title: The principles of quality-associated costing: derivation from clinical transfusion practice.
abstract: As clinical transfusion practice works towards achieving cost-effectiveness, prescribers of blood and its derivatives must be certain that the prices of such products are based on real manufacturing costs and not market forces. Using clinical cost-benefit analysis as the context for the costing and pricing of blood products, this article identifies the following two principles: (1) the product price must equal the product cost (the "price = cost" rule) and (2) the product cost must equal the real cost of product manufacture. In addition, the article describes a new method of blood product costing, quality-associated costing (QAC), that will enable valid cost-benefit analysis of blood products.
authors.affiliation: Durham University Business School, Durham City, England, UK.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Trenchard
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dixon
mesh_terms: D000066:Accounting / Q000379:methods; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D003361:Cost Allocation / Q000379:methods*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D017059:Models, Econometric; D011357:Product Line Management / Q000191:economics*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D014852:Wales