Economic evaluation and child psychiatric in-patient services

<p>Psychiatric in-patient services for children are a costly resource. An economic evaluation can help commissioners and providers decide how best to spend their limited resources by comparing treatment options in terms of both their costs and effectiveness.

<p><p><p>This chapter explains the measurement of both costs and outcomes from an economic perspective. The first section explains how to estimate the long-run marginal opportunity cost of using in-patient and other forms of psychiatric treatment services, and considers how to use accounts information and the importance of being comprehensive in cost estimations. The likely underlying reasons for cost variations are also explored with examples from previous research.

<p><p><p>In the second section, we consider how to bring together cost and outcome data. The differences between cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis are explained, again drawing on previous research to illustrate these methods.

<p><p><p>There is a growing demand for economic and cost insights in the care of children with mental health problems which is only partially met by the existing body of child psychiatry research, only some of which incorporates a cost dimension. However, as this chapter shows, there are already in place economic frameworks, methodologies and techniques which can structure research so that robust information can be produced.