A Cost Analysis Plan for the National Preventive Dentistry Demonstration Program

The National Preventive Dentistry Demonstration Project delivers school-based dental care to approximately 14,000 children in ten U.S. cities. Each of the children began receiving one of six different packages of procedures during the 1977-1978 school year and will continue its receipt for four years. Professional dental examinations establish each child's tooth decay status as of start-up and annually thereafter. The cost data are to be analyzed in three phases. The objectives of phase one are (1) conversion of detailed records of personnel costs and time charges, supplies usage, and other expenditures to estimates of the Program's total cost at each site during each year of operation; and (2) division of those costs among the six regimens of preventive dental care. The costing definitions and allocation rules to be used in phase one are the subjects of this Note. Phase two will be concerned with the causes of variation in costs. Phase three will construct realistic cost estimates for various alternative hypothetical programs.