Reference no: EM133272644

1. How has the ACA changed how providers look at costs?

2. What are the similarities and differences between break even points per period and break even points per unit of service?

3. How might differential cost analysis be used in the following nonroutine decisions: expanding an existing service, decreasing an existing service, starting a new service, and closing an existing service?

4. Mrs. Shepard was a patient at Citizens Hospital, where she was admitted complaining of stomach pains. Tests revealed that Mrs. Shepard had an inflamed appendix, and surgery was indicated. Once the surgery was completed, Mrs. Shepard spent one day recovering in the hospital. The surgery was routine and there were no complications; discharge was as planned.

- Using the following four departments-HR, Housekeeping, Surgery, and Lab-explain how the different cost apportionment methods would work.

- Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each method as they relate to the case.

5. The CARES Act provided $100 billion in financial relief to hospitals responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The act included a 20 percent increase in Medicare payments to hospitals for their COVID-19 patients. However, studies have indicated that the costs associated with COVID-19 patients may be 35 percent more than original DRG payment rates, or 15 percent more than relief payment rates (Reese 2020).

- For a hospital that admits COVID-19 patients, list the possible solutions to this cost crisis after examining the methods of cost accounting explained in this chapter.