Studying the total cost of services in Shahid Modarres Medical Center of Isfahan

ABSTRACT

One of the main concerns of the hospital managers is the financial affairs. The hospital services require costly equipment and skilled manpower which imposes financial burden on hospitals. Applying an accounting system to determine the total cost of such services leads to realization of the financial processes and the required controls to be operated. Proper steps could be taken by such realization to increase the efficiency and productivity of the hospitals. This study is aimed to calculate the total cost of the services in Shahid Modarres hospital. This is a retrospective study done descriptively and analytically. To collect data, face to face interviews and observations were employed and the calculations were done manually. Firstly, the cost centers and the cost factors were determined as the manpower costs, energy costs, overhead costs, and capital and depreciation costs. Secondly, cost factors were allocated to the related cost centers. In this step, the direct costs [the personnel, non-personnel, the consumables and non-consumables] and then the indirect costs [overhead costs] and capital costs and depreciation were calculated Finally, the obtained costs were added up and the total cost of the hospital services was estimated. The total cost of the hospital services in the fourth season of the year was estimated as 5, 250, 802, 340 million rials. The most costly center was the psychiatry [mental health services]. The highest costs [84%] which was estimated through the division of each cost by the cost price, was related to the hospital personnel costs. The total cost of the hospital wards fitted the heavy load of their work. The wards with heavier working load, have higher total cost