Reference no: EM132984714

Question: The Authorized Personnel BudgetRegular full-time staffing for the healthcare facility is based on full-time equivalent (FTE) positions. The standard was developed based on one employee job position requiring the employee in the position to work 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, for 52 weeks per year-an annual total of 2,080 hours:

The standard for an 8-hour day, 5 days per week works well for a factory with a fixed 8-hour shift. Healthcare facilities will adjust the FTE calculation to meet the staffing requirements of a 24-hour daily operation. The 2,080-hour total is derived from wage and hour laws requiring the payment of overtime to nonexempt employees working over 40 hours per week. Wage and hour laws are mandated in each state. Overtime required for work in excess of 40 hours per week is the most common; however, some states require overtime pay for work over 8 hours in a day.

The statistical budget, discussed later on in the chapter, projects the units of service to be provided during the budget year. These service units provide the workload of the organization and are the basis for the staffing needs. When service units are projected to increase, staffing in the form of additional FTEs may also need to be increased. Declines in projected service units may result in a lower FTE budget.

In Figure 8-3, nursing has authorized full-time staffing of 19 positions, each working 40-hour work weeks. The same formula is used to develop the FTE count for any permanent part-time positions. For 2010, nursing was authorized 1.8 FTE part-time positions for total available staff hours of 72 hours per week

The nurse manager can use different employees for different numbers of hours so long as the total hours worked by part-time employees does not exceed a weekly average of 72 hours throughout the budget year. This authorization provides the flexibility to react to higher or lower workloads at certain times of the year. For 2011, the authorization for part-time employees was increased to 2.2 FTE, or an average of 88 hours per week. For both full and part-time employees, salaries and hourly wages have been determined by the human resources department.

1. The medical records office of a healthcare facility is budgeted with four full-time positions and 1.2 FTE part-time positions. For how many hours per year can the medical records supervisor use part-time employees?

2. A hospital has 100 beds in 50 semiprivate rooms. Average occupancy over the past several years has been 70%. Determine the number of projected encounters using the 70% occupancy factor. Determine the number of weighted encounters under the assumption that the assigned weight is 4.0.

3. Using the weighted encounters in question #4 above, determine the revenue budget for the hospital using the assumptions that the value per weighted encounter is $100 and that all patients have employment-based healthcare insurance with a discount factor of 40%.