Comparison of resource consumption accounting and traditional cost method: An example of a health business

The fact that the primary goal of public hospitals is not profitability does not mean that there is no need for accurate cost information that will save money in the health services provided. Accurate cost information is needed in public hospitals to ensure that health services can be carried out without interruption and that savings can be made in the use of resources. Therefore, it is necessary to use cost management models that allow accurate calculation of costs, which have an important place in healthcare businesses to achieve their goals and objectives, and take into account changes in technology and production processes. In this context, the study aims to compare Resource Consumption Accounting and Traditional Costing Methods, which are among the cost and management accounting methods, in order to use resources effectively and efficiently in healthcare businesses, to obtain the needed medical drugs and materials at affordable prices, to provide a quality healthcare service and for hospital managers to make the right decisions. The aim is to determine appropriate cost combinations. For this purpose, costs were calculated according to resource consumption accounting and traditional costing method, using the 2021 annual cost data of the hemodialysis unit of a public hospital operating in Erzurum. As a result, the total service cost distributed according to the resource consumption accounting method is 631,720.31 ₺ and the unit cost is 2,589.02 ₺. According to the traditional costing method, the total service cost is 660,041.79 ₺ and the unit cost is 2,705.09 ₺. In the resource consumption accounting method, the total depreciation cost is 44,841.80 ₺, and in the traditional costing method it is 32,275.65 ₺. As can be seen, the total service cost and unit cost are calculated lower in the resource consumption accounting method. It can be said that ignoring the idle capacity of 17,977.92 ₺ in the traditional costing method and calculating the depreciation with the historical costing method were effective in this result. Key Words: Health Business, Resource Consumption Accounting, Traditional Costing Method, Idle Capacity, Total Service Cost, Unit Cost.