OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to examine the change in prices of goods and services that might affect manufacturing costs in production processes of medical equipment and devices within the field of health technologies.

METHODS: The price changes of inputs that may impact production costs have been examined based on expert opinions. These inputs include raw materials and equipment (resin, steel, platinum, iridium, palladium, aluminum, corrugated packing material, semiconductor materials), labor cost index, labor vacancy, shipping (air transportation, vehicle), energy (electricity, natural gas) and real estate. The data were analyzed using the Microsoft Office 360 Excel program. The December 2019 price of each input was deemed the base value, indexed at 100. From there, prices observed monthly from December 2019 to December 2022 were adjusted and indexed relative to the December 2019 base. These indexed prices were then averaged per month for each input, culminating in the computation of a general index reflecting the overall pricing trend.

RESULTS: When analyzing the production costs of raw materials, notable increases were observed in resin (25.18%), steel (60.12%), platinum (15.64%), iridium (181.69%), palladium (2.82%), aluminum (35.39%), corrugated packaging material (28.93%) and semiconductors (3.69%). Additionally, the labor cost index experienced a rise of 107.14%, while labor vacancy showed an increase of 41.07%. Turning to transportation costs, air transportation witnessed a growth of 7.89%, shipping costs increased by 12.36%, and vehicle expenses rose by 8.55%. In terms of energy expenses, an increase was observed in electricity (86.52%) and natural gas (212.30%). The real estate costs (6.89%) also showed an increase.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the analysis results, the average increase rate of 52.26% observed between December 2019 and December 2022 in the costs of inputs impacting the manufacturing of health technologies may lead to a corresponding increase in ultimate consumer prices for these technologies, expressed in US dollars.