By Healthcare Facilities Today

Every facility manager (FM) needs to be concerned with the cost of business. The goal as FM is to improve the net revenue and cash flow of the organization through numerous strategies, according to a blog on the FacilityCare website.

"In your tool kit should be ways to maximize the total cost of ownership of all the assets you maintain, namely, buildings and equipment," wrote blogger Todd Wilkening, director of facilities at Ridgeview Medical Center in Minnesota.

In the blog, Wilkening lists five of his top 10 budget tips.

1. Do not budget in a silo

Do not consider your budget alone. Financial planners look at the budget from an organizational perspective, such as forecasting revenues and expenses per unit of service. Understand yours in terms of the business.

2. History and predictive maintenance

Financial planners understand what they have experienced. A mental gauge for performance exists for them. Provide them a brief historical review of what’s gone right. Additionally, provide them great detail about what may go wrong, based on the data from the FM’s predictive maintenance program. 

3. Use the buzzwords

The FM needs to be listening to the buzzwords of the C-suite, as they are important indicators of how to capture their attention and meet business goals. 

4. Benchmarking

Use benchmarks from the FM’s own organizational experience, competing hospitals, prior years’ budgets or best practices. Volume benchmarks help determine optimal revenue and expense levels. 

5. Investment in expense reduction strategies equals revenue

Do not provide the C-suite with financial information based simply on square footage. Give them the information in terms they understand, such as staffed beds, procedures and adjusted discharge. 

Read the rest of Wilkening's budget tips.

Read the blog.