What is the final product of MEPRS?

• A. Total Expenditure
• B. Unit Cost
• C. Cost per Case
• D. Average Cost per Patient

Answer: (B)

The concept being tested is how MEPRS expresses the cost of care as a per-unit measure. The final product MEPRS provides is the unit cost, which is the total expenditures divided by the number of units of service produced in a period (for example, visits or encounters). This metric shows how much it costs to deliver one unit of service, making it useful for comparing efficiency across clinics and guiding budgeting decisions.

For example, if a department spends $2 million and handles 40,000 patient encounters in a quarter, the unit cost is $50 per encounter. Total expenditure is the input total, not the per-unit metric MEPRS aims to produce. Cost per case or average cost per patient are related metrics that depend on different denominators or definitions (case, patient count, etc.), while MEPRS focuses on cost per unit of service to provide a consistent, comparable measure.