Transformations  in
Business & Economics

APPLICATION OF ABC IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED PUBLIC HOSPITALS: A CASE STUDY OF A MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH HOSPITAL
Xiaosong Zheng, Jixuan Chen, Linhui Wang, Pengyu Li

ABSTRACT. Based on the current cost accounting of small and medium-sized public hospitals, this paper explores the necessity and feasibility of implementing the ABC method in hospitals through cost management theory and activity-based cost theory.
Meanwhile, taking the specific project of the physical examination center of the Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Tongling city as a case sample, this paper calculates the medical project cost by using the case analysis; the comparative analysis; the traditional costing method and the ABC (activity-based costing) method from 2015 to 2017 respectively, and finally compares and analyses the cost of each project under two kinds of accounting. Based on the results of the accounting under the ABC method, some suggestions relating to cost management of the medical examination center is proposed. To sum up, in the accounting process of the hospital, comparing with the traditional costing method, the ABC method is obviously more advantageous, the effective use of which is a better way for the future development of the cost-calculation model of the medical and health industry. 

KEYWORDS: ABC, traditional costing, cost management, hospital, case study.

JEL classification: I19, M10, P40.