Last update:

   14-Jan-2025
 

Arch Hellen Med, 42(1), January-February 2025, 114-121

SPECIAL ARTICLE

Activity-based cost analysis: The case of total knee arthroplasty and cost determinants

A. Kiatsiou,1 R. Karagiannis,1,2 P. Theodorou1
1Postgraduate Course "Health care management", School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Patras,
2Centre of Planning and Economic Research, Athens, Greece

Knee osteoarthritis, one of the most common disabilities worldwide, is effectively treated with total knee arthroplasty. However, it is a high-cost orthopedic operation. For this reason, its cost and economic evaluation are necessary when high healthcare expenditures are a challenge for health systems' effective and efficient operation. Activity-based cost analysis is a reliable measurement method that has been successfully applied over the last few decades. This work briefly describes the activity-based cost analysis and its cost determinants in the case of total knee arthroplasty through a literature review. This method could provide each health organization with a clear picture of what creates the direct and indirect costs and could provide a solid basis for managerial decisions. The most significant cost-determinant factors in total knee arthroplasty are the cost of implants and consumable goods, staff salaries, length of stay, and postoperative complications. Improving healthcare services' quality and clinical outcomes while reducing costs is a challenge for health systems. Identifying the costs and outcomes associated with specific interventions is a prerequisite for improving value in health care. Activity-based cost analysis could contribute significantly to the particular process.

Key words: Activity-based cost analysis (ABC), Cost determinant factors, Total knee arthroplasty.


© Archives of Hellenic Medicine