Improving surgical service utilization An application of program budgeting and marginal analysis

The economic framework, ‘Program Budget Marginal Analysis’ (PBMA) has been used by health care managers internationally to help set priorities and allocate resources within and across programs of care. The authors describe the use of the PBMA framework to guide a pilot project aimed at improving surgical services utilization in a regional hospital in a Western Canadian health region. The focus of the pilot project was the shifting of four selected inpatient procedures to an ambulatory approach while maintaining or improving standards of patient care. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.