Indicator Metadata

Name	Administrative Service Expense as a Percentage of Total Expense
Description	This indicator measures the percentage of the legal entity's total expenses that were spent in administrative departments such as finance and human resources.
Interpretation	A high percentage indicates that administrative costs are a large portion of the region's hospital expenses; a low percentage indicates that administrative costs are a small portion of a region's hospital expenses.
HSP Framework Dimension	Health System Inputs and Characteristics: Efficient allocation of resources
Areas of Need	Not Applicable
Geographic Coverage	Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories
Reporting Level/Disaggregation	National, Province/Territory, Region, Facility, Others: This indicator is calculated at the level of the legal entity and aggregated to the other levels. For Ontario and Yukon, the hospital is the legal entity. For Quebec, the établissement is the legal entity. For all other jurisdictions, the regional health authority is considered the legal entity.
Latest Result Update Date	4/2013
Indicator Results	http://www.cihi.ca/cihi-ext-portal/internet/en/document/health+system+performance/indicators/performance/chrp_ireport_findings_d

Identifying Information
Name	Administrative Service Expense as a Percentage of Total Expense
Short/Other Names	% Admin Service Expense
Indicator Description and Calculation
Description	This indicator measures the percentage of the legal entity's total expenses that were spent in administrative departments such as finance and human resources.
Calculation: Description	The indicator is calculated by dividing the legal entity's administrative expenses net of recoveries (including expenses for administration, finance, human resources and communications) by total expenses net of recoveries. The unit of analysis of this indicator is a dollar of expense. The indicator is expressed as the percentage of total expenses that are in administrative departments. The indicator is calculated by fiscal year.
Calculation: Geographic Assignment	Place of service
Calculation: Type of Measurement	Percentage or proportion
Calculation: Adjustment Applied	None
Calculation: Method of Adjustment	The range of acceptable values is 1st quartile (25th percentile) − 1.5 × IQR to 3rd quartile (75th percentile) + 1.5 × IQR, where IQR stands for the interquartile range. Values outside of this range are removed from provincial and national averages.
Denominator	Description: The denominator includes all expenses net of recoveries. Inclusions: Codes include, for all functional and accounting centres, 7* and 8, as well as secondary financial accounts 1 2 and 3* to 9. External recoveries are netted to reflect hospital expenses only. Exclusions:* Internal recoveries are excluded to remove the effect of internal business activities, such as interdepartmental transfers.
Numerator	Description: The numerator includes all expenses associated with the administrative, finance, human resources and communications functional centres. Inclusions: Codes include functional centres 7* 1 10, 7* 1 15, 7* 1 20 and 7* 1 30, as well as secondary financial accounts 1 2* and 3* to 9. External recoveries are netted to reflect hospital expenses only. Exclusions:* Internal recoveries are netted to offset interdepartmental transfers.
Background, Interpretation and Benchmarks
Rationale	The indicator can be used by legal entities to determine whether their administrative expenses should be increased or decreased relative to their total expenses. The indicator is influenced by finance, administrative, human resources and communications expenses, in proportion to total expenses. This indicator can be used to improve cost-efficiency.
Interpretation	A high percentage indicates that administrative costs are a large portion of the region's hospital expenses; a low percentage indicates that administrative costs are a small portion of a region's hospital expenses.
HSP Framework Dimension	Health System Inputs and Characteristics: Efficient allocation of resources
Areas of Need	Not Applicable
Targets/Benchmarks	Not Applicable
References	Not Applicable
Availability of Data Sources and Results
Data Sources	CMDB
Available Data Years	Type of Year: Fiscal First Available Year: 2007 Last Available Year: Ongoing
Geographic Coverage	Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories
Reporting Level/Disaggregation	National, Province/Territory, Region, Facility, Others: This indicator is calculated at the level of the legal entity and aggregated to the other levels. For Ontario and Yukon, the hospital is the legal entity. For Quebec, the établissement is the legal entity. For all other jurisdictions, the regional health authority is considered the legal entity.
Result Updates
Update Frequency	Every year
Latest Result Update Date	4/2013
Indicator Results	Web Tool: CHRP URL: http://www.cihi.ca/cihi-ext-portal/internet/en/document/health+system+performance/indicators/performance/chrp_ireport_findings_d
Updates	Not Applicable
Quality Statement
Caveats and Limitations	The indicator is calculated at the legal entity level. For most jurisdictions, this is the health region. However, for Ontario and Yukon, the legal entity is the hospital, and for Quebec, the établissement is the legal entity.
Trending Issues	In Alberta, the health regions merged in 2009 to become one legal entity, affecting the calculation of this indicator.
Comments	Not Applicable