Model oceny dojrzałości rachunku kosztów w szpitalu – koncepcja i empiryczne wykorzystanie
A model for assessing the maturity of hospitals’ cost accounting systems - concept and application

Summary/Abstract: The quality of the cost information depends on the detailed solutions of the cost accounting referred to in the article as its maturity. In public hospitals, cost information is used for reporting and management purposes, as well as for the pricing of services by an external regulator. The maturity level of the cost accounting system determines the effectiveness of these processes. The purpose of the article is to develop a model for assessing the maturity of a hospital’s cost accounting system. The starting point for the construction of the 4-level model was the model of cost accounting maturity published by the International Federation of Accountants. For each of the four levels, criteria have been defined for assessing the maturity of cost accounting. In order to verify the utility of the model, in-depth interviews were conducted in six Polish hospitals. The research results indicated that at separate levels, cost accounting in the hospital may achieve a different degree of maturity and the degree of maturity at a higher level is not related to the results achieved at the lower levels. The assessment of the cost accounting system in a hospital cannot be made on the basis of a single measure and will require further specification to the level of the model on which it is made. The article presents own proposal of a model used to assess the maturity of hospital cost accounting. The methods of assessing the maturity of cost accounting proposed so far in the literature did not take into account the specifics of medical activity. The topics related to the assessment of cost accounting maturity in hospitals have not been the subject of empirical research either in Poland or in the world.

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