title: Improving the efficiency of a community mental health agency: an accountant's view.
abstract: This paper describes the rules for the proper implementation of a responsibility accounting system in a mental health center. Responsibility accounting, which relates the costs to the functions that authorize their incurrence, is presented as a technique that aids the unit's manager in controlling costs. The article discusses the rules that should be followed for proper cost association, presents a illustrative statement for a mental health center, and discusses some existing practices, such as line--item accounting, that may appear to conform to good responsibility accounting practices but in reality do not.
mesh_terms: D000066:Accounting; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004526:Efficiency; D006285:Health Planning; D006801:Humans