Evaluating economic studies in reproductive medicine.

Healthcare professionals are under increasing pressure to stem the rise of healthcare costs and national healthcare expenditures. This has led to great interest in cost-effective therapy for patients. This article reviews the different types of economic analysis of medical practice and the components of a cost-effective analysis. It also reviews how to evaluate a cost-effectiveness paper and apply it to clinical practice. Economic analysis of a medical practice is a formal and quantitative method of comparing alternative strategies with respect to cost and outcomes. These analyses are frequently poorly performed, limiting their applicability to clinic practice. After reading this review, a physician should be better equipped to effectively evaluate economic analyses.