Project Budget
When it comes to a direct practice improvement (DPI) project, it is necessary to draw sufficient attention to its budget. It is so because anticipated costs should be clear and justifiable to ensure robust reasoning behind implementing a DPI project. The current paper focuses on a DPI project to reduce the prevalence of pressure injuries among people of 75 years old and higher in a medical unit. The assignment will comment on direct and indirect costs, fixed and variable costs, labor and materials, travel, equipment, licenses, and the budget importance.
Direct and Indirect Costs
Direct costs relate to expenses that are associated with implementing the project, while indirect ones refer to accompanying spending. Thus, nurses’ salaries and money to purchase the required equipment are considered direct costs. The project includes ten registered nurses and a 40-bed medical unit, meaning that it is necessary to buy 40 pressure relieving mattresses purchased. Since the project covers a one-year period, yearly salaries for ten medical professionals account for $750,000, while $6,000 is needed to buy the equipment. Furthermore, indirect costs refer to getting an annual subscription for electronic medical record (EMR) software, and $24,000 is sufficient to cope with it.
Fixed and Variable Costs
The name suggests that fixed costs refer to those expenses that remain the same irrespective of any changes. In this project, they refer to the sum of the salary and subscription fees, making a total of $774,000. In turn, variable costs can change depending on the actual number of mattresses. It refers to the fact that some additional equipment pieces can be needed to replace improper ones or increase the number of beds in a medical unit. Currently, variable costs account for $6,000 for 40 beds, denoting that a single mattress’s price is $150.
Labor and Materials
This section refers to the salary and EMR software subscription fees. The project suggests that a registered nurse earns $75,000 annually, while $2,000 is necessary to purchase a monthly subscription for the software package. As a result, it will be essential to spend $774,000 annually to ensure that the project has a sufficient number of medical professionals and that supplementary materials are available to track patient health changes.
Travel
The current DPI project does not imply any travel activities. It is so because all the practice improvement processes will take place in a single medical unit. Consequently, there will be no need to transfer medical professionals or equipment pieces from one site to another. In addition to reducing the project budget, this fact implies that the DPI project will be focused more on patients and their needs.
Equipment and Space
This section refers to purchasing pressure relieving mattresses for 40 beds. Since a single equipment piece costs $150, the project requires $6,000 to meet its original needs. However, one should admit that this sum can change depending on whether it is necessary to purchase additional items. Such a requirement can emerge when the medical unit increases its capacity and when it is no longer possible to use the existing mattresses, meaning that new ones are required to replace them.
License and Miscellaneous Expense
It is not necessary to obtain some licenses or certificates to implement the given project. It is so because the intervention relies on introducing specific mattresses that should be purchased from certified producers. This information also denotes that the project does not involve many expenses, meaning that money should be spent on providing patients with safer conditions. Licenses and certificates do not refer to this outcome, and the project does not consider them.
Commenting on a Budget
This section will comment on why it is reasonable to invest in developing budgets. A project budget is of significance for senior leadership roles. It is so because these healthcare professionals should ensure that their medical organization stays within the stipulated budget (Nolin, 2017). Then, budgets are necessary for those projects that try to improve healthcare quality (de la Perrelle et al., 2020). It is so because this outcome implies that some traditional care approaches should be modified to provide patients with new conditions. That is why it is necessary to develop a budget to identify whether it will be reasonable to implement a change. Finally, there is no doubt that the DPI project can be considered a significant burden for the organizational budget. However, the study by Padula et al. (2018) demonstrates that pressure injury prevention actions are cost-effective in the long run. It denotes that it is reasonable to implement the DPI project to improve healthcare quality.
Conclusion
The paper has commented on a direct practice improvement project budget and its details. It is necessary to spend $780,000 to ensure that the selected medical unit takes specific actions to reduce the prevalence of pressure injuries among patients of 75 years old and higher. The paper has also clarified that a budget is of significance for senior leadership roles and other quality improvement projects.
References
De la Perrelle, L., Radisic, G., Cations, M., Kaambwa, B., Barbery, G., & Laver, K. (2020). Costs and economic evaluations of quality improvement collaboratives in healthcare: A systematic review.BMC Health Services Research, 20(155).
Nolin, S. (2017). Developing a total project budget for a healthcare capital project. Healthcare Facilities Today.
Padula, W. V., Pronovost, P. J., Makic, M. B. F., Wald, H. L., Moran, D., Mishra, M. K., & Meltzer, D. O. (2018). Value of hospital resources for effective pressure injury prevention: A cost-effectiveness analysis. BMJ Quality & Safety, 28(2), 1-10.