Table 1.

Method and analysis of cost items.

Item	Delivery approach		Measurement		Determination of value	Relevant analysis
	Face-to-face	Web-based	Model	Actual cost from RCTa		BEAb	CEAc	CBAd
Internet	No	Yes	Yes	No	Internet costs were valued by adding the course learning materials download data size (in megabytes) to the mean data size of student uploads, totaling 800 MB. We selected an existing Telstra broadband plan (accessed October 6, 2010) to cover this data cost over a 1-month period excluding set-up costs. The data limit and plan would enable the participant sufficient bandwidth and download/upload capacity to view all learning resources, complete the learning tasks, and contribute to discussion rooms over the 4-week course schedule. As some remote participants may use satellite-based Internet access, this cost was also sourced to be included in the relevant sensitivity analysis.	No	No	Yes
Transport	Yes	No	No	No	The most common mode of transportation for participants was by car. We estimated fuel costs based on the average distance participants travelled to face-to-face course venues. The average distance travelled was based on post-code data volunteered in electronic survey undertaken by RCT participants.	No	No	Yes
Opportunity cost of free time forgone	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	With wage rate providing a proxy for the opportunity cost of leisure time, we calculated a value for the participants’ time commitment by taking the mean number of hours participants required to complete the course multiplied by the hourly wage of the participant [14,15]. An hourly rate of AUD $45 an hour was used to reflect an early career physiotherapist (grade 2, year 1, Victorian Award), the largest representative group within the study demographics. In sensitivity analysis scenarios involving course participation outside of regular business hours, the wage rate was supplemented with time-and-a-half loading as would typically be experienced for clinical work outside of regular scheduled hours, ie, the weekend. These rates included 1.6 additional hours of course time for the Web-based group, as participants in this group were found within the RCT to spend significantly greater time engaged with further learning resources. Scenarios from the perspective of the health service include 17% on-costs, whereas on-costs were excluded for the CBA, as they are costs carried by the organization and not relevant from the participant’s perspective.	No	Yes	Yes
Venue rental	Yes	No	No	Yes	Venues were valued from current market prices experienced in delivering the interventions in the RCT. We set venue capacity at 20 participants for both program delivery approaches to reflect the real-life limitations of supervision and feedback time that a single tutor could provide within the practical skills practice segments of the program.	Yes	No	No
Presentation equipment	Yes	No	No	Yes	Presentation equipment included rental of a laptop computer and digital projector. Costs were valued from current market prices experienced in delivering the interventions in the RCT.	Yes	No	No
Facilitator remuneration	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	We based remuneration for the facilitator’s time in the face-to-face program delivery on the current Monash University enterprise bargaining agreement (accessed August 1, 2011) hourly sessional rate, excluding on-costs, for “repeat tutoring with a doctoral qualification.” The rate was applied to the course duration of 8 hours. Alternatives of 12 hours and 16 hours were considered in the sensitivity analysis to reflect allowances for transportation and accommodation as may be experienced with the presenter attending courses set in rural or remote locations. We based the remuneration rate for the Web-based facilitator on the tutoring Monash University sessional rate, excluding on-costs, for “repeat tutoring without doctoral qualifications.” The reduced rate for the Web-based facilitator reflected the alternative role of the Web-based facilitator, who is required to monitor and facilitate class activity, while the content is delivered by prerecorded video vignettes of a more highly qualified presenter. The Web-based facilitator was contracted for 16 hours to account for time associated with Web-based orientation enquiries from participants and accessing Web-based video submissions for feedback, which is commonly less efficient than live observation.	Yes	No	No
ICTe support	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Costs involved in the operational support of the learning platform Moodle and live presenter ICT support were not directly measured and were obtained via an internal Monash University quotation of service.	Yes	No	No
ICT licensing fees	No	Yes	No	Yes	The Web-based learning system Moodle that we used in the RCT has no current or anticipated license fees and uses open-source code.	Yes	No	No
Practical tutor assistant	Yes	No	No	Yes	Costs were valued from current market prices experienced in delivering the interventions in the RCT.	Yes	No	No
Catering	Yes	No	No	Yes	Taken from RCT face-to-face delivery costs, averaged across the three face-to-face delivery venues.	Yes	No	No
Office and stationery consumables	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Costs were valued from current market prices experienced in delivering the interventions in the RCT.	Yes	No	No
Course support DVDs	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Costs were valued from current market prices experienced in delivering the interventions in the RCT.	Yes	No	No
Administrative support	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Administrative staff support was used by both delivery approaches for tasks such as processing enrollments, and mailing student materials and certificates. Costs were valued at 12 hours of Monash University Professional Staff award rate of HEW3, level 7.	Yes	No	No

^a Randomized controlled trial.

^b Break-even analysis.

^c Cost-effectiveness analysis.

^d Cost-benefit analysis.

^e Information and communication technology.