Overview:
Much of the organizational, administrative, and fiscal process of
the Swedish Research Center is regulated by the institution’s
accounting department policies and procedures. There are a number of
key dimensions or issues which may help provide a background and
context for understanding our relationship:
The hospital operates on a calendar year basis. At the end of the
year the books are closed and the cost centers are zeroed out. SRC
operates on a study by study basis with our sponsors and grantees.
We cannot close out our books each December 31… they run across
fiscal years. We keep our own set of books on each study in a
database matrix; and issue a special Report called the "Grant
Status Report" (GSR) each month showing income and
expense by month and longitudinally or cumulatively. These books
transcend the annual accounting cycle of the hospital and yet are
made up of the same monthly PeopleSoft data, but downloaded into our
own matrix each report cycle.
Approximately seventy percent of all study costs relate to
payroll and the applied benefits and indirect costs associated with
staff time spent on different studies. The recording of time spent,
and resulting cost allocations of salaries is very complex, and as a
result the SRC has a special Time and Effort (T&E) reporting
system which allows staff to allocate costs appropriately to each
study on which they have worked during the pay period.
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How a Study Starts:
SRC administration sets up a specific CRC File and Study
Number which is a unique identifier that will remain with the study
throughout it's history within the institution.
The study Coordinator or Investigator initiates a study-related
budget, and works with the department
manager to review the cost-feasibility of a study. The
manager enters into contract
negotiations with the sponsor to ensure that all costs are
met and that contract language is appropriate for the institution.
The contract is signed and/or the grant is awarded.
Using the negotiated contract budget and the internal Worksheet
(please see Budget Builder)
provided by the Study Coordinator, the administration office then
prepares an overall Internal Budget for the study which translates
patient costs into composite study totals within the hospital’s
Chart of Accounts, and assigns a designated and unique Cost Center
Project ID number to the study. This budget is signed by the PI and
the Study Coordinator, and is then placed in the Study File and
transmitted to the Accounting Office of the hospital.
In addition to
gaining IRB approval,
patients cannot be enrolled and the Study cannot begin until all of
the above steps are completed and fully approved.
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Calculating Costs Per Patient:
