10. Statistics budget: forecasting encounters. Instead of its current forecast, ZMG Hospi- talist Practice now estimates that its Medicare encounters will increase by 4% a month from January through June. In July it will obtain a major contract, and its encounters from July through December will go up by 9% a month. Assuming these are the only changes to Exhibit l.1a, prepare a new forecast of the number of encounters that will be made by Medicare patients during the whole year. (Hint: see Appendix I, at the end of this chapter.) M I (LAIDIL I.1). EXHIBIT I.1a CALCULATION OF NUMBER OF ENCOUNTERS BY PAYOR TYPE FOR THE COMING YEAR Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Total encounters 5,007 4,676 5,044 4,686 4,480 4,596 4,697 4,833 4,653 4,923 4,734 5,202 57,531 for 20X1 Projected growth 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% Total encounters 5,257 4,910 5,296 4,920 4,704 4,826 4,932 5,075 4,886 5,169 4,971 5,462 60,408 for 20X2 From the organization's internal records