Estimating the Cost Price of Cardiac Care Unit Services in a Government Hospital in Iran

increasing costs of health and treatment services has led health economics specialists and even physicians in all countries to seek new methods for controlling and reducing costs in medical and health services. The present study was aimed to estimate the costs of a Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) in a governmental hospital in Iran. In order to determine the end cost, a stepwise procedure based on actual figures (matrix technique) was used and all of the related documents of 2010 of the government hospital under study were evaluated. The results showed that the total cost of CCU services is 3.827.756.000 Rial, that 55.7% of the costs related to personnel costs and and expenses related to overhead costs is 44.3% and 2.9% of the total costs of hospital wards forms. Much of the CCU cost is personnel cost due to their official personnel, therefore the cost is almost constant in the hospital and it will not be easily removed. It seems we must optimize the use of personnel, and establish new bed in CCU.