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Marginal Cost: The Role Of Full Costing In Healthcare

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What would happen financially to a health services organization over time if its prices were set at:
a. Full costs
b. Marginal costs

Full costs
According to Investopedia, “Full costing is an accounting method used to determine the complete end-to-end cost of producing products or services.” Full costing is also called "full costs" or "absorption costing."
According to this method, every unit of the product is assigned all direct, fixed, and variable costs. This method includes the cost of direct materials and labor as well as a portion of the overhead costs associated with it in the final costing of every unit of the product.
A health organization that set its prices on full costs would be able to prevent any losses as the costs incurred by the organization in providing services is compensated with every patient treated. This method also makes calculating the costs and managing accounts easier. Although this method is taunted to have an arbitrary selection of some overhead costs and is not considered the best method for making managerial decisions, Yet it is still the preferred method as it helps in accurate …show more content…

This method of calculating costs could be beneficial or not depending on the organization and its size. In a healthcare setting, any healthcare institution is seen as delivering quality care and therefore most decisions regarding choice of the institution come down to the pricing. In order to compete for patients, the healthcare institution must bring its price down to the absolute margin. This will over time affect the institution badly as it will leave the institution without funds to replace the capital equipment. This can eventually lead to closing down of the financially weaker

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