ArticleEuropean journal of radiology open2024
True cost estimation of common imaging procedures for cost-effectiveness analysis - insights from a Singapore hospital emergency department.
Article in European journal of radiology open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Comparative cost-effectiveness of cross-sectional imaging strategies in the diagnosis of intervertebral disc extrusion in dogs: a United Kingdom-based decision-analytic study.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2026Article
- Assessing context and readiness of emergency medicine physicians to promote evidence-based imaging referral guidelines: a mixed-methods study.Translational behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: There is a lack of clear and consistent cost reporting for cost-effectiveness analysis in radiology. Estimates are often obtained using costing derived from hospital charge records. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of hospital charge records compared to a Singapore hospital's true diagnostic imaging costs. Methods: A seven-step process involving a bottom-up micro-costing approach was devised and followed to calculate the cost of imaging using actual data from a clinical setting. We retrieved electronic data from a random sample of 96 emergency department patients who had CT brain, CT and X-ray cervical spine, and X-ray lumbar spine performed to calculate the parameters required for cost estimation. We adjusted imaging duration and number of performing personnel to account for variations. Results: Our approach determined the average cost for the following imaging procedures: CT brain (€154.00), CT and X-ray cervical spine (€177.14 and €68.22), and X-ray lumbar spine (€79.85). We found that the true cost of both conventional radiography procedures was marginally higher than the subsidized patient charge, and all costs were slightly lower than the private patient charge except for X-ray lumbar spine (€73.49 vs.€79.85). We identified larger differences in cost for both CT procedures and smaller differences in cost for conventional radiography procedures, depending on the patient's private or subsidized status. For private status, the differences were: CT brain (Min: €194.20; Max: €264.40), CT cervical spine (Min: €219.54; Max: €399.05), X-ray cervical spine (Min: €5.27; Max: €61.94), and X-ray lumbar spine (Min: €6.36; Max: €108.04), while for subsidized status, the differences were: CT brain (Min: €7.56; Max: €62.64), CT cervical spine (Min: €47.02; Max: €132.49), X-ray cervical spine (Min: €15.88; Max: €103.44), and X-ray lumbar spine (Min: €13.66; Max: €149.44). Considering examination duration and the number of personnel engaged in a procedure, there were significant variations in the minimum, average, and maximum imaging costs. Conclusion: There is a modest gap between hospital charges and actual costs, and we must therefore exercise caution and recognize the limitations of utilizing hospital charge records as absolute metrics for cost-effectiveness analysis
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.