Cassim Naseem, Ramdin Neeshan, Moodly Sadhaseevan, Glencross Deborah K
Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Afr J Lab Med. 2022 Jul 13;11(1):1504. doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v11i1.1504. eCollection 2022.
The National Health Laboratory Service operates a platform of 226 laboratories across South Africa, ranging from highly sophisticated central academic hospitals to distant rural hospitals. The core function of the National Health Laboratory Service is to provide cost-effective and efficient health laboratory services in the public healthcare sector.
This study aimed to assess the comprehensive cost of running a full-service receiving office (RO) at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) laboratory.
Top-down costing was conducted, with the cost per registration as the main outcome of interest. The annual equivalent costs (AEC) for the following categories were determined: registration materials, collection materials, staffing, laboratory equipment, building and electricity, and other operating costs. Data for the period from 01 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 were included in the analyses.
The AEC was $1 657 483.00 United States dollars (USD) and the cost per registration was $0.766 USD. Staff contributed 59.9% of the total cost per registration, while collection materials contributed 21.4%. The RO core staff (data clerks) contributed 50.8% of the total staffing costs, while messengers and drivers contributed 31.2%. The introduction of order entry at the CMJAH and other primary healthcare facilities reduced the total AEC by 20%. A single order entry application would serve both the CMJAH and primary healthcare facilities - hence we would prefer to not refer to order entries.
Providing a comprehensive RO service costs approximately $1.00 USD per registration. The implementation of order entry at the CMJAH would reduce AECs substantially and improve efficiency.
南非国家卫生实验室服务局运营着一个由226个实验室组成的平台，覆盖范围从高度先进的中央学术医院到偏远的农村医院。南非国家卫生实验室服务局的核心职能是在公共医疗部门提供具有成本效益且高效的卫生实验室服务。
本研究旨在评估在夏洛特·马克西克约翰内斯堡学术医院（CMJAH）实验室运营一个提供全方位服务的接收办公室（RO）的综合成本。
采用自上而下的成本核算方法，将每次登记的成本作为主要关注结果。确定了以下几类的年度等效成本（AEC）：登记材料、采集材料、人员配备、实验室设备、建筑与电力以及其他运营成本。分析纳入了2019年4月1日至2020年3月31日期间的数据。
年度等效成本为1,657,483.00美元，每次登记的成本为0.766美元。人员成本占每次登记总成本的59.9%，而采集材料占21.4%。接收办公室的核心工作人员（数据录入员）占人员总成本的50.8%，而信使和司机占31.2%。在CMJAH和其他初级医疗保健机构引入订单录入系统使年度等效总成本降低了20%。一个单一的订单录入应用程序将同时服务于CMJAH和初级医疗保健机构——因此我们更倾向于不提及订单录入系统。
提供全面的接收办公室服务每次登记成本约为1.00美元。在CMJAH实施订单录入系统将大幅降低年度等效成本并提高效率。
