Budget planning under payment reform.

Healthcare reform makes budgeting topline reimbursement, volume, payer mix, and collections more difficult than in the past. Finance should take the lead at educating physicians and operators on what reform will mean to unit reimbursement, collections, volume, and payer mix. The team should analyze future scenarios for each variable before finalizing the budget, rather than assuming revenue cycle or managed care will come through with a last-second rate increase as they have in the past.