No easy answers: issues in accounting for hospital acquisitions

A real and often overlooked concern created by the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 is the effect these amendments have on the cash flow generated by an acquisition. Financial managers, therefore, should be aware of the accounting issues created by the act--depreciation and its effect on appraised values, reevaluation to the present value of assumed indebtness, and capitalization of acquisition costs--to accurately evaluate the feasibility of an acquisition.