Determining the Cost of Hospital Services Using the Top-Down Costing Method

Due to the increase in hospital costs, financial resource management should be able to find efficient methods for calculating income and costs. Therefore, in this study, for the first time, instead of the activity-based costing method, the top-down method was used to determine the cost of MRI services.

The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which all MRI services were examined through micro-costing method. The data collection tool was researcher-made information forms. The data were calculated using the accounting technique of sharing the total costs on the services provided, and finally analyzed using Excel software.

A total of 80 different services were identified, with 66.33% of the highest share of costs related to manpower and the lowest share of costs related to the cost of depreciation of medical equipment. Among the MRI services, one-sided and bilateral breast MRI were the most expensive services and lumbar spine MRI was one of the cheapest services in this section.

According to the results of this study, out of all services provided in the MRI department, 24 services were profitable and 56 services were unprofitable, and in general, the MRI department was profitable in terms of the difference between the total tariff and the cost price in the mentioned period.