Table 2
Economic outcomes to include in economic evaluation
Type of Cost Examples Perspectives in Which This Cost is Included Direct costs: Medical Intervention costs:
Practitioner fees
Diagnostic costs
Therapy costs
Service costs:
Facilities and equipment, including hospitalization or clinic/office costs Ancillary staffPortion paid by health plan included in institutional perspective
Portion paid by patient included in individual perspective
All included in societal perspectiveDirect costs: Non-medical Transportation costs
Time off work for appointments/hospitalizationUsually all paid by the patient, so often included in individual perspective
All included in societal perspectiveIndirect costs Lost work productivity during recuperation
Lost leisure time
Child care costs
Costs to care giversUsually all paid by the patient, so often included in individual perspective
All included in societal perspectiveIntangible costs Pain
Suffering
GriefNot usually included as costs; instead, may be included in humanistic outcomes in cost-utility analysis Summarized from similar tables in other references [1, 20, 22].