If you are having difficulty calculating - and let's face it, who isn't? - the savings associated with your CRBSI prevention program, be sure to see the new Adverse Events Prevented calculator from IHI (www.ihi.org). While designed for most/all adverse events, this tool offers a rigorous model for CRBSI. It is intended for hospitals. Even if you do not wish to actually use it, it is an excellent example of the numerous variables required when calculating costs saved. For example, if your current approach is based on (or similar to) the number of infections prevented X the average treatment costs per episode, this new tool will help clarify why a) such an approch is an oversimplification and b) that a successful clinical CRBSI intervention program must be validated by an equally rigorous cost model. Perhaps, with the CMS payment restrictions looming this year, we should challenge all of our professional associations to begin including this type of information in upcoming regional and national meetings - not just as lecture, but also in workshops, so that clinicians can add these increasingly essential skills. Expert device management alone will not guarantee our professional survival in the new world of value-based CMS purchasing.          Marilyn Hanchett RN