A service line organizes care for a specialty or condition, such as cardiology or orthopedics, so its revenue, costs and performance can be managed and reported together across the departments and sites that deliver it. In this paper, Paula M. White, FACMPE, shows practice administrators how to manage the finances of that structure. She covers financial statements, financial metrics, cost allocation models, budgets and reporting. The paper is meant to help administrators:

• Define a service line and explain the internal and external pressures that lead hospitals and medical groups to adopt the model
• Identify financial tools that help operations staff manage service lines
• Build a service line budget
• Monitor service line performance through regular reports

About ACMPE Fellowship papers

Fellowship (FACMPE) is the highest designation offered by the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE). Fellowship candidates wrote papers like this one to show command of a practice management topic through original research or a detailed business plan.

About this content

This paper was written in 2016 and has not been updated. Reimbursement, regulations, benchmarks and technology have changed since then, so check any figures or requirements against current sources before acting on them.

MGMA does not endorse any solutions put forth in this paper. The Association urges readers to explore the legal issues – federal, state and local – that may arise from a particular course of action.