Category: Cost

Barth Syndrome research continues

Hopewell Economics LLC will have a poster at the annual conference for IPSOR, The Professional SOciety for Health Economics Research in Philadelpha in May 2026.  This is the second research project we have done concerning Barth Syndrome. New treatments are coming online, with the goal of improving patients’ lives while reducing economic costs. Barth Syndrome is a rare disorder affecting males and results in a lifetime of health challenges.

Poster details are here. 

 

 

What does “cost” mean?

 

Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride.

The concept of “cost” seems easy enough. Few things in healthcare are ever simple, and cost is one of those. In a hospital setting, there are at least three different ways to define “cost”:

  • For the hospital, it is the cost of providing the service. This usually includes operational cost as well as allocated overhead and capital costs.
  • For a payer, it often is the amount of the reimbursement or the payment to the hospital.
  • For a patient, “cost” might be the hospital’s billed charge amount after any discounts.

In The Princess Bride Inigo Montoya says, “You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Each version of “cost” will produce different amounts for any given service.  If a research paper or publication does not define “cost” or how it is calculated be wary. What you think the metric means might not be what you think.