Research Issues in Healthcare Finance

Internal Revenue Service Intermediate Sanctions On Excess Benefit Transactions
Michael Myers, Chair
Health Services Administration Program
School of Business
University of South Dakota

Current research topic is the "Excess Benefit Transaction" and its impact on healthcare cost and quality. This is an examination of deals with the Internal Revenue Service Intermediate Sanctions regulations that impose 25 percent and if not corrected, 250 percent tax penalties on "excess benefit transactions." These issues are especially relevant to markets where competition for physician specialists can entice healthcare executives and their boards to sign contracts of the type provided to cardiologists in this area: a $500,000 signing bonus and $1 million annual salary guarantees.

A Conceptual Framework For Assessing Biotechnology
Advances in Financial Management
Dr. Alicia Löffler
Director, Kellogg Center for Biotechnology
Kellogg School of Management.
Northwestern University

This research initiative is a blending of field studies in industry with theoretical constructs for assessing intangible assets in financial management. Individuals, society and businesses are playing catch-up with biotechnological advances. Businesses have been experimenting with different organizational models to incorporate the new technologies. Society and government are at loss on how to deal with the biotechnology revolution and, individuals are grappling with the ethical and moral implications of the new technologies. At the core of all these uncertainties is the fact that, like all high-technologies, biotechnology is still at a conceptual level, there is a real need for heuristic, data-driven studies. The Kellogg Center for Biotechnology's research represents the first concerted effort to develop a framework of understanding for this new industry. Other initiatives currently being pursed include:

1. Valuation benchmarks for products at different stages of development.
2. Economic impact of biotechnology platforms and products.
3. Conceptual frameworks for cost-benefit analysis.
4. Performance measures for knowledge networks.
5. Performance assessments for disruptive bio-technologies.
6. Estimation of unknowable markets.

For more information see the Kellogg School's Biotechnology program.

Related biotechnology sites include:

• The Biotechnology Institute
• Biospace
• The Biotechnology Industry Organization

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Components of a Marketplace and Community Services Index
Tom Prince

This research initiative seeks to identify key factors in a marketplace and community services index. Two objectives of the current study are: 1) to specify data elements currently used by financial analysts in determining financial viability of healthcare entities and 2) to identify data elements proposed for future use in these assessments.

There are five components in the Marketplace and Community Services Index. These are:

1. Organization and Structure
2. Utilization and Performance Measures
3. Community Services and Health Maintenance
4. Community Health and Prevention
5. Community Education and Health Promotion

Healthcare professionals will be asked to assign relative weights to the suggested data elements in each of these five components. After each participant complete the individual rankings, the participant is asked to perform a composite summary which will show the interrelationships among the five components. This is accomplished by assigning 100 points among the five components.

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