ABSTRACT
Public health specialists need to understand the cost of health services for several reasons (see Table 5F.1). Costs are split categorised as being direct, indirect, and overheads (see Table 5F.2). The process of assigning costs to health services is complicated by a number of factors, including the following:
●● Dening the service or episode of care. For example, does hip replacement surgery consist only of the operation and the associated inpatient stay, or does it also include the pre-operative assessment and post-operative physiotherapy?
