COST AND OUTCOME ANALYSIS

The analysis of cost issues has become increasingly important in all f ields of medicine, Understanding these economic analyses can make prov iders more cognizant of the ultimate health, economic, and social outc omes of their treatment decisions. The methodology of cost studies and the surgical costs of treatment of intracranial metastatic tumors war rant review. Costs of surgical and radiosurgical treatment are in the range of that for the care of other serious illnesses, but comparison of the available options is still sensitive to assumptions, and open t o varied interpretations.