Abstract: A system enables a healthcare organization to evaluate cost efficient treatment options early in a patient treatment process by automatic monitoring of profit or loss of a treatment, in real-time and enables a clinical user to screen, simulate and control treatment profit or loss during a patient visit, based on both expected reimbursement and the actual costs of performed services. A system enables cost based treatment selection by providing a healthcare worker with patient specific treatment cost information during a treatment episode. An acquisition processor automatically interrogates at least one information repository for data concerning cost to a healthcare organization of providing a proposed treatment to a patient and expected cost reimbursement to the healthcare organization for the proposed treatment.