Dental school teaching clinics as cost centers

Area of Science:

• Dental education
• Health services management
• Accounting

Background:

• Dental schools face economic pressures.
• Increasing net patient revenues is a potential solution.
• Accurate financial data is crucial for managerial decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define the teaching clinic as a cost center.
• To establish accounting and economics frameworks for clinic finances.
• To illustrate the application of the cost center concept with a model.

Main Methods:

• Classifying resources and costs into direct/indirect and fixed/variable categories.
• Developing an accounting and economics framework.
• Creating a cost-revenue model for dental school teaching clinics.

Main Results:

• The paper outlines frameworks for classifying clinic finances.
• A cost-revenue model was developed for the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine.
• The model illustrates the application of the cost center concept.

Conclusions:

• Defining teaching clinics as cost centers is a key step for financial management.
• The described frameworks and model aid in understanding clinic economics.
• This approach supports dental schools in alleviating economic pressures.