Cost determination: the essential element in medical practice budget development and cost containment programs.
The process of cost-containment in health care begins at the level of delivery of service. This article describes an implementation and delivery system which addresses the process of cost determination. It develops an operating budget establishing cost centers to allocate direct and indirect costs and provides the framework for a cost-containment program within a medical practice.
D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002017:Budgets; D003361:Cost Allocation / Q000379:methods*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D006123:Group Practice / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States