New trends in high-technology health care support services

To understand clearly the economic dynamics of high-technology service and support in hospitals, the author used results of recent studies carried out by D.F. Blumberg & Associates, utilizing a variety of sources, to identify existing cost components of the typical 300- to 400-bed general hospital located in a major metropolitan area in the United States. The largest single functional component of cost is direct labor and benefits. Other major cost items include direct overhead administration and infrastructure costs and outside material equipment and supply purchases. This evaluation, based on extensive benchmarking comparison and market estimates, suggests that the issues of make, buy, or outsource are neither trivial nor easy to resolve in the health care field.