Cost-effectiveness analysis: application to endourology.

A literature review was conducted on the application of economic analysis to clinical medicine, particularly urology. The surgical management of urolithiasis and the treatment of ureteropelvic junction obstruction were used as specific disease examples to evaluate how cost-effectiveness analysis has been used to address the clinical concerns of practicing urologists. As the costs and outcomes of the treatment of kidney stone disease and ureteropelvic junction obstruction can be specifically defined, the application of cost-effectiveness analysis in these two areas meets most standards of economic analysis. Economic models that incorporate poor assumptions, incomplete data, or both are unlikely to have significant clinical utility. The most useful models are those that are structurally simple and evaluate healthcare program alternatives from the patient's, provider's, or society's perspective.