Table 1 Steps for economic evaluation

Step 1. Define objective of the economic evaluation

Step 2. Define economic evaluation framework

 • Perspective of the economic analysis

 • Alternatives being compared

 • Time horizon

Step 3. Determine costs and benefits of alternatives

 • Define all activities

 • Specify measurements

 • Collect cost data

 • Calculate costs

 • Discount

 • Define outcomes

 • Select evaluation design

 • Collect data

 • Analyze data

Step 4. Relate costs to outcomes

 • Ratio

Step 5. Adjust for uncertainties

 • Sensitivity analysis

Step 6. Summarize, Interpret, and report findings