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Understanding the Capital Formation Process
By Calvin W. Wiese; CPA MBA
Every hospital needs to manage their credit relationships. Rating agencies and credit providers need to be targeted by hospitals for development and maintenance of credit relationships. Credit relationships are an ongoing process. They need to be fed and nurtured. Hospitals should make sure that they cultivate their relationships with credit analysts even during times when they are not seeking credit.
Capital Financing
Too often, hospitals work on credit relationships only when they need capital financing. That’s the wrong time. Relationships need to be in place before they need financing. Credit relationships should not be transaction based; rather formed and nurtured on an ongoing basis, resulting in better, more optimal transaction results. Credit relationships are fed and nurtured through communication. Communication strategies need to be multi-faceted: quarterly reporting, annual face-to-face reviews, and ad-hoc telephone conversations. Reporting needs to go beyond just what is required by the covenants. Covenanted reporting should be viewed as the minimum.
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Annual Meetings
Perhaps the most important component of nurturing credit relationships is the annual meeting. Annual meetings should be set up and conducted at the offices of the credit analysts. The meeting should review the past year and describe the plans for the future. An important component of the annual review is the financial forecast. Credibility is established by presenting a three- to five-year financial forecast each year. Variances from the forecast should be discussed and whether they are favorable or unfavorable should be explained. Candor about the good and especially the bad creates understanding and trust, which are critical components in credibility.
Uncertain Forecasts
Financial forecasts are inherently uncertain. The future is unknown, and in most cases unknowable. A financial forecast is not so much a prediction of the future, but a description of a management team’s view of the future. That view encompasses both external factors that are largely out of the control of management, and internal factors that are controllable. The forecast describes management’s strategies of dealing with that environment. As such, the financial forecast creates the context for a very profitable discussion between management and analysts. The view of the external environment can be compared and contrasted and challenged by the analysts. It is important for them to develop a comfort level with management’s view of the external environment. Given that environment, analysts can then evaluate management’s strategies for successfully leading the hospital through that environment.
Assessment
Presenting updated forecasts each year provides additional dimensions for useful dialogue. Changes in environmental views can be highlighted and discussed. Implications to hospital strategy can then be usefully identified and debated. Failures and successes in meeting the assumptions presented in prior forecasts highlight strengths and weaknesses of management in dealing with the uncertainties of its environment.
Conclusion
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Filed under: Health Economics, Healthcare Finance, Subscribe CD-ROM Journal | Tagged: Calvin Wiese, Credit Rating Agencies, Hospital Capital Financing, hospital capital formation, Hospital Credit Relationships | 1 Comment »
