Intro to Finance in Healthcare (Coursera)

Intro to Finance in Healthcare (Coursera)

This course is best suited for individuals currently in the healthcare sector, as a provider, payer, or administrator. Individuals pursuing a career change to the healthcare sector may also be interested in this course. In this course, you will have an opportunity to explore concepts and topics related to accounting and finance basics for healthcare organizations.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

After an introduction to the financial statements of healthcare entities, you will then learn how to read, interpret, and use a financial statement in order to understand the financial health of an organization. Your attention will be primarily focused on the Balance Sheet and Income Statement and basics surrounding revenue and expenses.
This course will tie together the financial elements learned, to the risks facing healthcare entities, as the industry continues to evolve from the COVID 19 pandemic and its resulting impact on labor, supply chain expenses, and value-based care reimbursement models. Throughout this course, you will be given the opportunity to evaluate your understanding through engagement in course discussions, application of course concepts to a course assignment, and through completion of content quizzes along the way.

What You Will Learn

  • Demonstrate an ability to read and understand key data communicated in a company’s financial statements
  • Recognize the key elements that make up a balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows by recognizing revenue and expenses.
  • Develop knowledge of how budgets work with financial statements to create a fuller understanding of the financial condition of a company.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Overview of Health Market Actors
In this module, we will explore the complexity of the healthcare industry by learning about the various actors involved. The healthcare industry is diverse and made up of government, providers, health plans, employers, and the pharmaceutical industry. Understanding the role of each actor and the factors that drive the cost of healthcare is essential for patients, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders in the industry.

WEEK 2
Overview of Financial Statements
Financial statements are crucial documents that are used to provide information about a company's financial performance and position. The 5 main financial statements are: Management Discussion & Analysis, Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, and Notes to financial statements. The financial statements are critical tools that provide valuable insights into a company's financial performance and position. In this module, we will explore these statements in greater detail and discuss the importance of these documents.

WEEK 3
Revenue
Healthcare providers play a crucial role in ensuring that patients receive quality care while also generating revenue. The healthcare industry is divided into three primary market segments - commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid - each with its own reimbursement rate. In this module, you will explore these market segments in closer detail. You will also compare various reimbursement models used to pay doctors and hospitals - including capitation.

WEEK 4
Expenses
Expense management is also a critical component of the healthcare industry as expenses in an income statement represent the costs of doing business. These expenses must be closely monitored to ensure the financial stability of healthcare providers. In this module, you will review the major expense categories that are reported in the income statement and identify fixed and variable expenses. You will also explore depreciation expense, differentiate it from other expense line items, and reflect on its relationship to the balance sheet. Finally, you will contrast operating and non-operating income and the differences between net income and cash flow.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Health Care and Promotion for Infants and Toddlers (Coursera) Coursera
Peking University

Health Care and Promotion for Infants and Toddlers (Coursera)

The course Health Care and Promotion for Infants and Toddlers provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of cutting-edge knowledge, new concepts and practical skills in early childhood health care, including the growth and development of newborns, infants, and toddlers, daily parenting, and early childhood development and education.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Practical Finance for Entrepreneurial Creatives (Coursera) Coursera
Rutgers University

Practical Finance for Entrepreneurial Creatives (Coursera)

Practical Finance for Entrepreneurial Creatives. Ever dream of running your own business? You’ll need a solid idea, of course. Plus, enthusiasm, energy, perseverance...and financial know-how. In this one-of-a-kind course designed for non-business majors with entrepreneurial aspirations, you will learn how the personal is truly the foundation for the professional—how the same principles that govern good personal financial management are directly applicable to and a critical success factor for whatever entrepreneurial venture you may have in mind.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Data Science in Stratified Healthcare and Precision Medicine (Coursera) Coursera
University of Edinburgh

Data Science in Stratified Healthcare and Precision Medicine (Coursera)

An increasing volume of data is becoming available in biomedicine and healthcare, from genomic data, to electronic patient records and data collected by wearable devices. Recent advances in data science are transforming the life sciences, leading to precision medicine and stratified healthcare. In this course, you will learn about some of the different types of data and computational methods involved in stratified healthcare and precision medicine.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
XR in Healthcare Education and Clinical Practice (Coursera) Coursera
Imperial College London

XR in Healthcare Education and Clinical Practice (Coursera)

This course is designed to teach you about Extended Reality (XR) and its use in healthcare education and clinical practice. Using lessons from experts in the field and different use cases, this course shows you how to use this innovative technology in a way that creates sustainable and accessible real-world use.

Sep 7th 2026
4 Weeks
Introduction to Finance: The Basics (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Introduction to Finance: The Basics (Coursera)

In the Introduction to Finance I: The Basics course, you will be introduced to the basic concepts needed to understand the financial manager’s decision-making process. To achieve that, you will learn about the basic forms a business can take and the goal of the financial manager. You will also learn the fundamentals of financial statements and how to measure a company’s financial health using financial ratios.

Sep 7th 2026
4 Weeks
Finance for Everyone: Decisions (Coursera) Coursera
McMaster University

Finance for Everyone: Decisions (Coursera)

Finance for Everyone: Decisions will introduce you to the workings of the free markets and the foundations of finance. You will learn how free markets and their “creative destruction” provide the architecture for the global economy and how those same markets move money in ways that create and destroy wealth. Your financial toolkit will include timeless concepts like compounding, discounting, annuities, effective interest rates, and more.

Sep 7th 2026
4 Weeks
FinTech Law and Policy (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

FinTech Law and Policy (Coursera)

Being a successful FinTech firm requires more than just great technology; it also requires an understanding of the laws and regulations applicable to your business. This course will provide you with that understanding. You will learn about the critical legal, regulatory, and policy issues associated with cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, online lending, new payments and wealth management technologies, and financial account aggregators.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks