"This is a well-organized, well-written, data-rich book dealing with perhaps the greatest future challenge for further progress in cardiovascular medicine. the methods and message can be generalized to health care as a whole. The contributors and editor are authoritative leaders in cardiovascular economics. the text is an excellent starting point for anyone requiring information and insight into cardiovascular health care economics. For the health services researcher, the book provides a comprehensive review of the available data and thought on any specific area to help guide future study and elaboration. For the policy maker, health care payor, administrator, or clinician with an interest in or need to know economic information, Cardiovascular Health Care Economics will provide excellent background and data to guide decision making." - JAMA

• I. Methods.- 1 Nonfederal US Hospital Costs.- 2 Estimating the Costs of Cardiac Care Provided by the Hospitals of the US Department of Veterans Affairs.- 3 Estimating the Costs of Health Care Resources in Canada.- 4 US Physician Costs: Conceptual and Methodological Issues and Selected Applications.- 5 Indirect Health Care Costs: An Overview.- 6 Health Status Assessment.- 7 Utility Assessment.- 8 Introduction to Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.- 9 Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Alongside Clinical Trials: Statistical and Methodological Issues.- II. Clinical Applications.- 10 Costs of Care and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: Primary Prevention of Coronary Artery Disease.- 11 Economics of Therapy for Acute Coronary Syndromes.- 12 Cost-Effectiveness of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions.- 13 Economic Comparisons of Coronary Angioplasty and Coronary Bypass Surgery.- 14 Costs of Coronary Artery Surgery and Cost-Effectiveness of CABG vs Medicine.- 15 Costs of Care and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: Other Cardiac Surgery.- 16 Congestive Heart Failure.- 17 Current Economic Evidence Using Noninvasive Cardiac Testing.- 18 Cost-Effective Care in the Management of Conduction Disease and Arrhythmias.- 19 Comparing Cost-Utility Analyses in Cardiovascular Medicine.- 20 Beyond Heart Disease: Cost-Effectiveness as a Guide to Comparing Alternate Approaches to Improving the Nation’s Health.- 21 Using Economic Studies for Policy Purposes.- 22 Medicare, the Aging of America, and the Balanced Budget.- Afterword: The Future of Economics in Cardiovascular Care and Research.