A retrospective study assessing the clinical outcomes and costs of acute hepatitis A in Cape Town, South Africa

Background While some evidence has been demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of routine hepatitis A vaccination in middle-income countries, the evidence is still limited in other settings including in South Africa. Given this, the evidence base around the cost of care for hepatitis A needs to be developed towards considerations of introducing hepatitis A vaccines in the national immunisation schedule and guidelines. Objectives To describe the severity, clinical outcomes, and cost of hepatitis A cases presenting to two tertiary healthcare centers in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods We conducted a retrospective folder review of patients presenting with hepatitis A at two tertiary level hospitals providing care for urban communities of metropolitan Cape Town, South Africa. Patients included in this folder review tested positive for hepatitis A immunoglobulin M between 1 January 2008 and 1 March 2018. Results In total, 239 folders of hepatitis A paediatric patients < 15 years old and 212 folders of hepatitis A adult patients $$\ge$$ ≥ 15 years old were included in the study. Before presenting for tertiary level care, more than half of patients presented for an initial consultation at either a community clinic or general physician. The mean length of hospital stay was 7.45 days for adult patients and 3.11 days for paediatric patients. Three adult patients in the study population died as a result of hepatitis A infection and 29 developed complicated hepatitis A. One paediatric patient in the study population died as a result of hepatitis A infection and 27 developed complicated hepatitis A, including 4 paediatric patients diagnosed with acute liver failure. The total cost per hepatitis A hospitalisation was $1935.41 for adult patients and $563.06 for paediatric patients, with overhead costs dictated by the length of stay being the largest cost driver. Conclusion More than 1 in every 10 hepatitis A cases (13.3%) included in this study developed complicated hepatitis A or resulted in death. Given the severity of clinical outcomes and high costs associated with hepatitis A hospitalisation, it is important to consider the introduction of hepatitis A immunisation in the public sector in South Africa to potentially avert future morbidity, mortality, and healthcare spending.

Resource Utilization and Caring Cost of People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLHIV) in Saudi Arabia: A Tertiary Care University Hospital Experience

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with a significant burden of disease, including medical and non-medical costs. Therefore, it is considered to be a priority for all health authorities. The aim of this study is to determine healthcare and treatment costs of caring for PLHIV at one of the tertiary care university hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This was a micro-costing, retrospective, observational study from a tertiary care university hospital and included all confirmed HIV-infected patients who visited infectious disease clinics in the period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018. A total of 42 PLHIV were included in this study. The mean age of the study participants was 38.76 ± 11.47 years with a mean disease duration of 5.27 ± 4.81 years. The majority of patients were male (85.7%) and Saudi (88.1%). More than half of included patients (59.5%) had a CD4 count of more than 500. During the study period, 26 patients (61.9%) were initiated on a single-tablet regimen. Overall, the main cost-driver was antiretroviral medications, which cumulatively represented more than 64% of the total cost. Patients who developed opportunistic infections had a statistically significant (p = 0.033) higher financial impact, both as a total and on a patient level, than those presented without opportunistic infections. On a patient level, the mean and median costs were higher and statistically significant for those with co-morbidities than those without co-morbidities (p = 0.002). The majority of the economic burden of PLHIV is attributable to antiretroviral therapy use. The healthcare costs of PLHIV can vary greatly, depending on the presenting illness, clinical stage, developed opportunistic infection, co-morbidity, and pharmacological therapy.

ABC Cost Driver Framing and Altering the Balance of Power in Customer-Supplier Negotiations

This study examines how activity-based costing (ABC) cost driver framing affects suppliers’ ability to increase their bargaining power when facing powerful customers. Results of an experiment show that suppliers with high potential to contribute to increasing joint profits are able to increase their power and earn a higher share of joint profits than suppliers with low contribution potential. However, providing suppliers with externally framed cost drivers (cost drivers represented as customers’ activities) instead of internally framed cost drivers (cost drivers represented as suppliers’ own activities) reduces their ability to utilize contribution potential as a source of power. Analyses of negotiators’ behavior show that suppliers with high contribution potential and internally framed cost drivers use more integrative tactics to increase joint profits, allowing them to earn higher shares of joint profits. This study shows that the how firms frame cost drivers affects negotiators’ ability to improve joint profits and negotiation power.

Parametric estimation of supplier's plant construction costs

Cost engineers of buying enterprises perform detailed product cost calculations of externally manufactured components. The aim of these calculations is to determine what a product should cost and to support purchasing functions in fact-based negotiations. While product cost engineers have deep knowledge in the calculation of direct cost, they need support in the calculation of supplier´s indirect cost categories. The calculation of industrial rent, which is expressed in annual cost per m² of occupied plant building floor space can be improved by providing accurate construction cost estimates. Construction costs are strongly impacting the calculation of supplier´s annual building depreciation, which is a crucial cost driver for the determination of the industrial rent. Academic literature is actually not providing an accurate and suitable cost model for product cost engineers, which is estimating construction cost per m² depending on different industrial building categories and alternative supplier plant locations. The paper aims to close this gap by applying linear regression analysis on a set of European construction cost data considering two industrial building categories: “warehouses/basic factory units” and “high-tech factories”. By regressing construction cost against construction labor rates within different supplier plant locations it was possible to form suitable and accurate parametric regression functions with R² values between 0.74 and 0.88. Next to high R² values acceptable mean average percentage errors between 7.45% and 11.77% could be realized by comparing estimated with observed construction cost. The estimation of industrial construction costs based on the paper´s results can be used to improve the calculation of industrial rent, which is one cost element, that has to be covered within product cost engineer´s Should Cost Calculations.

The ‘High-Road’ Approach to Compensation and Benefits Practices

High-road approach organizations deploy commitment-based / high performance working HRM systems and see employees as a sales driver rather than a cost driver They have a long-term perspective and make more investment in their HR by paying them above the industry average and implement policies and practices that focus on employee engagement, satisfaction, and service orientation to enhance organizational performance. This research views compensation and benefits practices through the lens of a high-road approach and provides various frameworks to emphasize the role of the high-road approach in enhancing employee commitment, engagement, loyalty, productivity, and retention thus, leading to healthier organizational growth. The research provides various illustrations to explain how companies have initiated a high-road approach to compensation and benefits practices and improved their overall performance. Research also discusses the barriers to high-road approach adoption and identifies prerequisites for its successful implementation.

Analisis Standar Belanja (ASB) Pada Pemerintah Kabupaten Padang Pariaman

In general, regional financial management goes through the following stages: budget preparation, activity implementation and financial accountability or financial report preparation. Based on the above, Permendagri No. 21 of 2011 concerning Guidelines for Regional Financial Management, states the need for Standard Expenditure Analysis (ASB) as a main research tool in conducting performance-based budgeting. Expenditure Standard Analysis (ASB) is an assessment of the fairness of the costs and workloads used to carry out an activity at each Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD). This study aims to determine the reasonableness of spending in carrying out an activity so as to minimize unclear expenses that cause budget inefficiency. This research was conducted at the Regional Government of Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra. The stages of preparing this Standard Expenditure Analysis (ASB) are to input data and group similar data, determine the Cost Driver, create regression equations, determine the average, upper and lower limits, and analyze the fairness of costs and workloads of the ASB model. has been compiled. The preparation of a Standard Expenditure Analysis (ASB) at the District Government of Padang Pariaman which is discussed in this is for the types of training activities for personnel and training for the community.

PENERAPAN METODE ACTIVITY BASED COSTING SYSTEM DALAM PENENTUAN HARGA POKOK KAMAR PADA GRAHA BIMA INN DI ARJOSARI MALANG

Latar belakang dari penelitian ini adalah berkembangnya dunia industri jasa terutama jasa penginapan atau perhotelan yang saat ini semakin pesat menjadi salah satu persaingan dalam penjualan kamar. Dalam penentuan harga pokok kamar, banyak industry yang masih belum mengetahui tentang perhitungan harga pokok kamar dengan menggunakan Activity Based Costing Sytem dan masih menggunakan system tradisional. Sehingga penentuan harga kamar tidak sepenuhnya terhitung semua. Oleh karena itu peneliti bertujuan untuk menjelaskan perbedaan antara perhitungan harga pokok kamar secara tradisional dan Activity Based Costing Sytem. Dalam akhir penelitan terjadi selisih harga dikarenakan pada metode Activity Based Costing Sytem, biaya overhead pada masing-masing produk dibebankan pada banyak cost driver. Sehingga dalam metode Activity Based Costing Sytem mampu mengalokasikan biaya aktivitas ke setiap kamar secara tepat berdasarkan konsumsi masing-masing aktivitas.

Development of a Cost Model for Vertical Milling Machines to Assess Impact of Lightweighting

Lightweighting is a design strategy to reduce energy consumption through the reduction of mass of a product. Lightweighting can be applied to machine tools to reduce the amount of energy consumed during the use phase. Thus, the energy cost of machine operation will be reduced. One might also hypothesize that since a lighter-weight machine tool requires less material to build, the cost to produce such a machine will be less. However, it may also be the case that lightweighting a machine tool increases its complexity, which will likely drive up the cost to manufacture the machine. To explore the cost drivers associated with building a machine tool, data on the features associated with a wide variety of vertical milling machine tools are collected. Then, empirical cost models are fit to this data. The results from the cost models show that the machine tool mass is a significant cost driver; other key drivers are the number of axes and spindle power. The models are used to predict the cost benefits of lightweighting in terms of mass, which are compared to potential increased manufacturing costs associated with complexities introduced due to lightweighting.

The Buy-Online-Pick-Up-in-Store Retailing Model: Optimization Strategies for In-Store Picking and Packing

Online shopping is growing fast due to the increasingly widespread use of digital services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the desire for contactless shopping has further changed consumer behavior and accelerated the acceptance of online grocery purchases. Consequently, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are developing omnichannel solutions such as click-and-collect services to fulfill the increasing demand. In this work, we consider the Buy-Online-Pick-up-in-Store concept, in which online orders are collected by employees of the conventional stores. As labor is a major cost driver, we apply and discuss different optimizing strategies in the picking and packing process based on real-world data from a German retailer. With comparison of different methods, we estimate the improvements in efficiency in terms of time spent during the picking process. Additionally, the time spent on the packing process can be further decreased by applying a mathematical model that guides the employees on how to organize the articles in different shopping bags during the picking process. In general, we put forward effective strategies for the Buy-Online-Pick-up-in-Store paradigm that can be easily implemented by stores with different topologies.