Calculating patient costs

Q: Is there a standard formula I could use to calculate how much it costs to see a patient in my office?

A: There are numerous ways to calculate the cost per patient, but given the busyness of most offices and ancillary services being delivered by nondoctors within the office, we recommend dividing the annualized overhead of the office by annualized total patients seen. This will give the doctor a rough estimate of the approximate cost per patient. When calculating the annualized overhead, the doctor's wage and related retirement plan benefits should be excluded from overhead.