Cost-minimisation analysis (CMA)
In a true CMA, only costs are evaluated. The central assumption
is that the outcomes of the alternative interventions or strategies
are considered equivalent, and so the goal is to find the least
expensive way of achieving the outcomes.For example, a cost
minimisation study was used to evaluate the savings from early
hospital discharge of patients with osteomyelitis followed up
by outpatient antibiotic treatment when compared with conventional inpatient treatment. When total costs per patient
were compared, the early discharge programme resulted in a
savings of US $510 per patient. Because CMA assumes that
clinical outcomes are the same, the evaluation is essentially a
search for the least costly alternative the minimal cost strategy
(in this case, early hospital discharge). However, the circumstances
under which CMA is an appropriate method of analysis
are limited because the technique is only appropriate when outcomes
have been rigorously shown to be equivalent.