In University Hospitals (CHU), the missions of professionals are not limited to bedside care. Scientific conferences, inter-regional training courses, research-related travel… Mobility is an integral part of everyday university hospital life.
But behind every trip lies a much more complex reality : the administrative, budgetary and accounting management of mission expenses. And when several sources of funding are involved, the process can quickly turn into a headache.
Breakdown of expenditure, regulatory compliance, validation circuits: how do you maintain rigorous management without making everyday life more cumbersome ?
1. A budgetary headache: managing mission expenses between several funding bodies
In university hospitals, a mission can rarely be attached to a single budget line. A trip may be financed in part by
- The CHU,
- A research project (ANR, H2020, PHRC…),
- Or a partner organisation such as a foundation or hospital association.
This plurality of sources is an asset from an institutional point of view, but it considerably complicates administrative management. Each funder has its own rules, deadlines, expected supporting documents and accounting requirements. For an administrative officer, breaking down an expense claim correctly between several budgets becomes a balancing act. And for hospital staff, it’s often a source of confusion, lengthy delays and even errors.
2. One mission, several circuits : when validation becomes an obstacle course
Let’s take a typical case from a university hospital : a practitioner goes to an international conference.
- His transport ticket is covered by the CHU,
- Hosting a European research project,
- And tuition fees are funded by a university endowment.
On paper, the assignment is justified, planned and useful, but to process it administratively means juggling at least three cost centres, with distinct charging rules and different validation circuits. Some expenses have to be entered in one tool, others in another. Supporting documents need to be separated, sometimes translated, and above all validated in the right order – or else the chain will be blocked.
There’s nothing unusual about this type of ‘hybrid’ assignment these days. And yet there are few tools available to manage it seamlessly.
👉 The risk ? Delays in reimbursement, accounting errors, and a considerable loss of time for practitioners and management teams alike.
3. The specific features of expense management in the public hospital sector
University Hospitals are not companies, or even traditional government departments. They have to deal with the requirements of public accounting, the rules specific to the Groupements Hospitaliers de Territoire (GHT), internal procedures that sometimes vary widely between departments, and stricter traceability obligations – particularly when public funds or European financing are involved.
Added to this is the use of Chorus Pro, a central tool in the public sector for managing invoices, but whose standard functions do not always cover the specific needs of fine budget breakdown or multi-actor management specific to university hospitals.
👉 As a result, many establishments are still relying on Excel spreadsheets, paper procedures or informal validation by e-mail.
For accounting and HR staff, this means an increased workload and constant pressure to avoid errors. For professionals on assignment, it often means a loss of visibility over the processing of their expenses, or even a lack of confidence in the system.
4. What tools can be used to simplify the management of expense claims and travel orders ?
The good news is that it is entirely possible to design tools specifically for university hospitals, capable of handling complexity without passing it on to the end user.
Well-designed software for managing expense reports and travel orders should make it possible, for example, to :
- Break down each item of expenditure between several sources of funding, according to pre-defined rules;
- Automatically trigger the appropriate validation circuits for each budget line;
- Natively integrate public accounting constraints, with Chorus-compatible exports or compliant pre-writing;
- A clear interface designed for use in the field: practitioners in a hurry, non-specialist administrative staff, multi-level validation.
In other words, a solution capable of providing rigour without rigidity, and streamlining processes without sacrificing compliance.
5. Transforming the management of mission expenses into a performance lever for university hospitals
The processing of mission expenses is often seen as an administrative burden, a necessary evil. But in university hospitals, it can become a lever for performance: to secure funding, to make life easier for staff, to give management visibility, and above all to prevent low-value tasks taking up the time of highly qualified professionals.
It remains to equip with the right tools that respect the specific logics of the public hospital world: its complexity, its hierarchy, its controls, and above all, its service requirement.
In conclusion
The complexity of funding in the CHU is not going to go away – on the contrary, it is often a sign of institutional vitality. But this complexity should not become an operational obstacle.
With the right approach, mission expenses can be managed smoothly, transparently and in a controlled manner. It is a technical issue, but also an organizational one. And, to look at it, a necessary condition for university hospitals to function effectively, in an increasingly constrained context.
👉 Are you responsible for mission expenses in a hospital or public health institution ?
