The rising cost of health care has become a major concern for payors and the feds. To curb the costs associated with patient care, hospitals must be looking at the total cost of care – usually defined as the direct and indirect costs for an episode of care over a period of healthcare coverage (e.g., a health plan benefit year).
Measuring your organization’s total cost of care (TCOC) helps decrease unnecessary spending and improve clinical staff’s ability to deliver quality patient care. Knowing where money is going within your facility can help you identify instances of overuse or inefficiency and highlight opportunities to save money.
But first, you should know what makes up the TCOC for a health system.
