Societal CostSocietal Perspective Cost, Total Social Cost
The total cost of an intervention from the broadest perspective, covering direct healthcare, direct non-medical, and indirect costs regardless of who bears them.
Costing & Resource Use
Terms for identifying, measuring and valuing the resources used in health care.
- Topic: Costing & Resource Use
- 40 terms
- Editor reviewed
Step-Down AllocationStep-Down Method, Sequential Cost Allocation
A method of allocating support department costs to operating departments in sequence, so that once allocated, no further costs return to that department.
Sunk CostUnrecoverable Cost, Retrospective Cost
A cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered regardless of future decisions.
Time-Driven Activity-Based CostingTDABC, Time-Driven ABC
A costing method estimating a service's cost by multiplying the capacity cost rate of resources involved by the time required to complete each activity.
Top-Down CostingMacro-Costing, Top-Level Costing
A costing approach that starts with aggregate costs and allocates them to services, activities or patients using documented shares and output counts.
Total CostAggregate Cost, Total Expenditure
The sum of all costs, fixed and variable, incurred in producing a given level of output.
Unit CostResource Unit Price, Input Price
The cost of producing or delivering a single unit of a good or service, such as the cost per hospital bed-day.
Variable CostVariable Expense, Volume-Dependent Cost
A cost that changes in direct proportion to output or service volume, such as medical supplies used per patient treated.