Iowa Code § 135.74

1. The department, after study and in consultation with any advisory committees which may be established pursuant to law, shall promulgate by rule pursuant to chapter 17A uniform methods of financial reporting, including such allocation methods as may be prescribed, by which hospitals and health care facilities shall respectively record their revenues, expenses, other income, other outlays, assets and liabilities, and units of service, according to functional activity center. These uniform methods of financial reporting shall not preclude a hospital or health care facility from using any accounting methods for its own purposes provided these accounting methods can be reconciled to the uniform methods of financial reporting prescribed by the department and can be audited for validity and completeness. Each hospital and each health care facility shall adopt the appropriate system for its fiscal year, effective upon such date as the department shall direct. In determining the effective date for reporting requirements, the department shall consider both the immediate need for uniform reporting of information to effectuate the purposes of this division and the administrative and economic difficulties which hospitals and health care facilities may encounter in complying with the uniform financial reporting requirement, but the effective date shall not be later than January 1, 1980.

2. In establishing uniform methods of financial reporting, the department shall consider:

a. The existing systems of accounting and reporting currently utilized by hospitals and health care facilities;

b. Differences among hospitals and health care facilities, respectively, according to size, financial structure, methods of payment for services, and scope, type and method of providing services; and

c. Other pertinent distinguishing factors.

3. The department shall, where appropriate, provide for modification, consistent with the purposes of this division, of reporting requirements to correctly reflect the differences among hospitals and among health care facilities referred to in subsection 2, and to avoid otherwise unduly burdensome costs in meeting the requirements of uniform methods of financial reporting.

4. The uniform financial reporting methods, where appropriate, shall be structured so as to establish and differentiate costs incurred for patient-related services rendered by hospitals and health care facilities, as distinguished from those incurred in the course of educational, research and other nonpatient-related activities including but not limited to charitable activities of these hospitals and health care facilities.

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