Table 1.
Price weights for the estimation of costs*
| Cost items | Price weight | Source |
|---|---|---|
| General practitioner (GP) services | ||
| GP visits |
$62 |
Average private fee from 10 Dunedin (New Zealand) GP offices |
| Prescription | $12 | |
| Medications | ||
| Analgesics | Price weight based on | New Zealand Pharmaceutical Schedule |
| Anti-ulcerants | medication dosage and number | |
| Psychotropics | of tablets/capsules issued | |
| Hospital costs | ||
| Inpatient services |
$3,983.33 multiplied by inpatient service case weights |
New Zealand's case-mix framework for publically funded hospitals for fiscal year 2008/09: WIESNZ08 |
| Emergency visits | $322 | Hospital's volume schedule from funder |
| Outpatient orthopaedic visits | $158 | |
| Rheumatologist visits | $210 | |
| Medical imaging |
$55 multiplied by relative value unit of procedure |
Imaging contract between the Accident Compensation Corporation and the hospital |
*All monetary values are in 2009 New Zealand dollars (NZD); the conversion rate to US dollars (USD) at 2009 purchasing power parity is $1 NZD = $0.63 USD.