Abstract
This manuscript extends the classical models of the value of information to ask whether a hospital's net financial return is ever maximized by a cost-effectiveness analysis of retrospective data when watchful waiting and a full randomized clinical trial are alternative methodologies. The manuscript demonstrates that (1) some small-scale retrospective analyses may negatively affect net income and (2) under some conditions, larger-scale retrospective analyses may maximize net income. The manuscript also suggests that risk aversion increases the value of information and therefore the optimum expenditure on a project evaluation.
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Woodward, R.S., Boxerman, S.B., Schinitzler, M.A. et al. Optimum investments in project evaluations: When are cost-effectiveness analyses cost-effective?. J Med Syst 20, 385–393 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02257282
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02257282