On 29 June 2016 under the project supported by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Donetsk (Dnipro office) family doctors, nurses, administrators of Chuguyiv primary health care center continued their management training. This time the topic was cost management and budgeting. The trainer was Elena Reshetnyak.

Fourth session in a series was entirely devoted to the principles of finance management of family doctor practice. Training began in lively debate on the definition of specific economic components of practices and possible problems in its management.

Experiment, in which participants were involved, illustrated how the decisions and actions of the head could significantly impact the result. Medical practitioners saw at firsthand the difference between fixed and variable costs. Also such practice convinced audience that the use of assets affects the total cost. One participant of the game said we need not to point finger at somebody, but to find effective ways to solve the problem. Since, remember, when you point a finger at someone, there are three more pointing back at you.

Moreover, the medical laboratory example of calculation was really useful in considering and applying different methods of variable costs distribution. Medical workers realized the need to understand the nature and level of costs for decision-making in their medical practice.

In the end several aspects of investment decisions and possible investment in family doctor practice were highlighted.

Participants expressed a great interest in the topic. Some aspects of training appeared to be useful not only in terms of new professional activities but also in everyday life. Lots of questions, discussion on which continued even after the end of the training, were a good indicator of audience involvement.

Summing up positive outcomes of the training participants stressed the following ones: the importance of planning and calculations in the practice of family doctors, need to ask the right questions at the stage of decision making, to analyze the consequences of actions of our teams and to find ways how we could achieve better results.