Total hospital direct costs were costs in dollars per
hospitalization inclusive of medications, devices and
nursing hours of care. Out of the total hospital direct
cost components of THR, the implant cost made up a
large proportion. On a worldwide basis, there are
tremendous variations in the cost and availability of
implants, and the reported cost for identical implants
from a single manufacturer can vary as much as
700% (Metz & Freiberg 1998). Thus, the decision
was made to exclude the implant cost from the hospital
direct cost for this study. Indirect costs (e.g. administration
and housekeeping) and physician fees also
were not included.