Opportunities for the improvement of cost accounting systems in public hospitals in Italy and Croatia: a case study
通过访谈克罗地亚和意大利各一家公立医院的会计人员，比较两国在成本核算方法上的异同，发现立法背景、成本分配和决策信息使用存在差异，强调成本会计对提高医院资源管理和资金透明度的作用。
The purpose of this paper is to highlight similarities and differences between one Croatian and one Italian public hospital regarding the implementation of cost accounting and full costing method in their accounting systems. Moving from the theoretical background, it is evident that cost accounting methods introduced in healthcare sector bring benefits to the whole society through an increased efficiency of the healthcare services provided. It primarily ensures better governing of hospital’s resources allowing more transparency in spending public funds. The main topic is that with the introduction of cost accounting system for internal purposes in public hospitals, the management would be able to govern them in a more efficient and effective way while reducing costs. The research for this paper was conducted through the interview of accounting officers in one Croatian and one Italian public hospital. The main results show that there are differences in legislation background regarding how they record costs, but also how they allocate costs to the cost objects and in how they use cost information in their decision-making process. In order to successfully manage public hospitals, it is crucial that true, timely and valid information are obtained as a base for the decision-making process. The cost accounting methodology is therefore essential to the management of public hospitals. It must provide information on the type and amount of resources spent, and thus enable the preconditions for control, management and potential reduction of costs.