Implementation proposal of activity-based costing in the management of dental services

Abstract

The goal of this article is to structure an implementation proposal of activity-based costing in the management of dental services. A descriptive research was carried out through a case study with a predominantly qualitative approach. The study begins with a foray into the theoretical foundations that support the empirical study addressing the importance of strategic cost management, activity-based costing - ABC and the use of ABC in healthcare companies. Then, methodological procedures are presented and the proposal made is discussed. The implementation proposal of ABC comprises four macro-steps: identification of activities, allocation of costs to activities, identification of cost objects, and allocation of activity costs to cost objects. Six dental procedures performed were selected: evaluation, prevention, restoration, endodontics, exodontics and porcelain prosthetic crown. The justification for choosing those procedures is that they are the most representative in terms of occurrence and billing. In addition to the implementation proposal of ABC, the direct costs of each cost object were analyzed. The direct costs identified relate to the materials used and the process of sterilization performed.