Hospital and unit cost allocation methods

Healthc Manage Forum. 2000 Summer;13(2):12-32. doi: 10.1016/S0840-4704(10)60742-9.
[Article in English, French]

Abstract

The quest for an efficient healthcare system has resulted in the publication of many assessments relating to health facilities. Some use a methodological approach that, at first glance, appears questionable in terms of allocation of overhead or support costs among the facilities' centres of activity. The objective of this article is to verify, using hospital utilization data, whether the choice of an allocation method significantly affects the unit cost of such resources. The results obtained from our sample suggest that no statistically significant relationship exists between the methods used and the unit costs produced.

MeSH terms

  • Accounting / methods*
  • Cost Allocation / classification
  • Cost Allocation / methods*
  • Data Collection
  • Female
  • Health Resources / economics
  • Health Resources / statistics & numerical data
  • Hospital Departments / economics*
  • Hospital Departments / statistics & numerical data
  • Hospital Units / economics*
  • Hospital Units / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Models, Econometric
  • Quebec