considered by the management. For example, one can speak about the cost-effectiveness of Al Baraha hospital. Nevertheless, the result is not dependent only on the finance department. In this case, much attention should be paid to suggestions made by healthcare workers. This is why the concept of productivity is not fully applicable to this specific division.
Recommendations
One can offer several recommendations to this department. In particular, they need to adopt a performance appraisal system that may encourage innovation and independent initiative. As it has been said before, the suggestions of employees can be rewarded by the management provided that they are adopted by the department, but this compensation is not mandatory. Secondly, this department should work closely with other healthcare professionals because these people can help the employees of this division make more accurate projections about the future expenses of this hospital (Hickson 2013; Leijen 2013). This cooperation can help this department better understand the needs of medical workers and patients (Avis 2009, p. 210). Finally, this department should organize training programs for other medical workers who should have a better idea about the peculiarities of financial planning (Avis 2009). These are the main aspects that can be distinguished.
References
Avis, J 2009, CIMA Official Learning System Performance Management, Elsevier, New York.
Banedj-Schafii, M 2010, System Transferability of Public Hospital Facility Management Between Germany and Iran, KIT Scientific Publishing, New York.
Dunham-Taylor, J 2006, Health Care Financial Management for Nurse Managers: Merging the Heart with the Dollar, Jones & Bartlett Learning, New York.
Hickson, M 2013, Research Handbook for Health Care Professionals, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Leijen, M. (2013). Health insurance made compulsory for all in Dubai, Web.