Table 2.
The checklist with TDABC elements after the Delphi workshop
| TDABC elements | Paper section | Researcher A | Researcher B | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (#) 1.1 It is defined if the results are being explored for general health service management or redesign and value or only to assess costs? | Introduction | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (#)1.2 Is the clinical pathway, technology or procedure studied justified because of an interest from government, hospital, society or a Health Technology Assessment analysis? | Introduction | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (#)1.3 Are study limitations being presented? | Discussion | Element suggested by the participants of the Delphi workshop | 5 | |
| (#)1.4 Is the TDABC method selection being justified? | Introduction | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| (#) 2.1 Are authors using specific methodologies to design the care pathway? | Methods | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| (#) 2.2 Are authors using a multidisciplinary team to apply the TDABC? (Design the process, correctly consider clinical characteristics, correctly evaluate costs.) | Methods | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (#) 2.3 Are authors reporting activities in the process map on a macro level? | Methods | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (#) 2.4 Are authors reporting activities in the process map on a micro level? | Methods | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| (#) 2.5 Is the full process map (or a part of) being presented in a picture or graphic display? | Results | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| (#) 3.1 Is a table or a map being presented to illustrate the association between activities and resources? | Results | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| (#) 3.2 Are resources that are included in the analysis being defined and justified? | Methods | Element suggested by the participants of the Delphi workshop | 3 | |
| (#) 3.3 Are authors reporting observation in-situ approach to better identify resources used in each activity? | Results | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| (#) 3.4 Are authors interviewing the professionals to better identify resources used in each activity? | Results | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| (#) 4.1 When using hospital financial database, it is being stated how those data were collected and analyzed? | Methods | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| (#) 4.2 Are authors defining the currency and applying discount taxes when it is necessary? | Methods | Element suggested by the participants of the Delphi workshop | 4 | |
| (#) 4.3 When using external financial databases, is there a description of the database and how those data were accessed? | Methods | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (#) 4.4 When mixed financial database data are being used (for example, salaries from external reference and structural costs from the hospital) is the origin of each data variable being stated? | Methods | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| (#) 4.5 Did the authors explain how the overhead costs are being considered? | Methods | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| (#) 5.1 Are authors defining if the capacity data used represents the total capacity per resource or it is being considered an expected idleness? | Methods | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (#) 5.2 When authors are considering an expected idleness, it is explained how actual performance data were collected and analyzed? | Methods | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| (#) 6.1 Do authors explain how time data were collected? | Methods | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (#) 6.2 Are authors using interviews with professionals crossed with medical record review to estimate time data? | Methods | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| (#) 6.3 When using chronanalysis, it is being explained how the sample of data was defined? | Methods | Element suggested by the participants of the Delphi workshop | 5 | |
| (#) 6.4 Is it being explained if the chronanalysis used digital technology to collect real time data, such as a mobile app, wearable, drone, etc.? | Methods | Element suggested by the participants of the Delphi workshop | 4 | |
| (#) 7.1 Is the median or average cost per patient (or per technology) being calculated? | Result and Discussion | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (*) 7.2 Are authors presenting the cost per each patient that is included in the sample? (Chart bar, table, etc.)? | Result and Discussion | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| (*) 7.3 Is the median or average cost per activity on a macro level being presented? | Result and Discussion | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| (*) 7.4 Is the median or average cost per activity on a micro level being presented? | Result and Discussion | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| (*) 7.5 Is the median or average cost per resource being presented? | Result and Discussion | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| (#*) 7.6 Are the authors performing capacity idleness analysis? | Result and Discussion | Element suggested by the participants of the Delphi workshop | 2 | |
| (*) 7.7 Are the authors exploring statistical analyses to better understand costs along the process of care? | Result and Discussion | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| (#*) 7.8 If the objective was to use the study to support management and value decisions, are authors reporting how value increasing was achieved or if they are planning to achieve it? | Result and Discussion | 5 | 5 | 5 |
The column ‘Researcher A’ contains the answers attributed by one of the additional researchers using the scale 1–5 (1- it is not important and 5 – it is extremely important). The column ‘Researcher B’ contains the answers attributed by the other additional researcher using the scale 1–5. The columns consensus contains the final level of importance accorded between the two researchers and moderator.