Healthcare Finance - What are the primary differences between direct and indirect

Healthcare Finance

1. What are the primary differences between direct and indirect costs?

2. What are the three primary methods of cost allocation and what are the differences among them?

3. What is a cost pool? b. What is a cost driver? c. How is the cost allocation rate determined?

4. How does Activity Based Costing (ABC) differ from traditional costing?  Which is better to allocate the cost of hospital X-ray equipment?  Why? 

5. Indirect costs must be allocated to assign them to activities that caused them to be incurred.  A significant indirect cost in Health Services organizations is the cost of Financial Services.  To allocate these costs would it be better to use patient revenues or the number of bills generated?  

6. The article in the link below was written in 2011, just before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.  With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, is the method of cost allocation more important or less important?  Why? 

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/is-it-time-for-the-healthcare-industry-to-make-cost-management-a-priority.html

For the following questions write a 3 page paper answering them in APA format citing any references used.