Hospital Costing Methods: Four Decades of Literature Review

Abstract

This study aims to identify and classify the costing methods used in hospitals in recent decades and to analyze the research carried out in this area, to identify and characterize the main lines of research and the research paradigms used. To this end, a systematic literature review was carried out, mapping 1067 articles collected from the ISI Web of Science and Scopus databases. The articles were selected by two independent researchers. To ensure the quality of the SLR, AMSTAR 2 was used as well as matrices for quantitative studies, and for qualitative articles. Additionally, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) systematic review process was followed to systematize the article selection process. Of the 1067 articles screened, 172 articles met the inclusion criteria. The results point to a growing interest among researchers and a predominance of the positive paradigm, albeit with an increase in interpretative research. There is a growing production of descriptive analyses of hospital processes and the costing of pathologies, with a predominance of the ABC method and analyses of costs and reimbursements for diagnosis-related groups. As a contribution, a conceptual model is proposed that aims to help the performance of hospital institutions, as well as a proposal for a future agenda based on this model.