Evaluation of cost per test of clinical biochemistry tests at Parirenyatwa Central Hospital laboratory, Harare, Zimbabwe

In many countries, including Zimbabwe, there is increasing concern at the high and increasing cost of providing quality healthcare to the community. Pathology services represent about 25% of this expenditure. However, little is known about the actual cost to the Pathology Department of performing any individual pathology service or test. The health care market in Zimbabwe is characterised by a dominant public sector in both provision and financing of health services. Hongoro and Kumaranayake estimated that, in 1993, about 92% of health services in the country were provided by public institutions. In Zimbabwe, the rise in the cost of providing pathology services has been further exacerbated by perennial foreign currency constraints. This has resulted in regular increases in the cost of laboratory consumables since most of these are imported. As pressure on scarce resources mounts, there is need for a greater focus on the use of cost and cost effectiveness information to guide policy formulation.

A CAJM evaluation on cost per test of clinical biochemistry tests done in one of Zimbabwe's major referral hospitals.