The Use of Total Costs in the Process of Surveying and Evidencing Costs in Third Sector Entities: the Case of an Institution of Long-Permanence for Old People

Abstract

   Third Sector is the designation attributed to non-profitable healthcare institutions or entities that are concerned with social programs. Among that area of performance, lies the service provided to old people by Long- Permanence Institutions known as ILPI's. The absence of studies related to surveying and reporting costs of those entities addresses to the following research subject: which information on costs are relevant for the decision process in ILPI's and, how that can be produced and reported by the managerial accounting? Thus, the objective of the present study consists of presenting a proposal for surveying, analyzing and evidencing costs in entities of the third sector (ILPI´s), by using Total Costs and other instruments to support decisions. This research, of descriptive type, was developed by means of case study, and it was carried out in an ILPI settled down in the municipal district of Maringá/PR. The practical development of the study considered procedures established in Resolution nº. 283/2005 -ANVISA, which establishes both, the structure and the form for using and managing resources in social entities. Results obtained enabled to identify the present costs in the entity investigated, as well as the costs for providing assistance to old people in the three categories predicted by Resolution 283/2005: patients in bed, in wheelchairs and normal patients. The study provided a kind of information then ignored by the entity managers, consequently, opening the possibility of having different tools to support the decision process. Moreover, the investigation contributed for filling a gap in literature, in face of the limited existing studies on Third Sector Costs and on the application of resources in ILPI's.