This concise, expertly written primer on health care organization finance fulfills the need for a nuts and bolts guide to what has become every hospital's most sensitive topic. Accounting for $1.4 trillion in expenditures (13.7 percent of gross domestic product), health care is one of the nation's largest and fastest growing industries. Health services are provided/financed by approximately 20,000 organizations. Ultimate responsibility for these organizations rests with their boards. Board members must possess basic financial competence to govern effectively. In the post Enron/AHERF era, boards are being subjected to much higher standards/expectations of financial responsibility, accountability, oversight and transparency. This book will help health care organization board members acquire, easily and painlessly, the basic financial literacy essential for discharging their roles and fulfilling their fiduciary duties.