Healthcare Accounting Course

Lesson 1 • Core Accounting Principles in Healthcare

Applies generally accepted accounting principles to healthcare entities. Grounds students in accrual basis, matching, and consistency concepts before sector-specific rules.

Lesson 2 • Chart of Accounts for Healthcare Entities

Structures a healthcare-specific chart of accounts covering assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses. Provides the coding foundation used throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • The Healthcare Industry Financial Landscape

Maps the economic structure of healthcare delivery across provider types. Establishes context for why healthcare accounting differs from general-purpose accounting.

Lesson 1 • Claims Submission and Payer Adjudication

Walks through claim form preparation, electronic submission, and payer adjudication logic. Students trace how adjudication outcomes affect recorded revenue.

Lesson 2 • Payment Posting and Reconciliation

Demonstrates posting payments, contractual adjustments, and patient balances to the general ledger. Reconciliation closes the revenue cycle loop.

Lesson 3 • Patient Registration and Insurance Verification

Covers data capture at point of service and eligibility confirmation. Accurate registration directly reduces claim denials and revenue leakage.

Lesson 4 • Denial Management and Appeals

Identifies root causes of claim denials and the accounting treatment of disputed receivables. Effective denial management recovers revenue and improves cash flow.

Lesson 1 • Net Patient Service Revenue Reporting

Constructs the net patient service revenue line from gross charges through all deductions. Students reconcile reported revenue to cash collections.

Lesson 2 • Charity Care and Bad Debt Accounting

Distinguishes charity care from bad debt and applies correct accounting treatment to each. Proper classification affects both income statements and tax-exempt status.

Lesson 3 • Third-Party Payer Contractual Adjustments

Calculates and records contractual allowances under government and commercial payer contracts. Accurate adjustments prevent revenue overstatement.

Lesson 1 • Cost Classification and Behaviour

Categorises healthcare costs as fixed, variable, semi-variable, and step-fixed. Understanding cost behaviour is prerequisite to budgeting and pricing decisions.

Lesson 2 • Service Line and Departmental Cost Reports

Produces departmental cost reports and service-line profitability statements. These reports support operational decisions and contract negotiations.

Lesson 3 • Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis in Healthcare

Applies CVP analysis to determine break-even volumes and margin of safety for healthcare services. Results inform capacity and pricing strategy.

Lesson 4 • Cost Allocation Methods

Applies direct, step-down, and reciprocal allocation methods to distribute overhead to revenue-producing departments. Method choice materially affects reported service costs.

Lesson 1 • Balance Sheet for Healthcare Entities

Constructs a healthcare balance sheet with sector-specific assets and liabilities. Emphasises restricted net assets, long-term debt, and self-insurance reserves.

Lesson 2 • Cash Flow Statement in Healthcare

Prepares the statement of cash flows using both direct and indirect methods for healthcare entities. Cash flow analysis reveals liquidity independent of accrual adjustments.

Lesson 3 • Financial Ratio Analysis for Healthcare

Calculates liquidity, profitability, leverage, and efficiency ratios specific to healthcare. Benchmarking ratios against industry medians identifies performance gaps.

Lesson 4 • Income Statement and Operating Performance

Builds the statement of operations from net patient revenue through operating income. Non-operating items such as investment income are classified correctly.

Lesson 1 • Government Program Cost Reports

Prepares cost reports required by government payers to reconcile interim payments to allowable costs. Errors in cost reports trigger audits and repayment demands.

Lesson 2 • Managed Care Contract Accounting

Records capitation revenue, risk-sharing arrangements, and stop-loss provisions under managed care contracts. Contract terms directly determine revenue recognition timing.

Lesson 3 • Prospective Payment Systems Overview

Explains diagnosis-related group and ambulatory payment classification systems and their payment logic. Prospective rates create fixed revenue per episode regardless of actual cost.

Lesson 4 • Reimbursement Settlement Accounting

Records estimated and final settlement receivables and payables arising from cost report reconciliation. Settlement accounting requires judgment about probable outcomes.

Lesson 1 • Expense Budget Development

Builds labor, supply, and overhead expense budgets from volume drivers and cost standards. Expense budgets are linked to volume assumptions for flexibility.

Lesson 2 • Budget Variance Analysis and Reporting

Decomposes budget variances into volume, rate, and efficiency components. Variance reports drive corrective action and accountability at the department level.

Lesson 3 • Budget Types and Planning Cycles

Distinguishes operating, capital, and cash budgets and maps them to the annual planning cycle. Understanding budget types prevents misallocation of resources.

Lesson 4 • Capital Budgeting and Investment Analysis

Evaluates capital projects using net present value, internal rate of return, and payback period. Capital allocation decisions require rigorous financial justification.

Lesson 1 • Pension and Post-Retirement Benefit Accounting

Records defined benefit pension obligations and post-retirement benefit costs for healthcare employers. Actuarial assumptions drive balance sheet exposure and income statement volatility.

Lesson 2 • Lease Accounting for Healthcare Entities

Applies current lease accounting standards to operating and finance leases common in healthcare. Correct classification affects both balance sheet leverage and expense timing.

Lesson 3 • Accounting for Healthcare Mergers and Acquisitions

Applies acquisition accounting to healthcare combinations including purchase price allocation and contingent consideration. M&A accounting shapes post-transaction financial statements significantly.

Lesson 4 • Impairment and Asset Write-Down Accounting

Tests long-lived assets and goodwill for impairment under applicable accounting standards. Impairment charges are material in healthcare mergers and service-line closures.