Costing of clinical services in rural district hospitals in northern Vietnam.
Int J Health Plann Manage
; 25(1): 63-73, 2010.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19165764
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to estimate and analyse the "actual" unit cost of providing key clinical services in selected rural district hospitals in the North of Vietnam. It also examined the relationship between actual costs and the levels of cost covered by the corresponding user fees paid by patients.METHODS:
This was a facility-based costing study which estimates the costs of health care services from the perspective of the service providers. Three rural district hospitals from three provinces in the North of Vietnam were purposively selected for this study. The "step-down" approach was applied.RESULTS:
There was little difference in the costs of an outpatient visit across the hospitals, but the costs of an operation and an inpatient day varied considerably. In terms of cost structure, personnel costs accounted for the highest share of total cost of the clinical services. The shares of operating cost were considerable while depreciation of buildings/equipments made up a small "proportion". The study results revealed that the user fee levels were much lower than the actual costs of providing the corresponding services. The present study highlights the importance of costing data for hospital planning and management.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Hospitals, Rural
/
Hospital Costs
Type of study:
Health_economic_evaluation
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Health Plann Manage
Journal subject:
PESQUISA EM SERVICOS DE SAUDE
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Year:
2010
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Vietnam
Publication country:
ENGLAND
/
ESCOCIA
/
GB
/
GREAT BRITAIN
/
INGLATERRA
/
REINO UNIDO
/
SCOTLAND
/
UK
/
UNITED KINGDOM