title: [Cost of assisted reproduction technology in a public hospital].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Most studies on the costs of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) identify the total cost of the procedure with the direct cost, without considering important items such as overhead or intermediate costs. The objective of this study was to determine the cost per ART procedure in a public hospital in 2003 and to compare the results with those in the same hospital in 1998.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the Human Reproduction Unit of the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital in Granada (Spain) from 1998 and 2003 were analyzed. Since the total costs of the unit were known, the cost of the distinct ART procedures performed in the hospital was calculated by means of a methodology for cost distribution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between 1998 and 2003, the activity and costs of the Human Reproduction Unit analyzed evolved differently. Analysis of activity showed that some techniques, such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, were consolidated while others, such as stimulation without assisted reproduction or intracervical insemination were abandoned. In all procedures, unit costs per cycle and per delivery decreased in the period analyzed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Important changes took place in the structure of costs of ART in the Human Reproduction Unit of the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital between 1998 and 2003. Some techniques were discontinued, while others gained importance. Technological advances and structural innovations, together with a "learning effect," modified the structure of ART-related costs.
authors.affiliation: Subdirección Económico-Administrativa de Control de Gestión, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain. josel.navarro.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Navarro Espigares
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martínez Navarro
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Castilla Alcalá
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hernández Torres
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000191:economics*; D013997:Time Factors