A new costing system in health care entities –a voice in the discussion

Purpose: The aim of article is to comment on and evaluate the new legal regulations in costing in health care regarding how they are used by health care units. Methodology/approach: analysis of legal regulations, the literature on the subject, observations, as well as inference and synthesis in order to summarize the research results. The considerations in the research part were also based on the use of elements of the Delphi method, used to present the opinions of experts and representatives of health care units. Findings: The new cost accounting in healthcare entities is based on a systematic approach. It is partly a continuation of the legal solutions from 1999, but it introduces many new, detailed procedures, also in the form of instructions. The examined regulations meet the information needs of the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System. However, the legitimacy and profitability of their use are questionable. It has to be modi-fied to fully support the management of health care entities. Practical implications: The conclusions are useful for practice by highlighting the areas of costing that require extension and further critical judgment. Originality/value: It fills the research gap on the functionality of costing in health care entities. Keywords: accounting, costing, cost calculation, health care entity, hospital, health care.

Measures to Promote Olive Grove Biomass in Spain and Andalusia: An Opportunity for Economic Recovery against COVID-19

Olive grove biomass presents an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gases and meet the sustainability objectives set by Europe. Given the relevance of this organic matter, this paper analyzes the evolution and current situation of the regulations that regulate olive grove biomass as a source of energy in Europe, in Spain and in Andalusia. Likewise, its effect on the evolution of the use of biomass in the Andalusian region, especially the olive grove, is analyzed. The analysis is novel, since there are no previous studies that reveal this type of information for the olive grove biomass sector. The results show that, as of 2005, the development of biomass for thermal and electrical uses is favorable, reaching the objectives set by the PASENER 2007–2013. However, this situation is reversed as of 2012, with the abolition of the feed-in tariff system for renewables. Besides this, the olive grove biomass sector faces other obstacles such as the cost of residue collection and the few incentives for this sector. The reorientation of the measures, in order to enhance this energy source, would generate a positive effect for the economy of the region that has been affected by COVID-19.

Analysis of Market Competitiveness of Container Railway Transportation

With the personalized and diversified development of customer demand in the freight market, road transportation has become a main competitor of railway transportation in container transportation due to its high flexibility, convenience, and low prices. Based on the generalized cost and logit model, this paper constructs a container railway goods transport market competitiveness model including four indicators of economy, timeliness, environmental protection, and safety. Take 20 ft container transportation as an example, the impact of changes in railway goods charge and railway travelling speed on the competitiveness of the railway goods transport market is analysed. Some realistic suggestions, including optimizing the railway tariff system, increasing the travelling speed of railway, innovating container intermodal products, and making full use of policy-oriented advantages are concluded.

Specification of the system application for the different tariffs during the consumption time of electricity by industrial enterprises

This article is devoted to such issues as smoothing the schedule of loads of manufacturing factories in the “intensive” periods due to the correct use of the system of tariffs, which is stratified by time. It is possible to achieve smoothing of the load schedule of the energy system through the correct use of the time-stratified tariff system by taking into account the above-mentioned issue. Proper use of the time-stratified tariff system by consumers will reduce the load period of the energy system and change its modes.

Strategiczny model funkcjonalny z koordynującą rolą Regionalnego Centrum Oceny Inwestycji wspartego przez Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia oraz Agencję Oceny Technologii Medycznych i Taryfikacji – model mieszany

Mixed functional model HB-HTA with the coordinating role of the Regional Center for Investments supported by the Polish National Fund and Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System The implementation of the strategic model for hospital health technology assessment in Poland requires the involvement of many stakeholders. HB-HTA fundamentally concerns hospitals and how they rationalize decision making in implementing innovative medical technologies. However, the need to obtain public funding after verifying the effectiveness of a given medical technology or to keep up with the evolving HB-HTA method­ology naturally requires the involvement of both the payer (NFZ) and the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System in activities connected with the implementation and development of HB-HTA. An important aspect of the coordination of activities in relation to hospital HTA is also the support given to hospitals by regional authorities – competent health departments in voivodeship offices – by assessing HB-HTA reports prepared by the hospitals and indicating regional competitive potential of a given medical technology. This creates a hybrid/mixed system of insti­tutional support for innovative medical technologies implemented in hospitals. This institutional plurality within HB-HTA is a clear asset, strengthening the hospital’s planned undertaking substantively and financially, especially when the assistance mechanisms undertaken are flexible, soft in nature, and allow hospital units to shape effective HB-HTA activities.

Development of theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail in the XX–the beginning of XXI centuries

Background: large-scale plans for the development of Russia's transport infrastructure, including the railroad, require revision and improvement of the modern tariff system; the latter is unthinkable without improving the existing theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport. Aim: development of classification criteria for the evolution of theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport in the XXearly XXI centuries on the basis of the most significant works on this topic; modelling the matching of the current stage of development of these theoretical approaches to modern scientific approaches of determining the economic category "price". Methods: comparative, analysis, synthesis, system approach. Results: we developed a chronological classification of theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport in the XXearly XXI centuries. (with the identification of the correspondence of the stages of development of the theory to the periods of development of railway transport), a classification of the current stage of development of these approaches in the main directions of development, and the model of the matching of the elements of the classification of the current stage of development of these approaches to modern scientific approaches to determining the economic category "price". Conclusion: the developed classifications and the matching model can be used in the future to improve the existing theoretical approaches to pricing in freight rail transport, to develop fundamentally new similar approaches and methods of their application in pricing in practice.

Water Tariffs in Spain

In the current context of climate change, water scarcity has become the center of an intense debate in recent years. Spain is a country affected by strong regional differences in terms of weather; thus, the quality and availability of water resources vary widely depending on the area, and the country is plagued by droughts and problems with water quality. Nevertheless, urban water prices in Spain are among the lowest in the European Union. Moreover, it is a federal country where subcentral governments (regional and local) are autonomous entities with different responsibilities in the design of water policies. The extremely atomized local panorama and the strong power of the regional governments have led to a highly complex system with a wide range of water price levels and structures. Since the heterogeneity is so great, this article focuses on the tariffs related to the water supply service in the 15 largest Spanish cities. In general, urban water tariffs commonly distinguish between residential and non-residential users. Additionally, there are usually specific tariffs for different customer categories within both residential and non-residential users, which are not always justified in terms of the equity principle. It is important to note that in most cities the eligibility criteria for these special tariffs usually add more complexity to the tariff system and adversely affect horizontal equity. All these factors contribute to the great complexity of Spain’s water-pricing map. The heterogeneous tariff system found in most Spanish cities runs counter to equity principles and can send the wrong signal to users about water scarcity, thereby hindering compliance with the resource sustainability objective. Thus, most Spanish cities require a simplification of the tariff system.