Perils and pitfalls for evaluating economic studies in neonatology

Health care economics has become an essential topic for all clinicians. Rising health care costs and continued limited resources force hospitals, health networks, and payers to make difficult choices. Economic studies range from those that only focus on costs to those that include costs and outcomes in a single metric, allowing for an assessment of incremental benefit gained from the incremental investment made. This article takes a step by step approach to interpreting the results of an economic evaluation, allowing the reader to critically appraise the results and to understand the implications for their specific patient population.