Determining costs in radiation therapy

The introduction of prospective payment mechanisms has helped focus the attention of the consumer and of the government on health care costs. Practitioners are being called upon frequently to defend the fees charged for radiation therapy services. The use of a comprehensive and systematic technique called "microcosting" can help to determine accurately the costs of delivering radiation therapy. Once costs have been evaluated, fees can be established in an informed manner. This technique has been implemented on a commercially available spreadsheet program, and has demonstrated its usefulness in a hospital-based practice.