Improving Cost Management of Radiology Department through Activity-Based Costing

• Main Authors: Ya-Jen Huang, 黃雅貞
• Other Authors: Ray-E Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2002
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/04205434903665536531

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 醫療機構管理研究所 === 90 === The payment system of the National Health Insurance has continuously been rigid in recent years, which has limited the growth of hospital revenues. This situation is deteriorated by the comprehensive introduction of the global budget mechanism for the reimbursement system to hospitals. Hospital management thus has to strengthen its cost control and management to obtain adequate profits. Nevertheless, medical services are based on a two-stage production system. In order to manage its cost, hospital must not only improve the effectiveness of procedure mixes received by patients, but also reinforce the efficiency of producing each procedure in each department. The basis of obtaining both objectives is to understand the causes of cost and establish a cause-effect costing system for each department in hospital. Diagnosis radiology departments in hospitals are of high cost and high volume in nature, and they provide valuable information for disease diagnoses and management. Hospitals can thus perform care services in a manner of both cost-effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Since the operation of a radiology department can greatly influence on a hospital’s overall operation costs, it is important to understand and analyze how and why costs are incurred in a radiology department. Patients in a radiology department receive different types of procedures, and the costs of these procedures vary widely, depending on patients’ requirements, facilities used, or work patterns. Traditional responsibility center costing systems are confined to reflect actual cost information of procedures. Even through a relative value or standard cost system, cost information is far beyond close to actual cost. The value of these costing systems to hospitals’ management is therefore relative limited. The activity-based costing system is however a preferred costing system. By establishing the relationship between resources and activities as well as activities and cost objects, organizations can calculate product costs accurately. Therefore, this study intends to establish an activity-based costing system for a diagnosis radiology department of a medical center. Investigation was first conducted to analyze business processes and product lines in the department. The costs of activities and procedures were thus calculated. Management information was thus further explored in order to assist operating objectives. Through this study, it can be concluded that activity-based costing system is appropriate to diagnosis radiology departments. The new costing system not only provides cost information of product lines, activities, and procedures, but also assists resource management and cost control. The performance of radiology departments is thus of considerable improvement through this approach.