Healthcare costs are being examined on all fronts. Healthcare accounts for 11% of the gross national product and will continue to rise as the "babyboomers" reach retirement age. While ascertaining costs is important, most research shows that costing methods have not been implemented in hospitals. This study is concerned with the use of costing methods; particularly activity-based cost accounting. A mail survey of CFOs was undertaken to determine the type of cost accounting method they use. In addition, they were asked whether they were aware of activity-based cost accounting and whether they had implemented it or were planning to implement it. Only 71.8% were aware of it and only 4.7% had implemented it. In addition, only 52% of all hospitals report using any cost accounting systems. Education needs to ensure that all healthcare executives are cognizant of activity-based accounting and its importance in determining costs. Only by determining costs can hospitals strive to contain them.
PurposePrescription drug requests and physician denial are important aspects of medical decision making, but little research has been done to identify factors linked to prescription drug request and physician denial. This paper aims to explore factors in relation to patient prescription drug request and provider denial.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a cross‐sectional study in a nationally representative database of 2,988 individuals. Descriptive and multivariate stepwise conditional logistic regression analyses were conducted.FindingsResults of multivariate regression models reveal, after adjusting for personal factors, that heart disease, allergy, anxiety, minor chronic conditions, medical seeking behaviors and direct‐to‐consumer advertising (DTCA) were found to be related to prescription drug request. The denied were individuals with arthritis, less prevalent chronic conditions, the uninsured, and African Americans. It was also found that 27.4 percent of the sample requested a prescription drug and about 24 percent of those who segmented for prescriptions were physicians.Research limitations/implicationsDTCA is positively associated with prescription drug requests but the analysis did not support any effect of DTCA on the refusal status. Patients' requests and physician decision making to refuse are somewhat complicated and vary with different medical conditions.Originality/valueThe paper, using nationally representative data, investigates the factors associated with prescription drug request and denial.
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