Measuring the net profit of laboratory services: A case study in Iran

Abstract

Background: Clinical laboratories need to manage resources properly and scientifically to survive in today's highly competitive environment. In this context, scientific-economic principles should be considered to determine the profitability or loss of laboratories. Thus, in this study, the net profit of laboratory services was measured based on scientific-economic principles. Methods: This was an applied research with descriptive-retrospective approach. A laboratory was selected from 61 laboratories of Kerman, Iran, which performed the highest number of tests among the laboratories of this city. In addition, due to easy access, it was the most visited laboratory by patients. The present study had 2 main phases: (1) measuring the price of services and (2) calculating the net profit of the studied laboratory. Data analysis was performed using activity- based costing (ABC) as an econometric model and Excel software. Results: The highest charges were related to direct costs (78.28%); consumable goods (47.26%) and professional and logistic human resources (46.31%) had the highest share of these costs. In the test groups, the most expensive tests belonged to the hormones (23.03%) and clinical chemistry (20.84%). Total cost, revenue, and the net profit of the studied laboratory were 641 645, 1 390 942, and 749 297 USD, respectively. After doing sensitivity analysis (50% increase in the frequency of tests), the following values were obtained: 987 071, 2 086 413, and 1 099 342, respectively. Conclusion: Some test groups in the studied laboratory were not profitable, and this was due to the high cost of these tests and illogical tariffs. One way to overcome this problem is to increase the frequency of laboratory tests.

Cost analysis of 25-hydroxy vitamin D tests in Turkiye with big data: A cross-sectional study

“…Laboratory expenditures on the basis of departments did not change much between the 2 years; it was observed that the most demanded and costly department was clinical chemistry, and the second test department was the immunoassay group. In a study by Mouseli et al [ 8 ], laboratory expenditures were classified as direct (reagents and human resources) and indirect (water and electricity supply, etc. ), and the largest expenditures among direct costs were in the immunochemistry group (23.03%) and the clinical chemistry group 20.84%.…”

“…To minimize costs, reasonable cost analysis evaluates the costs of medical laboratories by department, device, or test. The immunoassay group often has the highest cost rate, and the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) test is one of the most striking tests of recent years; its demand and cost in this group are increasing uncontrollably day by day [ 8 – 11 ]. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the requested 25(OH)D test number and the cost among the laboratory expenditures according to the big data obtained from the Turkish Ministry of Health’s national information health-care system.…”

Enhancing quality healthcare in Nigeria through medical laboratory services: A review

“…Consequently, the Nigerian economy experiences an annual loss of approximately 1.2 billion US dollars due to the outflow of funds towards medical tourism. [ 19 ] Nigeria placed 96th out of 195 countries in the evaluation by the global health security index with a score of 37.8. The global average score provided in this assessment was 40.2 out of 100.…”