Activity-based costing methodology as tool for costing in hematopathology laboratory

Abstract

Despite several limitations and assumptions, this was an attempt to understand how the resources are consumed in a large size government-run laboratory. The rate structure needs to be revised for most of the tests, mainly for complete blood counts (CBC), bone marrow examination, coagulation tests and Immunophenotyping. This costing exercise is laboratory specific and each laboratory needs to do its own costing. Such an exercise may help a laboratory redesign its costing structure or at least understand the economics involved in the laboratory management.

Implementation of the Process-Oriented Costing System in a Hospital Department

“…Many authors have highlighted the increasing importance of costing methods (cost calculation) within hospital organizations. For instance, Gujral et al [2] comment that healthcare organizations use cost accounting to estimate the unit cost of the services they provide. Edbrooke et al [3] point out the increasing need for a method to obtain accurate patient costing that permits resource utilization to be identified for individual patients treated under different clinical specialties.…”

Cost and reimbursement analysis of selected hospital diagnoses via activity-based costing

“…Later, Ramsey proposed the notion that ABC is not only an accounting system, but also a strategic management tool [21]. As mentioned earlier, many scholars have considered procedures for implementing ABC in healthcare organizations [6], [13], [17], [29]. The earliest of these examined an establishmentwide application of ABC in a hospital, even though it honed in on inpatient services [29].…”

“…Despite the advantages of ABC application, its utilization by healthcare organizations has been rare [13].…”

“…Gujral et al [13] wrote that traditional cost accounting methods did not accurately refl ect the contribution of indirect costs to individual services. Indeed, they pool all indirect costs and allocate them to the given services in proportion to service volume or direct costs.…”

“…Processes for implementing ABC in healthcare organizations have been developed by many researchers over the years [6], [13], [17], [29]. The approaches taken are relatively diverse, usually restricted to limited application of the method in a medical department.…”