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Healthcare Management vocabulary · Budgets and Finance

Variance

Meaning in healthcare management, with examples

/ˈveriəns/nounCommon term

In healthcare management, variance means: The difference between the amount planned in a budget and the amount actually spent or earned in a period.

In Turkish: sapma, bütçe sapması, fark

How it is used

Finance teams prepare monthly variance reports, and managers must explain any significant variance. A favourable variance is better than planned (lower costs or higher income); an adverse or unfavourable variance is worse.

Example sentences

  1. There is an adverse variance of 80,000 lira on medical supplies this month.

  2. Please explain the variance in overtime costs before Friday's finance meeting.

Common collocations

  • budget variance
  • adverse variance
  • favourable variance
  • variance report
  • explain a variance
  • budgetA plan that sets out how much money a hospital or department expects to receive and spend over a period, usually a financial year.
  • cost centerA department or unit, such as radiology or a ward, whose costs are recorded separately so that managers can see and control what it spends.
  • operating costsThe everyday costs of running a hospital or service, such as salaries, medicines, supplies, energy and maintenance, not including large investments.
  • revenueThe total money a hospital receives for its services, such as payments from insurers, public funds and patients, before any costs are taken away.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Budgets and Finance

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.