title: Cost-volume-profit analysis and expected benefit of health services: a study of cardiac catheterization services.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Academic research investigating health care costs in the Palestinian region is limited. Therefore, this study examines the costs of the cardiac catheterization unit of one of the largest hospitals in Palestine. We focus on costs of a cardiac catheterization unit and the increasing number of deaths over the past decade in the region due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
  
  
  METHODS
  We employ cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis to determine the unit's break-even point (BEP), and investigate expected benefits (EBs) of Palestinian government subsidies to the unit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings indicate variable costs represent 56 percent of the hospital's total costs. Based on the three functions of the cardiac catheterization unit, results also indicate that the number of patients receiving services exceed the break-even point in each function, despite the unit receiving a government subsidy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings, although based on one hospital, will permit hospital management to realize the importance of unit costs in order to make informed financial decisions. The use of break-even analysis will allow area managers to plan minimum production capacity for the organization. The economic benefits for patients and the government from the unit may encourage government officials to focus efforts on increasing future subsidies to the hospital.
authors.affiliation: Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, USA. younis99@gmail.com
authors.forename: Mustafa Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Younis
authors.forename: Samer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jabr
authors.forename: Pamela C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Maha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Hajeri
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hartmann
mesh_terms: D018912:Arabs; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000191:economics*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D018803:Models, Economic