John Fleming, chief administrator for Valley View Hospital, is concerned about the costs for tests in the hospital's lab. Charges for lab tests are consistently higher at Valley View than at other hospitals and have resulted in many complaints Also, because of strict regulations on amounts reimbursed for lab tests, payments received from insurance companies and governmental units have not been high enough to cover lab costs. Mr. Fleming has asked you to evaluate costs in the hospital's lab for the past month. The following information is avallable: a Two types of tests are performed in the lab-blood tests and smears. During the past month, 900 blood tests and 3,300 smears were performed in the lab b. Small giass plates are used in both fypes of tests. During the past month, the hospital purchased 16,500 plates at a cost of $35.640. 2.300 of these plates were unused at the end of the month; no plates were on hand at the beginning of the month c. During the past month, 2,300 hours of labor time were recorded in the lab at a cost of $25,185 d. The lab's variable overhead cost last month totaled $18,170 Valley Vlew Hospital has never used standard costs. By searching industry literature, however, you have determined the following nationwide averages for hospital labs Plates. Three plates are required per lab test. These plates cost $2.25 each and are disposed of after the test is completed. Labor Each blood test should require 0.6 hours to complete, and each smear should require 0.30 hours to complete The averoge cost of this iab time is $11.50 per hour. Overhead Overhead cost is based on direct labor-hours. The average rate for variable overhead is $740 per hour: Required: I. Compute a materials price variance for the plates purchased last month and a materials quantity variance for the plates used last. month. 2. For labor cost in the lab a. Compute a labor rate variance and a labor efficiency variance b. In most hospitals, one-half of the workers in the lab are senior technicians and one-half are assistants. In an effort to reduce costs, Valley View Hospital employs only ono-fourth senior technicians and three-fourths assistants Would you recommend that this policy be continued? 3.a. Compute the variable overhead rate and efficiency variances 3-b. is there any relation between the variable overhead efficiency variance and the labor efficiency variance