Finance is arguably the most important facet to any organization’s endeavor. Not only is the finance factor a good indicator of a program’s overall health, but it also holds a vital role in the management or success of any health program. Since the core function of a health program is to ensure maximum involvement of populations affected by the disease in formulating policies and implementation, strategic planning with regard to finances becomes imperative. The impact of finance on the success of a program can be analyzed by taking into consideration concepts such as cost-effectiveness, cost benefit and cost utility. These finance concepts represents a continuum of various types of cost analysis that usually have a place in program evaluation (Bennett, & Brachman, 2007, p.236). Failure to incorporate and clearly understand the impact of finance on the program that has been designed to intervene on a certain health problem that is facing the population would obviously lead to its downfall.
Cost effectiveness, cost utility and cost benefit facilitate program outcome since they are all designed to understand program operation through the use of cost analyses. For example, the use of cost benefit finance analyses ensures that it calculates and compares all the benefits and costs associated to a certain project or a program. It therefore determines the feasibility of the program or justifies whether embarking on the said project is of sound decision (Levin, & McEwan, 2001, p.114). On the other hand, all the procurement procedures related to the intended program are normally guided by the cost-utility concept. Nonetheless, the most important financial concept which is applicable to all health services is the cost-effectiveness analysis, since it approach has modelled for the areas where it may be inappropriate to monetize various human services search as health. Cost effectiveness compares the relative costs and the general outcomes (effects) of a given project or any course of action (In Mateo & In Foreman, 2013, p.362).
In light of this explanation, it becomes evident that undesirable financial implications would befall any endeavor that does not apply program planning that is meant to provide quality program outcomes. Additionally, in the case of my intended program that seeks to conduct a research on Tuberculosis among immigrants and work on the recommendation in order to reduce the prevalence rate of the disease, weighty financial implications would be felt if the TB problem is not addressed adequately. Some of these financial implications includes the inability to effectively inculcate Tuberculosis awareness in the community or to the targeted population due to the mismanagement of finances (Bennett, & Brachman, 2007, p.234). To further expound on the implications which results from not addressing the problem that is affecting the population, it is important to understand that there are the immediate or short term implications such as lack of credibility of the high priority stakeholders that ranges from the financiers to the implementers, and also the long term implications such as an increased of TB prevalence rates among the immigrants whom the program had been designed for.
I am of the opinion that cost-effectiveness analysis is the most appropriate financial analysis tool that will be applicable in my TB program. This is because it analysis the cost effectiveness of a preventive intervention as the ratio of the cost associated with the intervention to the relevant measure of effect (Levin, & McEwan, 2001, p.115). Additionally this financial analysis tool fits perfectly when considering the best financial approach to finding solutions to the problems that may be facing humanity. In general, it is evident that the issue of finances plays a great role in the success of this program and therefore should be handled with the seriousness it deserves.
References
Bennett, J. V., Jarvis, W. R., & Brachman, P. S. (2007). Bennett & Brachman's hospital
infections. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
In Mateo, M. A., & In Foreman, M. D. (2013). Research for advanced practice nurses: From
evidence to practice.
Levin, H. M., & McEwan, P. J. (2001). Cost-effectiveness analysis: Methods and applications.
Thousand Oaks, Calif [u.a.: Sage Publications.
