Establishing and maintaining the data-base required for cost analysis in a clinical laboratory

Obtaining and understanding the costs of clinical laboratory testing--as with many health services--presents a perplexing but critical task. In most laboratories the only ’cost data’ available are those accumulated for routine expense accounting, but these data are usually inadequate for analysing laboratory costs. For costing purposes, common major deficiencies in accounting data are: (1) supplies are recorded at the time they are purchased rather than when they are consumed; (2) costs are assigned on the basis of supervisory responsibility or functional area, but not both; (3) goods are recorded by vendor rather than by item; (4) insufficient statistical parameters are collected; and (5) cost allocations replace direct costs. Each ofthese contributes to the difficulty in understanding costs and relating them to other variables, such as testing volume and level of service.