Cost of Primary Health Care in Universal Insurance at Health Center 16, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
Thosporn Vimolket MD, MSc*, Pirom Kamol-ratanakul MD, MSc*, Sonthaya Tobprakhon BBA*
Affiliation : * Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
The purpose of the present study was to illustrate the cost of services in health promotion and prevention, out
patient (OPD) and dental care in Health Center (No.16) Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The analysis of the cost
components could be used as key data for future planning, budgeting and resources preparing for the short and long terms.
The cost centers were categorized to be executive, services and supporting unit. The simultaneous equation
method was employed to allocate all costs from other associated cost centers to the service unit.
The unit cost per visit was 372.76 baht, while the unit cost per capitation was 532.83 baht . The unit cost of
health promotion and prevention per capitation was 288.95 baht, whereas the unit cost of OPD care per capitation was
183.47 baht and the unit cost of dental care per capitation was 55.37 baht. The labor cost accounted for 83.67 per cent,
capital cost 6.09 per cent and material cost 10.24 per cent of the total cost.
Unit costs of OPD and dental care were lower than the proposed budget while the unit cost of health promotion
and prevention was higher. This could be due to some patients seeking OPD care from King Chulalongkorn Hospital
instead, while the health promotion and prevention offering was more than that normally offered in other Health Centers.
The improvement of labor efficiency and the decrease of labor cost would be the short and long run strategies respectively.
Keywords : Primary medical care, Universal insurance, Cost analysis
