Much like all other types of businesses in the world, many nursing homes need to manage money. They need to keep the lights on, manage supplies, make sure their patients have everything they need, and provide some serious goods and services to those under their care. Nursing homes really can’t afford to run out of money or have financial problems, because so many people are depending on them.
Whenever it comes to the best practices that nursing homes can use to make sure that their finances stay in order, there are a great many things that you can do. Here are some of the best ways that nursing homes can keep on top of their finances, and then you can get back to caring for the people who depend on you!
1.Track Your Intake
Like any good budget, you need to figure out how much money you are spending and saving before you can make any massive changes. You can track your patient flow to see just how many nursing home patients are entering and leaving the facility in a period of time, and you can also see how much they are costing you in terms of money.
If you can use technology to track your patients, then you will be able to get very clear numbers at the end of the study, and can have numbers to go through whenever it comes time to cut costs.
2. Make Sure Your Policy Is Patient First- Define Your Non-Negotiables
Whenever saving and spending money gets involved, you don’t want the patients in your nursing home to be the first ones to suffer for it. So make sure that you define all of the things that are going to be non-negotiable very early on in the process, and make sure that your patients have everything they could ever need before you start making cuts.
You might end up batching or bundling or even discontinuing things connected to your patients, but you shouldn’t be making your patients pay the price when it comes time to manage your finances.
3. Make Sure To Have A Chart Of Accounts
The Chart of Accounts (COA) is an extremely important tool to have whenever you need to have all your items listed out in one place. For example, all of your accounts can be broken down onto their identification codes, whether or not they are assets or liabilities, and all of the other data that you will need to see at a glance.
You also need to make sure that your business is following the guidelines for Charts of Accounts set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). By doing so, you will be able to see all of your accounts and transactions at a glance to manage your money, making this a great extra tool for your billing system for health homes.
4. Continue to Monitor Your Finances
Finally, financial management isn’t a one time deal. You need to continue to work on your finances every month or so, or whenever things change at the nursing home, and make sure that you are always keeping your financial management on the front end of your mind.
You don’t want to let your finances get totally out of control, because that will start to cause problems for both you and the staff and patients of your nursing home.
If you continue to manage and keep on top of your finances, then everything will be fine and your nursing home will be able to continue to help the people who need your help.
