Economic and quality of life outcomes: the four-step pharmacoeconomic research model

Increasingly, economic data are being considered in formulary decisions. In oncology, pharmacoeconomic evaluations are essential to help decision makers weigh the associated costs and outcomes of competing chemotherapeutic interventions. In this article, we present a four-step pharmacoeconomic research model that can be customized for specific provider or payer systems. The model encompasses problem identification, clinical management analysis, three pharmacoeconomic analyses (cost consequence, expected cost, and cost effectiveness), and a sensitivity analysis--the rank order stability analysis (ROSA)--to validate the findings.