Quality Decision Making: Cost Identification

Select a relevant issue within your workplace or one from the course readings for which a cost-benefit analysis may be conducted. The cost-benefit analysis should include one of the following course-related topics: quality, patient safety, risk management, regulatory standards, compliance, or patient and stakeholder satisfaction.

For this discussion, identify the issue for which you will conduct the cost-benefit analysis and briefly describe the context for the issue. Then, apply the process from Plowman’s “Writing a Cost-Benefit Analysis” article to identify costs:

1. Make a list of all monetary costs that will be incurred upon implementation and throughout the life of the project. These include start-up fees, licenses, production materials, payroll expenses, user acceptance processes, training, and travel expenses, among others.

2. Make a list of all non-monetary costs that are likely to be absorbed. These include time, lost production on other tasks, imperfect processes, potential risks, market saturation or penetration uncertainties, and influences on one’s reputation.

3. Assign monetary values to the costs identified in steps one and two. To ensure equality across time, monetary values are stated in present value terms. If realistic cost values cannot be readily evaluated, consult with market trends and industry surveys for comparable implementation costs in similar business …