Skip to main content

Table 1 Definitions of costs categories. Reproduced from Anderson et al. [5]

From: Development and application of tools to cost the delivery of environmental health services in healthcare facilities: a financial analysis in urban Malawi

Cost category

Definition

Capital hardware

Infrastructure or equipment purchases required to establish services or implement changes to service delivery method, which are not consumed during normal service operation

Capital software

Planning, procurement, and initial training costs associated with establishing new services or implementing changes to service delivery method

Capital maintenance

Expenses required to repair, rehabilitate, or otherwise maintain functionality of capital hardware, including labor costs required for these purposes

Recurrent training

Training required to ensure proper ongoing service provision regardless of changes to service delivery

Consumables

Products and supplies that are consumed during normal operation

Personnel

Labor costs associated with normal operation of a service, including staff benefits

Direct support

Expenses required to supervise and monitor service provision to ensure safety and sustainability that support but do not have direct service outputs, such as auditing or developing management plans

Financing

Loan interest and other fees associated with debt financing

Contracted services

Fees paid to external providers to perform all or part of normal EHS operation, including multiple other cost categories, where expenses cannot be accurately disaggregated into categories above; where fees fall solely within another cost category described above, expenses should be included therein