Activity-based costing methodology as tool for costing in hematopathology laboratory

Area of Science:

• Clinical Pathology
• Laboratory Management
• Health Economics

Background:

• Cost analysis is essential for laboratory scientific progression.
• Hematopathology laboratories (HPL) require accurate cost per sample calculations.
• Understanding resource consumption is key to efficient laboratory operations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To calculate indirect and total costs per sample for various tests at a Hematopathology Laboratory (HPL).
• To analyze the economic factors influencing laboratory test pricing.
• To provide a framework for laboratory cost management and pricing strategy revision.

Main Methods:

• Activity-based costing (ABC) was employed to determine the per-test cost.
• Data was gathered from various sources including financial records, maintenance contracts, and staff interviews.
• This comprehensive data collection aimed to capture all relevant laboratory expenses.

Main Results:

• Cost per test decreases as the total number of samples increases.
• Reagents, consumables, and manpower represent the highest annual expenses.
• Specialized tests, particularly those involving morphological or flow data interpretation by pathologists, incur higher per-test costs.

Conclusions:

• Costing exercises are laboratory-specific and require individual assessment.
• The current rate structure for many tests, including complete blood counts (CBC), bone marrow examinations, coagulation tests, and immunophenotyping, needs revision.
• This study provides insights into resource consumption and aids in redesigning costing structures for better laboratory economics.