Applying Variance Analysis to Understand California Hospitals' Expense Recovery Status by Patient Groups
运用管理会计中的差异分析工具，研究了2012年与2004年相比加州医院从三类患者群体（公共项目、私人项目、无保险患者）中每100美元运营费用所获收入的变动，分解为费率效应和比例效应，揭示了医院对私人保险定价提高及无保险患者收入下降的趋势。
SYNOPSIS I apply variance analysis, a management accounting tool, to examine California hospitals' expense recovery status in 2012, as compared with 2004, for three mutually exclusive groups of patients. For every $100 total operating expense incurred in 2012, as compared with those incurred in 2004, California hospitals received $3.2 more from public programs (a $0.7 rate effect and a $2.6 proportion effect), $3.0 more from private programs (a $7.8 rate effect and a −$4.8 proportion effect), and $2.2 less from uninsured patients (a −$3.1 rate effect and a $1.0 proportion effect). These results imply that (1) hospitals were able to charge increasingly higher prices to private insurers, and (2) hospitals received less revenue from uninsured patients, a possible consequence of the passage of California's Hospital Fair Pricing Act in 2006. My study highlights the applicability of variance analysis in understanding the temporal change in financial status for patient groups in the hospital industry.