With the promotion of a tiered medical service system, secondary hospitals will play a more important role in the future. This study aims to explore the cost-benefit of computed tomography (CT) in secondary hospitals in China, with a view to providing information for overall economic management in hospitals as well as for regional planning of medical equipment in different areas.

Fifty-eight secondary hospitals from six provinces located in the eastern, central, and western regions of China were selected as the study sample. Questionnaires were used to collect information on the cost structure, efficiency, and benefits of CT in the secondary hospitals in the past 5 years. Cost analysis was conducted from the perspective of the hospitals, which mainly referred to direct fixed costs and variable costs. We analyzed the investment recovery years a, cost recovery rate b, and benefit-cost ratio to evaluate the economic benefits of CT. We also analyzed the technological benefits of CT based on its effective utilization rate c and positive detection rate.

1. a: Investment recovery years = total original investment / (annual net income + annual depreciation expense)

2. b: Cost recovery rate = average income per check / average cost per check

3. c: Effective utilization rate = single equipment utilization rate * positive detection rate

4. (Single equipment utilization rate = actual working time / rated working time)

Depreciation costs (36.3 percent) were the largest proportion of all costs over the 5-year period, followed by material costs (22.2 percent), maintenance costs (18.2 percent), labor costs (17.1 percent), and electricity consumption (1.2 percent). The investment recovery periods of CT in the eastern, central, and western regions were 2.5, 2.8, and 3.1 years, respectively; the cost recovery rates were 186.5 percent, 172.0 percent, and 174.1 percent, respectively; the benefit-cost ratios were 1.9, 1.7, and 1.7, respectively; the effective utilization rates were 46.1 percent, 58.3 percent, and 71.2 percent, respectively; and the positive detection rates were 52.3 percent, 60.5 percent, and 73.3 percent, respectively.

The current study indicates that the cost-benefit of CT is good in secondary hospitals, especially in terms of economic benefits. But to achieve greater technological benefits in all three regions, more appropriate utilization of CT is needed.