Cost-benefit analysis of healthcare professional education: report of a conference workshop

The corresponding author introduced the workshop and gave an introduction to different potential cost analyses in healthcare professional education with a special emphasis on cost–benefit analysis. Best practice would recommend that initial costs should be consolidated with subsequent costs to give annual costs over a stated period.2 This approach spreads the costs out over a period of time and so makes them more palatable for commissioners or funders of educational programmes. Concluding remarks Even though the purpose of the workshop was not to model cost–feasibility analyses, some delegates found that the exercise enabled them to evaluate whether or not their planned programme was feasible (that is, whether it can or cannot be considered given its likely budgetary requirements). While all agreed that the ultimate aim was to provide high-quality education at the lowest possible cost, there was concern that educators could feel forced into choosing the lowest cost option and sometimes sacrifice quality as a result.