Essentials of Cost Accounting for Health Care Organizations

Steven A. Finkler, PhD, CPA is Professor Emeritus of Accounting and Financial Management at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where he directed the Healthcare Financial Management specialization for over twenty years. He is an award winning teacher and author.''Among his publications are eighteen books, including Accounting Fundamentals for Health Care Management (with David Ward), Budgeting Concepts for Nurse Managers,'and Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers.' Dr. Finkler has published over 200 articles in Healthcare Financial Management, Health Care Management Review, Hospitals and Health Services Organizations, Health Services Research, the New England Journal of Medicine and many other health care journals.' He received a B.S. and M.S. from the Wharton School where he majored in Accounting and Finance. His Master’s degree in Economics and Ph.D. in Business Administration were awarded by Stanford University.' Dr. Finkler, who is also a CPA, worked as an auditor with Ernst and Young and was on the Wharton School faculty before joining NYU.' He served for four years as a member of a National Advisory Board at NIH.' He is a member of the Executive Board of the International Society for Research in Healthcare Financial Management, former member of the editorial board of Health Care Management Review, and is currently Treasurer and a member of the Board of Governors of Daughters of Israel Geriatric Center.David Ward, Ph.D., is Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of Health Professions at the Medical University of South Carolina. Prior to becoming Associate Dean, Dr. Ward served as Chairman of the Department of Health Administration and Policy at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Ward’s teaching activities at the Medical University include Financial Management, Healthcare Accounting, and Applied Research Methods. Dr. Ward has numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Health Care Financing Review, Public Budgeting and Financial Management, and the American Journal of Public Health. In addition, Dr. Ward is the co-author of two health care accounting text books. Dr. Ward received his B.A. from Colgate University and an M.P.A. and Ph.D. from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.'Judith J. Baker, PhD, CPA, is Executive Director and a partner of The Resource Group, a Dallas-based health care consulting firm. Judith has over thirty years experience in health care and consults on numerous health care systems and costing problems. She has worked with health care systems, costing, and reimbursement throughout her career. As a CMS subcontractor she assists in validation of costs for new programs and for rate setting and consults on cost report design. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and also serves as adjunct faculty at the Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing. Dr. Baker received her B.S. from the University of Missouri, an M.L.S. from the University of Oklahoma, and an M.A. and PhD from the Fielding Institute, Santa Barbara, California. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and is Editor Emeritus of the quarterly Journal of Health Care Finance. Among her publications are seven books, including Activity-Based Costing and Activity-Based Management for Health Care; Health Care Cost Accounting; Management Accounting for Health Care Organizations (with Robert Hankins); and Health Care Finance for Non-Financial Managers (with R.W. Baker).