Capital budgeting decisions in healthcare primarily concern

• A. Short-term cash flow
• B. Large-scale investments such as new facilities or equipment
• C. Routine maintenance
• D. Staffing schedules

Answer: (B)

Capital budgeting is about planning and evaluating big, long-lasting investments that shape an organization's capacity and operations for many years. In healthcare, these decisions center on substantial commitments that go beyond day-to-day spending, such as building a new facility or acquiring expensive equipment like advanced imaging systems or major IT upgrades. These projects require careful analysis of long-term benefits, costs, risk, and financing, because they tie up large sums of money upfront and impact cash flows far into the future.

Routine maintenance and staffing schedules, by contrast, are operating decisions. They involve ongoing, day-to-day costs and resource management that cover the current period or short horizons, not multi-year capital outlays. Short-term cash flow considerations relate to liquidity to cover day-to-day obligations, rather than the multi-year investment decisions that capital budgeting focuses on.

So the best answer points to large-scale investments such as new facilities or equipment, reflecting the long-term, high-value nature of capital budgeting in healthcare.