Surveying Activity Based Costing of Final Units (A Case Study in one of the Armed Forces Hospitals )

Abstract

Background: Suitable budget allocation of organizational activities can deliver the resources distribution, enabling operational monitoring and providing expected access to the cost results. The aim of this study was to calculate the cost of final units in one of the Armed Forces Hospitals. Materials and Methods: One of the Armed Forces Hospitals selected in 2013.Data gathered from all cost centers to costs calculation and evaluated based on theory of Activity-Based Costing analysis. General wards and intensive care units, operating rooms, dental, emergency and dialysis were considered as final units. Cost calculation performed using Excel software version 2007. Total cost of hospital was 244,416 million rails in 2013 which direct and indirect allocated costs were 52% and 48%, respectively. The CCU, surgery ward, ICU and operating rooms had the highest and clinics and dental had the lowest in case of costs. More than 50 percent of the direct costs of all the units have been spent on manpower except the operating room. After labor costs, medication costs accounted for the largest percentage of direct spending units. Conclusion: Paying attention to human resources in terms of number and distribution of all units especially in the final units, also considering medications use particularly in middle units and consumables in overhead ones especially can be result in reduction and adjusting hospital costs.

Keywords

• activity-based costing
• overhead costs
• cost of services
• hospital costs