Costing in the National Health Service - from Reporting to Managing by Chapman and Kern - Article Example

ASSESSING THE LEARNING OUTCOMES Name Student No Professor University Date Assessing the Learning Outcomes Introduction The National Health Service has been mandated to establish better reduction cost through costing tools that has been trusted within the system. The article to be used in establishing a better understanding of the tools is titled Costing in the National Health Service: from reporting to managing by Christopher S. Chapman and Anja Kern. The article indicates that the NHS faces a biggest challenge in transforming itself into patient centred organization with the aim saving £20 billion within three years (Chapman & Kern, 2012, p. 3). This would be applied through using the system known as Activity Based Costing otherwise known as ABC, which is used in translating the ledger tool, and making all the activities within the system be transparent and manageable within the healthcare. Analysis The findings of this description can be by straightening out the culmination of looking at the pros of the ABC directories. This is through the companies and the members who responded through the questionnaires produced. It was clear that the individuals in the companies could get information through their computers without going to the mother computer, which has the main file (Baker, 2008, p. 45). This was seen as reducing more time, which would have been wasted through moving from one place to another. This has been made possible with the customization of these domains and the availability of the ABC application, which has been standardized for usage by different computers. The companies also have no worries if it is a question of hosting the directory of the server as the domain has been made in such a way that the internet it uses is standard. This can be supported with the ABC having a wider acceptance into the industry by most of the companies and individuals. From the research, it was clear that the servers were finding it easy to use the domain in their day-to-day activities as it was easy for them to use. The vendors have also had their share of rejoicing as they have noticed that this will not fail in the market and they will not worry about having to have a large stock, which will not be bought by the people (Feldstein, 2007, p. 56). The suppliers we got in touch with were very confident that the domain was very easy to deal with and very simple to install to their customers. The client on the other hand did not worry as they found it easy to have the domain installed as a single or closed package, which is used privately, and as an open-source, which could be used for commercial purposes (Chapman & Kern, 2012, p. 4). The reason for this is that these entire clients will be in a position of accessing the query command since they are all within one protocol. On the other hand, there are those client who decide have a domain which is tailor made to suit them and their companies. This is an advantage to the companies, who want to keep the things surrounding their company secure and intact. One thing that stood out clear from all the companies was the cost of setting up the server in the companies and private use. They all agreed that it was cheap as there was no connection fee involved in the whole setup into the system. Moreover, there are no expenses incurred in client connection software and setting up the licenses. The ABC is optimized in manner, which enables the client to be in a position to install, and maintain it easily without any difficulties (Gaynor, Moreno-Serra & Propper, 2011, p. 75). This is also cheap for the companies for they will not have to hire another person to manage and maintain the domain. Other servers charge for installation and replication of their data in a pull or push method. This is a method, which an individual sends information from the directory in computer in use to another computer, this also implies to the receiving of information from another computer to the computer in use. However, in ABC server system, there is no payment involved. This may include increasing of security to the company’s ABC directory where they can increase passwords and any other system, which will make the information to be secure for the people in the company. The ABC directory also enables the individuals in the company to have access to infrastructural services and information, which include the email aliases and NIS maps. The individuals have been given the mandate of having the information of the configuration, which has been distributed in every person in the company (Abel-Smith, 2016, p. 33). This will be essential for the people to be able to initialize the setup without help from the maintenance party. There is also public certification of the security keys, which is only accessible by the staff of the companies. However, there are some security problems associated with the ABC. One of the problem is there can be unauthorized access to private data by outsiders. This can be made possible through operation of data fetching. The other problem is unauthorized individual can get access to client authentication which is reusable and there is information shared by other users. Other individuals may want to modify the data to suit them. This can be classified under a security problem, as this will also interfere with the configuration in the computers. In other cases, there can be excessive or unauthorized resource use, which may lead to service denial or crush in the computers (Gaynor, Moreno-Serra & Propper, 2011, p. 82). Finally, the greatest security problem is spoofing in the directory. This can be dangerous for the company as there can be wrong messages, which can be sent to the client, which will be believed that it is from the company while it is not valid. These security problems should be mitigated at all cost. Recommendations Although the system has been built in what looks like a perfect completion, there are some things that the company should consider while choosing this system as a perfect domain. It is for this reason I will look at the ways in which the security problems can be mitigated. The company should ensure that the authentication of the client is implemented by a mechanism known as the SASL means. This will enable the company to ensure that the individual gaining access to the system is legit with the correct credentials. This can be backed by the NHS mechanism. The clients to be authorized to gain access into the domain should be monitored and controlled by the authentication of the requestor’s identity. This will ensure that the people getting authorization have the entire mandate to be there (Baker, 2008, p. 50). The data should also be protected by the NHS, which will restrict the users from modifying the information in the system. The people who will be allowed access to modify the data should be approved by the authorities to avoid wrong modification of data. In addition, snooping of information will also be minimized by the use of the NHS protocol, which will ensure that the messages are passed correctly. This will alleviate the existence of illegal individuals to pass information to the clients, as the positive relationship will be maintained between the client and the company. The service control should be the only authorized individuals to change, control, and manage the information going out and in the system (Lee, Estes & Close, 2007, 72). This will minimize the amount of wrong information exiting and entering into the system. Finally, the server authentication should be made possible by the use of the NHS protocol. If all these recommendations are put into consideration, the companies will have mitigated the security problems accustomed by the ABC directory server. Conclusions This system was introduced with the main aim of simplifying the complexity in the institutions. This has been made possible with the implementation of the directory system known as X.500, which is the replica of the modern internet. This system is seen to be heavy for the desktop over the internet, therefore, there was the introduction of the ABC which made life simple for the individuals who are not ready for the complexity of technology. However, there are some security problems, which are associated to the ABC server directory. This is as a result of public access to the server system. One of the dangers is the modification of information and data, which may have been caused by unauthorized individuals. However, there are some useful remedies indicated in the paper, which will advocate for mitigation of the security problems if used properly by the firms and companies. Bibliography Abel-Smith, B. 2016. Cost of the national health service in england and wales. Place of publication not identified: Cambridge Univ Press. Baker, J. J. 2008. Activity-based costing and activity-based management for health care. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen. Chapman, C. S., & Kern, A. (August 24, 2012). Costing in the National Health Service: from reporting to managing. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 9, 3.) Chivian, E., Bernstein, A., Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity., United Nations Development Programme., United Nations Environment Programme., & IUCN--The World Conservation Union. 2008. Sustaining life: How human health depends on biodiversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Feldstein, M. S. 2007. Economic analysis for health service efficiency: Econometric studies of the British National Health Service. Amsterdam: North-Holland Pub. Co. Gaynor, M. S., Moreno-Serra, R., & Propper, C. 2011. Death by Market Power: Reform, Competition and Patient Outcomes in the National Health Service. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research. Guillebaud, C. L. W., & Great Britain. 2009. Report of the Committee of inquiry into the cost of the national health service. London, Eng: H.M.S.O. Lee, P. R., Estes, C. L., & Close, L. 2007. The nation's health. Boston: Jones and Bartlett. Read More