Book excerpt: Covering the financial topics all nurse managers need to know and use, this book explains how financial management fits into the healthcare organization. Topics include accounting principles, cost analysis, planning and control management of the organization's financial resources, and the use of management tools. In addition to current issues, this edition also addresses future directions in financial management. - Nursing-focused content thoroughly describes health care finance and accounting from the nurse manager's point of view. - Numerous worksheets and tables including healthcare spreadsheets, budgets, and calculations illustrate numerous financial and accounting methods. - Chapter opener features include learning objectives and an overview of chapter content to help you organize and summarize your notes. - Key concepts definitions found at the end of each chapter help summarize your understanding of chapter content. - Suggested Readings found at the end of each chapter give additional reading and research opportunities. - NEW! Major revision of chapter 2 (The Health Care Environment), with additions on healthcare reform, initiatives to stop paying for hospital or provider errors, hospice payment, and funding for nursing education; plus updates of health care expenditure and pay for performance; provide a strong start to this new edition. - NEW! Major revision of chapter 5 (Quality, Costs, and Financing), with updates to quality-financing, Magnet organizations, and access to care, provides the most up-to-date information possible. - NEW! Reorganization and expansion of content in chapter 15 (Performance Budgeting) with updated examples better illustrates how performance budgeting could be used in a pay-for-performance environment. - NEW! Major revision of the variance analysis discussion in chapter 16 (Controlling Operating Results) offers a different approach for computation of variances that is easier to understand. - NEW! Addition of comparative effectiveness research to chapter 18 (Benchmarking, Productivity, and Cost Benefit and Cost Effectiveness Analysis) covers a recently developed approach informs health-care decisions by providing evidence on the effectiveness of different treatment options. - NEW! Addition of nursing intensity weights, another approach for costing nursing services, to chapter 9 (Determining Health Care Costs and Prices), lets you make decisions about what method works best for you.