Discussion: Why Do Good Budgets Go Bad?

In 1948, Harry Truman became President of the United States of America, winning an election against Thomas Dewey. The result of the election was a major surprise. It was considered such a forgone conclusion that Dewey would win that a Chicago newspaper printed the headline DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN before the election was over.

The newspaper that printed this headline pursued a plan based on projected data. Once that plan was set into motion, there was no turning back. By the time it became obvious that the election would go differently than anticipated, it was too late to take corrective action.

Organizations put a great deal of effort into their budget plans. Since budgets are based on projected data, sometimes the results go differently than anticipated. The result can be budget variances.

For this Discussion, you consider what causes budget results that are different than planned results, and you explore approaches healthcare organizations use to take corrective action to ensure resources are available to maintain performance.

To Prepare

• Review the information in this weeks Resources dealing with variance analysis, how it is calculated, and how it can be used in decision making, including the video Variance Analysis.
• Use the Variance Discussion Case document, provided in the Resources, to calculate budget variances for the case presented.