Quantitative study demonstrating positive association between caregiver’s financial knowledge and hospital’s financial performance in the UAE

Abstract

The advancement in health care has brought an increased cost burden on the regulatory authorities of any country as well as healthcare operators. Introduction of advanced technologies, new research analytics and sophisticated treatment modalities has added value to human life; at the same time the financial ecosystem of the healthcare industry has grown exponentially in the last three to four decades coupled with increased competitiveness. Despite several measures taken to contain the healthcare costs, hospital operational cost has been increasing day by day. Annual budgets of public and private hospitals are under tremendous cost pressure and new business processes are being studied to ensure efficiency and optimization of resources. UAE is not an exception, health care business profit margins have been decreasing due to increased operability cost. This study was aimed to access the financial literacy among health care professionals and how their involvement in business processes can affect the profitability of hospital business in UAE. In this study, a quantitative, cross-sectional research design has been used. A structured questionnaire was distributed to practicing healthcare professionals in the UAE. The results demonstrated, that the current financial literacy of respondents (caregivers) has been either average or below average. However, the knowledge of quality indicators and revenue cycle management along with their financial implications is mostly rated as average and above average. Results also highlighted that healthcare professionals believe that their involvement in budgeting process can reflect positive results, however, their involvement by their institutions and supervisors has been very minimal and only 10% of respondents were fully involved in the process. This warrants healthcare institutions to introduce financial training programs for their healthcare professionals and formulate an inclusive budget process where clinical teams participate. [J Med Allied Sci 2020; 10(2.000): 85-90]

Keywords

• budgeting process
• financial literary
• healthcare professionals
• physicians
• revenue cycle management