Hospital capital budgeting in an era of transformation

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), signed into law in 2010, is transforming the health care marketplace. This transformation requires health system leaders and health finance scholars to re-examine hospital capital budgeting practices in the context of new delivery models. Within the context of accountable care organizations (ACOs), this article discusses the components of the hospital capital budgeting process, identifies current practices that may require new methods or approaches, and suggests areas where existing or future research can inform capital budgeting going forward. We conclude that while much evidence is available to begin to inform hospital capital budgeting in an ACO, hospital leaders and health finance scholars will need to look to early adopters of the ACO model of care for new knowledge about the most efficient and effective methods of capital allocation.