TAGME Financial Management 2

Question 1

A GME program receives an unexpected mid-year budget shortfall due to increased resident travel costs. Which is the BEST immediate action for the program administrator?

Accepted Answer

Identify underspent budget line items that can be reallocated

Answer

Identifying underspent line items for reallocation is the most efficient first step before seeking additional funds or cutting resident benefits.

Question 2

Under the Medicare GME payment system, what does 'IME' stand for and what does it fund?

Accepted Answer

Indirect Medical Education — additional costs of teaching hospitals

Answer

IME (Indirect Medical Education) payments compensate teaching hospitals for the higher patient care costs associated with operating a training program.

Question 3

A residency program administrator notices that moonlighting income is being reported inconsistently across residents. What is the primary financial compliance concern?

Accepted Answer

Potential violation of duty hour regulations affecting program accreditation

Answer

Inconsistent moonlighting reporting raises ACGME duty hour compliance concerns that can jeopardize program accreditation.

Question 4

Which cost-accounting method allocates shared departmental overhead (e.g., administrative salaries) to individual GME programs based on resident FTE count?

Accepted Answer

Step-down allocation

Answer

Step-down allocation distributes shared service costs sequentially to departments, often using resident FTE as the allocation driver.

Question 5

A program administrator is preparing a budget variance report showing that actual resident benefit costs exceeded budget by 18%. Which metric should be analyzed FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Changes in resident headcount or benefit enrollment rates

Answer

Changes in resident headcount or benefit enrollment directly drive benefit cost variances and should be examined before other factors.

TAGME - Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education Practice Test

TAGME - Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education Practice Test

TAGME Financial Management 2