Prime costs of hospital services in Ghaem hospital in Firouzabad, Fars

Abstract

Activity-Based Costing puts a price on service systems and recognizes the opportunities for saving the costs. It foresees the main financial lines of organizations and can be a suitable guide for resource allocation. Using Activity-Based Costing model, the present study calculated the Prime costs of all services provided by Firouzabad Ghaem Hospital in Fars province. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in 2010 in a descriptive-analytical method. The research population included all diagnostic and therapeutic sections of a hospital in Fars province. The required data was collected through information forms, and the price was calculated by using Activity-Based Costing model. In the present study, the highest costs were for human resources (60.93%) and the lowest ones for consumable items and materials (1.85%). According to the obtained results, the radiology department had the most profitability (34.91%) while CCU and ICU were the most loss-making units (-0.03%). According to prime cost calculations, the hospital is profitable and the loss-making units can reach economic efficiency through the better management of human resources.