You have just been appointed as the new management accountant to manage the transition of the existing Royal Adelaide Hospital to the proposed new site. The hospital has a number of separate departments responsible for direct patient care, such as Accident and Emergency, Intensive Care, Neurology, and Cardiology, as well as a number of support departments such as Radiology and Patient Records. You are a little uncertain as to what your role will be in this new hospital, as consultants have been engaged to design the new management accounting systems. You thought that as a management accountant you would be responsible for developing the new systems!

Required:

1. Write a report to senior management explaining how you, as the management accountant, may contribute to the design and operation of the new management accounting systems for the new hospital.

2. Outline the types of management accounting information that you believe senior managers may require on a regular basis (say, weekly and monthly) to manage the operations of the new hospital. Consider both financial and non-financial information.

3. The new hospital plans to invest in the latest computer technology to run various aspects of the organisation, including the management information systems. Discuss the opportunities that this may present for the way in which you supply weekly and monthly reports to managers.