WHAT DOES A GP CONSULTATION COST

Background. Demand for information regarding the cost-effectiveness of health care treatment options is growing. It is necessary to derive u nit costs for services, such as general practice (GP) consultations, i n order to inform the economic evaluation. Aim. To review the literatu re, provide a description of the three key steps that should be follow ed in the costing process and to provide a method for updating costs c alculated in previous years. Method. A literature search was carried o ut to identify references that specifically describe the cost of a con sultation in general practice. A total of 20 references were extracted , categorized and reviewed. A cost-price index for health care goods w as obtained from the British Medical Association and used to construct a table to allow rapid reference and updating of cost results. The co sts reported in the literature were updated and compared. Results. Twe nty published studies referring to the unit cost of a GP consultation were located in the searches. Half of these did not describe the metho dology used to derive the costs; of those that did, less than half cov ered the necessary steps to derive unit costs. The cost of an average 10-minute consultation in 1995/96 figures was estimated to be pound 6. 90 +/- 2.73. Conclusion. Great variation exists regarding the methodol ogy for costing a GP consultation. If the methods used are stated expl icitly and incorporate the three steps described, then results obtaine d in previous years may be updated using the cost-price index as shown (Table 1). Interpretation in this area must be made with caution.