title: Cost-effectiveness analysis in radiology.
abstract: In the past 20 years, there has been increasing recognition of the need to consider cost in medical decision making. This period has seen an explosion in the number of economic evaluations appearing in the medical literature. Cost-effectiveness analysis is an objective systematic technique for comparing alternative health care strategies on both cost and effectiveness simultaneously. Cost-effectiveness analysis can be used to inform medical decision makers in the establishment of clinical practice guidelines and in the setting of health policy. Cost-effectiveness analysis is a state-of-the-art research tool with its own terminology and methods. It is critical that radiologists become familiar with the concepts and procedures of cost-effectiveness analysis so they can properly evaluate cost-effectiveness analysis studies and be more knowledgeable participants in the health care decision-making process. This article explains the rationale, terminology, and methods of cost-effectiveness analysis as applied to radiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Metro Health Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. mes12@po.cwru.edu
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Applegate
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003663:Decision Trees; D006801:Humans; D018803:Models, Economic; D011871:Radiology / Q000191:economics*