Cost accounting and public reimbursement schemes in Spanish hospitals

• Published in: Health care management science Vol. 9; no. 3; pp. 225 - 232
• Main Authors: Sánchez-Martínez, Fernando, Abellán-Perpiñán, José-María, Martínez-Pérez, Jorge-Eduardo, Puig-Junoy, Jaume
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Springer 01-08-2006; Springer Nature B.V
• Series: Health Care Management Science
• Subjects: Accounting; Accounting - methods; Cost accounting; Cost analysis; Costs; Diagnosis-Related Groups; Expenditures; Health care policy; Health services; Hospital Charges; Hospital Costs; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Hospitals, Public; National Health Programs; Prices; Prospective Payment System; Prospective payment systems; Purchasing; Radiation therapy; Reimbursement; Reimbursement Mechanisms; Spain; Spanish hospitals; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Studies; Tariffs; Spain
• ISSN: 1386-9620; 1572-9389
• DOI: 10.1007/s10729-006-9089-x

The objective of this paper is to provide a description and analysis of the main costing and pricing (reimbursement) systems employed by hospitals in the Spanish National Health System (NHS). Hospitals cost calculations are mostly based on a full costing approach as opposite to other systems like direct costing or activity based costing. Regional and hospital differences arise on the method used to allocate indirect costs to cost centres and also on the approach used to measure resource consumption. Costs are typically calculated by disaggregating expenditure and allocating it to cost centres, and then to patients and DRGs. Regarding public reimbursement systems, the impression is that unit costs are ignored, except for certain type of high technology processes and treatments.