We have done this several times now and the procedure we used in Australia
was to take our yearly costs, then break each procedure into consumables,
labour and any overheads.  Most of the timing etc to work out labour costs
was pretty much "guessametrics", however, using two different costing
programs the costs we arrived at were almost the same for each procedure.  I
have found applying this logic to several laboratories (other than
histology) that the system works well.  However, in histology it is
difficult to benchmark using these figures unless everyone does exactly the
same thing.
Having said that:
Our original costing in 1993 was primarily based on the CAP workload figures
for timing and this is a good place to start.

Some 1997 figures based on WECAN workload figures for labour.
Process and embed one block    $1.41
Process, embed, section and stain one H&E on one slide $2.93.
Special stains for simplicity were given an average WELCAN figure of 17min.
$9.51
Cytology preparation and staining (PAP) $1.80
Cytology screening $13.20
In Electron Microscopy we worked out the total cost per case $250.00

As I said previously these figures are prety elastic depending on procedures
used in your laboratory.
Hopefully it might give you a starting point.
Bill Sinai
Laboratory Manager
Tissue Pathology ICPMR
P.O. Box 533
Wentworthville NSW Australia 2145

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Subject: Histopathology Costing


> HIstonetters,
>
> I'm currently in the process of costing out our Histopathology
> tests/procedures (cost/test).  I would greatly appreciate it if anyone out
> there has a current list of cost for the following:
>
> Special staining, paraffin embedding, microtomy, H&E staining,
> decalcification procedures, cytology staining (PAP), cytology screening,
all
> procedures included with Electron Microscopy.
>
> Breaking costs for Pathology down to cost per tests is no easy task.
>
> If a web site exists with such information, I would greatly appreciate
> knowing of that site as a reference.  It's nice to compare costs!
>
>