HCM 400 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a written proposal.
While healthcare organizations differ greatly, managers in various departments in organizations must propose changes to processes, the purchase of new equipment, the addition of employees, and many other changes to executives and boards to obtain approval. For this course, you will place yourself in the role of a manager in an organization of your choice. You are tasked with creating a written proposal that will add value to an organization and will impact the budget. This may come in the form of adding updated equipment, changing a process to become more streamlined, and so on. You will be submitting your proposal to your instructor, who will be playing the roles of CEO and budgetary board, for consideration. This assessment will require you to defend your proposal in terms of the value added and the financial impacts to the organization, as you would need to in the real world. You will select your organization using the specific guidance provided in the Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric document. You must ensure that sufficient
financial information is available to support your work on this project. You will confirm with your instructor that the topic or area of interest of your proposal
will allow you to sufficiently answer all of the questions in the prompt below. You also have the option of selecting your place of employment, within
healthcare, as approved by your instructor.
The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Three, Four, and Six. The final project will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
• Articulate key managerial accounting principles in healthcare using appropriate terminology
• Determine financial impacts in healthcare by analyzing major forces affecting the delivery of health services
• Utilize financial statements to inform short- and long-term strategic planning
• Craft high-level proposals that address budgeting consideration by justifying spending for healthcare services
Prompt Your proposal report should answer the following prompt: Considering the major forces in healthcare today, what improvements or changes would you propose for your selected organization? How would your proposal add value to the organization, and what impact would your proposal have in terms of the financial and budgetary considerations?
Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed, but the proposal that you are creating may require you to address these aspects in a different order. Please organize your report in the manner that seems the most logical for your topic.
I. Introduction A. What are the major forces affecting the delivery of healthcare today? Discuss these forces and their corresponding impacts on today’s healthcare
environment. B. Impact of Forces: What healthcare service and delivery opportunities and challenges exist because of the forces discussed above? Define the
challenges and opportunities that exist for today’s healthcare leaders. C. Opportunities: Based on your analysis of the major forces, impacts, and opportunities provided, consider the specific organization that you
selected. What opportunities exist for this organization, and how do these opportunities relate to the big-picture view of healthcare? D. Proposal: What is your proposal for addressing identified issues or improvements within your organization? In other words, what changes are you
trying to incorporate in your selected organization? II. Financial and Budgetary Considerations
A. Financial Statements: What financial statements will you utilize in making your proposal, and how will you use these statements? B. Proposal Impact: What impact will your proposal have on the organization’s financial statements? Articulate the impact using appropriate
terminology. C. Flexed Versus Fixed: How would your proposal be different if using a flexed budget versus a fixed budget? In other words, how would the use of
one type of budget versus the other impact your proposal, and how would your proposal impact the budget? (Evaluate the differences between a fixed and a flexed budget.)
III. Proposal Justification A. Ratio Selection: What ratios will you use to support your proposal and why? Select the ratio or ratios that would be the most appropriate. B. Ratio Results: Calculate the selected ratios and articulate the results using accurate terminology. What do the results tell you about the viability of
your proposal? C. Short- and Long-Term Impact: Based on your calculations and financial statement analysis, determine the short-term and long-term impact on
the organization and the organization’s financials. What is the short-term and long-term financial impact of your proposal for the organization? How can you plan to strategically mitigate the impact on the financials of the company, or how will your proposal help inform strategic planning in the short and long term?
IV. Closing Statement/ Conclusion A. Added Value: What value will your proposal add to the organization? Justify the value or improvement your proposal will add for the
organization, in consideration of trends in healthcare. B. Justification of Proposal: How appropriate is your proposal based on your financial analysis? Justify your proposal based on the financials and
budgetary considerations. If you feel that your proposal is not appropriate given your analysis, explain why, with support of your reasoning.
Milestone One: Draft Proposal: Major Forces Milestones
In Module Two, you will submit a draft proposal for critical elements located in Section I, parts A and B (see above under Prompt), defining the major forces affecting the delivery of healthcare. You will be required to describe the opportunities and challenges as they relate to healthcare leaders. Additionally, you should include the types of leases that might be considered for financial operations. In your response, consider the opportunities and challenges for today’s healthcare leaders. The format should be a minimum of 2 pages in length. This milestone is graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Healthcare Organization Selection In Module Three, you will select a company within the healthcare industry that you will use later for your capital budget proposal research. You will submit the healthcare organization selection to the instructor to ensure that you are able to attend to each aspect of the assessment. The format should be a 2- to 3- paragraph journal assignment. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Draft Proposal: Capital Budget Item Selection and Opportunities Available for Proposal In Module Four, you will submit a draft proposal for Section I, parts C and D. Using the approved healthcare organization and the information gathered, identify the capital budget item or items that will be used as the basis for the written capital budget proposal. You must include how the proposal recommendations reflect the big-picture view of healthcare. Refer to the Note on Operational Budgeting in Health Care (located in your coursepack) for final project budget guidance. The format should be a minimum of 1 page in length. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.
Milestone Four: Finance, Budget, and Justification In Module Six, you will submit a draft proposal for Sections II and III. You will provide financial statement analyses, profitability ratios, and ratio analyses to support the capital budget proposal formulated in Milestone Three. You will also use financial calculations to support proposal recommendations and to explain the short- and long-term financial impact for the organization. The format should be a minimum of 2 pages in length. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Four Rubric.
Final Product: Written Proposal In Module Seven, you will submit a written proposal on your selected organization. You will provide an explanation of how the capital budget proposal supports the operational and strategic goals of the organization. You will be required to explain the value of the capital proposal in consideration of current trends in healthcare and to provide financial statement support and analysis. The written proposal should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. The final product will be graded using the Final Product Rubric.
Deliverables
Milestone Deliverables Module Due Grading One Draft Proposal: Major Forces Two Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
Two Healthcare Organization Selection Three Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Three Draft Proposal: Capital Budget Item Selection and Opportunities Available
for Proposal
Four Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
Four Finance, Budget, and Justification Six Graded separately; Milestone Four Rubric
Final Product: Written Proposal Seven Graded separately; Final Product Rubric
Final Product Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your written proposal should be long enough to sufficiently cover all necessary material, including key budgetary information and any external resources used in preparation; however, the number of pages is less important than the content and organization of the report. Your proposal should be organized logically, as it will be used to convince your supervisor and budgetary board (your instructor) to approve your changes.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Introduction: Major Forces
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and discussion evidences keen insight into the current healthcare environment
Discusses the impacts of major forces in today’s healthcare environment with emphasis on the effect on healthcare delivery
Discusses the major forces in today’s healthcare environment, but not their impacts, or without focus on the effect on healthcare delivery
Does not discuss the major forces in today’s healthcare environment
5
Impact of Forces Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into the greater environment of healthcare and the recent challenges and opportunities
Accurately defines the challenges and opportunities faced by today’s healthcare leaders based on the forces in today’s healthcare environment
Defines challenges and opportunities faced by today’s healthcare leaders, but with gaps in detail or accuracy based on the forces in today’s healthcare environment
Does not define challenges and opportunities faced by today’s healthcare leaders
8
Opportunities Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into incorporating the big-picture views into organizational settings
Translates the big-picture view of healthcare to the selected organization to identify areas of opportunity
Identifies areas of opportunity within the selected organization but without the connective detail to the big-picture view of healthcare
Does not identify areas of opportunity within the selected organization
8
Proposal Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into needs and opportunities within the healthcare organization
Conceptualizes reasonable change(s) for proposal within the organization based on the identification of opportunities
Conceptualizes change(s) for proposal within the organization, but changes are not reasonable or not based on the identification of opportunities
Does not conceptualize changes for proposal within the organization
8
Financial Statements
Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into the use of financials for proposal creation
Identifies the correct financial statements and information for use in preparing the proposal
Identifies incorrect financial statements and information or misses key financial elements necessary for preparing the proposal
Does not identify financial statements and information for preparing the proposal
8
Proposal Impact Meets “Proficient” criteria, and articulation evidences keen insight into the nuanced impacts organizational changes can have on financial statements
Clearly articulates how the proposal could impact the financial statements of the organization
Articulates the relationship between the proposal and the financial statement, but does not correctly describe the potential impact of the proposal on the statements of the organization
Does not articulate the relationship between the proposal and financial statements of the organization
10
Flexed vs. Fixed Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into the financial nuances of fixed and flexed budgets in healthcare
Accurately discusses the differences between flexed and fixed budgets in relation to the proposal
Discusses the differences between flexed and fixed budgets, but with gaps in accuracy or not in relation to the proposal
Does not discuss the difference between flexed and fixed budgets
8
Ratio Selection Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into the uses and benefits of financial ratios for budget proposal
Selects financial ratios appropriate for support of the proposal
Selects financial ratios, but they are not appropriate for supporting the proposal
Does not select financial ratios 8
Ratio Results Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into the use of ratios and financial terminology in healthcare settings
Articulates the results of ratio calculations accurately using appropriate financial terminology
Articulates the results of ratio calculations, but with gaps in accuracy or without use of appropriate terminology
Does not articulate the results of ratio calculations
8
Short- and Long- Term Impact
Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight into financial and organization impact of proposals in healthcare
Determines accurately the short- and long-term potential impact of the proposal on the organization and the organization’s financials
Determines short- and long- term impacts of the proposal on the organization and financials, but with gaps in accuracy, logic, or detail
Does not determine the short- and long-term impacts of the proposal on the organization and financials
8
Added Value Meets “Proficient” criteria and shows keen insight into valuing and justifying proposals for organizational improvement
Justifies the value the proposal will add to the organization with support from trends in the healthcare environment
Describes the value the proposal will add, but does not justify with support from trends in the healthcare environment
Does not describe the value the proposal will add to the organization
8
Financial Justification
Meets “Proficient” criteria and evidences keen insight regarding financial needs and justification in healthcare
Justifies or denies the appropriateness of the proposal in terms of financial and budgetary considerations
Explains the financial and budgetary considerations, but does not justify or deny the appropriateness of the proposal in terms of these considerations
Does not explain the financial and budgetary considerations
8
Articulation of Response
Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read format
Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas
5
Total 100%
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