Actual and estimated costs of disposable materials used during surgical procedures

• Published in: Health policy (Amsterdam) 2005-07, Vol.73 (1), p.52-57
• Main Authors: Toyabe, Shin-ichi, Cao, Pengyu, Kurashima, Sachiko, Nakayama, Yukiko, Ishii, Yuko, Hosoyama, Noriko, Akazawa, Kouhei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cost accounting; Cost Allocation - methods; Cost sharing; Cost-effectiveness; Disposable Equipment - classification; Disposable Equipment - economics; Disposable Equipment - utilization; Equipment and Supplies, Hospital - classification; Equipment and Supplies, Hospital - economics; Equipment and Supplies, Hospital - utilization; Health administration; Health expenditure; Health policy; Hospital Costs - statistics & numerical data; Hospital management; Hospital resources; Humans; Japan; Materials Management, Hospital - economics; Regression Analysis; Software Design; Surgical Equipment - classification; Surgical Equipment - economics; Surgical Equipment - utilization; Surgical Procedures, Operative - classification; Surgical Procedures, Operative - economics
• ISSN: 0168-8510; 1872-6054
• DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2004.10.003

It is difficult to estimate precisely the costs of disposable materials used during surgical operations. To evaluate the actual costs of disposable materials, we calculated the actual costs of disposable materials used in 59 operations by taking account of costs of all disposable materials used for each operation. The costs of the disposable materials varied significantly from operation to operation (US$ 38–4230 per operation), and the median [25-percentile and 75-percentile] of the sum total of disposable material costs of a single operation was found to be US$ 686 [205 and 993]. Multiple regression analysis with a stepwise regression method showed that costs of disposable materials significantly correlated only with operation time ( p < 0.001). Based on the results, we propose a simple method for estimating costs of disposable materials by measuring operation time, and we found that the method gives reliable results. Since costs of disposable materials used during surgical operations are considerable, precise estimation of the costs is essential for hospital cost accounting. Our method should be useful for planning hospital administration strategies.