← Business Guides · Explore healthcare operations
Estimate direct operating costs of a clinical-trial delay using your own verified cost schedule.
Build a delay-specific cost schedule
Identify staff, sites, systems and suppliers that continue during the extension. Separate costs that would have occurred anyway from additional delay expense, and avoid including a fixed contract charge in both daily and restart costs.
How the calculation works
Continuing delay cost = additional days × daily operating cost × (1 − avoidable fraction). Net direct delay cost = continuing cost + restart/extension charges − documented offsets. A negative result means offsets exceed the entered cost, not that delay creates a research benefit.
A worked example
Thirty days at 2,500 per day with 20% avoided costs leave 60,000 continuing expense. Add 10,000 restart charges and subtract 5,000 documented offsets for 65,000.
Test the duration uncertainty
A one-month and a three-month delay can affect supplier commitments differently. Run separate scenarios rather than extrapolating a short period without reviewing the contracts. Record which offsets are confirmed and which are still hypothetical.
What the result leaves out
This estimates entered operating costs only. It does not predict study results, regulatory timelines, participant outcomes, recruitment or commercial launch value. Costs must come from the responsible study budget and confirmed contractual terms.
Open the calculator with your own figures →
The defaults are constructed examples, not market benchmarks. Choose one currency for every monetary input; the currency selector formats values and does not convert exchange rates. Keep a copy of the records and assumptions behind your result so you can repeat the comparison after the next reporting period.
Related calculators and guides
- Patient No-Shows: Estimate Costs After Refilling Missed Appointments · Open its calculator
- Healthcare Cloud Storage: Budget Storage, Fees and Admin Time · Open its calculator
More healthcare operations calculators · All Business Guides · How the calculations work
Prepared by ProWorkstack. Our editorial standards explain how we handle examples, limitations and corrections.