“Costometer”

I recently noted this request:

Anybody who has read my writings on Hole Ousia will be aware that I have a dislike of the current mechanical language that would seem to be particularly favoured by healthcare improvers. So I am not convinced that a tool like a “costometer” (had it been invented) would manage to measure the outcomes that really count!

It is my impression that we seem to have many more conferences today than we once did. Sometimes it is the case that one finds that these conferences involve the same speakers covering well rehearsed topics. One such recurrent topic is “awareness”.

It often seems to me that there may be less “awareness” of interests that may lie behind such conferences. Here, please do not be tempted to think that I am referring to the pharmaceutical industry alone. It is the case that many conferences today are those organised by charities, Royal Colleges, health improvers, third sector agencies and by government bodies.

The “costometer” is an invented tool. If it did exist, could it really measure the true value of all these conferences?