The Quality Assurance Budgeting Tool

The Quality Assurance Budgeting Tool is intended provide a resource for programs with an existing quality management plan and/or quality assurance mechanism that are adding a new technology such as POC CD4 or NAT testing to a conventional testing network. The tool assumes that some components of an existing testing network, including program management, staffing, and trained professionals already exist, however there would still be an incremental cost to adding new technologies, including providing additional training, purchasing materials, transportation, and corrective actions. With this context program managers will find this tool useful for budgeting the marginal cost of providing quality assurance for new devices that have recently been added or are planned to be added. It is important to draw the distinction between this budgeting tool and more comprehensive costing tools that might provide a somewhat different result.