COST ANALYSIS OF STRABISMUS SURGERY BY ACTIVITY BASED COSTING

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the cost of strabismus surgery through activity- based costing (ABC) and compare it with the tariffs approved by the Iranian Ministry of Health. Costing study was conducted in Nikookari Ophthalmology Hospital of Tabriz from April 2014 to April 2015 with a retrospective approach by activity- based costing method (ABC). The required data and information were collected interviewing experts, hospital officials, and relevant units, direct observation of activities, and reviewing the documents in the financial department and HIS software system. Then, the cost of strabismus surgery was estimated using Excel 2013. According to the findings of the present study, the amount and the share of the total costs of the activities identified in the main centers are as following: human resources ($2,818,722), depreciation of medical equipment ($277,233), consumable medicals and supplies ($218,484), building depreciation ($138,004), depreciation of non-medical equipment ($43,640), consumable non-medicals and supplies ($26,804), utilities cost ($4,724), and costs of indirect units ($864,455). Ultimately, the cost of a strabismus surgery was estimated to be $464 which is $236 higher than its approved tariff. The difference between the approved tariff and the cost of strabismus surgery in the studied hospitals was considerable. This price gap can negatively affect the performance and quality of services provided by hospitals in the long term. Since the costs of personnel, indirect costs, and depreciation of medical equipment account for 90% of total costs of strabismus surgery, hospital managers should pay more attention to these items in order to improve efficiency of their services and reduce costs. .