Concept Architecture
Concept
Theoretically, Partial Economic Evaluation is an economic assessment that examines either the costs or the consequences of a healthcare intervention, or both without comparing alternative interventions. It is founded on health economic evaluation methodology and exists to describe, measure or estimate economic aspects of healthcare without assessing relative efficiency. Unlike a full economic evaluation, it does not compare competing alternatives and therefore cannot determine cost-effectiveness.
Mathematically, Partial Economic Evaluation is represented through recognised costing and outcome measurement methods rather than a single mathematical equation. The mathematical framework depends on the specific type of evaluation, such as cost analysis, cost description, cost-of-illness studies or outcome description, and involves estimating costs, resource use or health outcomes without incremental comparison.
In practice, Partial Economic Evaluation is applied to quantify healthcare costs, describe disease burden, estimate resource utilisation or report clinical outcomes. It is commonly used during preliminary economic assessments, burden-of-illness studies, service costing and budget planning, providing information that may subsequently inform a full economic evaluation.
Purpose
Used to quantify healthcare costs, resource use or outcomes without comparing competing interventions, describe the economic burden of disease, support service planning and provide evidence for subsequent full economic evaluations.
Mathematical Formulae
Primary Formula
There is no universally recognised canonical mathematical formula.
Supporting Formulae
Total Cost:
TC = ????� C?
Mean Cost:
C? = (????� C?) / n
Related Mathematical Methods
- Cost Analysis
- Cost Description
- Cost-of-Illness Analysis
- Resource Utilisation Analysis
- Descriptive Costing
- Budget Estimation
Example
A hospital estimates the annual direct medical cost of treating 500 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Total inpatient, outpatient and medication costs are �2,400,000.
Mean Cost = �2,400,000 / 500 = �4,800 per patient
The study describes the economic burden of treatment but does not compare alternative interventions and therefore is a partial economic evaluation.
Excel Implementation
| Function | Example Formula | Health Economics Application |
|---|---|---|
| SUM | =SUM(B2:B501) | Calculates total healthcare costs. |
| AVERAGE | =AVERAGE(B2:B501) | Calculates mean patient cost. |
| COUNT | =COUNT(B2:B501) | Counts observations included in the analysis. |
| SUMPRODUCT | =SUMPRODUCT(B2:B501,C2:C501) | Calculates total costs from unit costs and resource use. |
VBA (Optional)
Automate aggregation of healthcare cost and utilisation data to produce standardised partial economic evaluation reports.
Sources
- Drummond MF, Sculpher MJ, Claxton K, Stoddart GL, Torrance GW. Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes. 4th ed.
- Briggs A, Claxton K, Sculpher M. Decision Modelling for Health Economic Evaluation.
- NICE. Health Technology Evaluation Manual.
- Husereau D, Drummond M, Augustovski F, et al. CHEERS 2022 Statement: Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards.
Related Concepts (2)
Library
Publications
1
Modeling Good Research Practices — Overview: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force-1 — Caro, Briggs, Siebert & Kuntz, Task Force Report 1 ed., 2012 (Value in Health / Medical Decision Making)
The overview paper of the seven-part ISPOR-SMDM modelling good-practice series, setting out best-practice recommendations across model design, technique selection, implementation, validation, parameterisation, uncertainty and use in decision making.
Journal ArticleView source →
Frequently Asked Questions (6)
What is a partial economic evaluation?
A study examining either the costs or the outcomes of an intervention, or both without comparison to an alternative, short of a full economic evaluation.
Source: Drummond MF, Sculpher MJ, Claxton K, Stoddart GL, Torrance GW. Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes. 4th ed. Oxford University Press; 2015.
Is a cost-of-illness study a partial economic evaluation?
A cost-of-illness study, which totals the resources a condition consumes without comparing an intervention against an alternative, is a form of partial economic evaluation. It measures a magnitude, the burden a disease places on a system, but does not weigh the cost of acting against the benefit gained, so it cannot show whether a response would be worthwhile. Such studies describe a problem rather than appraise a solution. Drummond and colleagues (2015) classify cost-of-illness work among the partial forms.
Source: Drummond et al. 2015
What forms does partial economic evaluation take?
Partial evaluations include cost analyses that describe the costs of an intervention without its outcomes, outcome descriptions that report effects without costs, and cost-outcome descriptions that report both for a single option without a comparator. Comparisons that set two options against each other on cost alone, or on outcome alone, are also partial. Each omits either the comparison or the joint consideration of costs and effects that a full evaluation requires.
Source: Drummond et al. 2015
Why can a partial evaluation not establish value for money?
Value for money is a relative judgement, about what additional benefit an option's additional cost secures compared with an alternative, so it requires both a comparator and the joint consideration of costs and effects. A partial evaluation, lacking one of these, cannot make that judgement: describing an option's costs and outcomes without a comparator shows what it involves but not whether it is worth adopting, and comparing on cost or outcome alone ignores the trade-off between them.
Source: Drummond et al. 2015
When are partial economic evaluations useful?
Partial evaluations are useful as building blocks and for specific purposes: a cost analysis can inform budgeting, an outcome description can establish effectiveness, and a cost-of-illness study can convey the burden of a disease. They can also be a stage toward a full evaluation, assembling the costs or outcomes that a comparison will later use. They are informative within their limits, provided they are not mistaken for evidence of value for money, which they cannot supply.
Source: Drummond et al. 2015
How does a partial evaluation relate to a full one?
A partial evaluation supplies part of what a full evaluation requires, whether the costs, the outcomes, or a single option's cost-outcome description, but not the comparison of alternatives on both together. A full evaluation can be assembled from partial components once a comparator and the joint consideration of costs and effects are added. Recognising a study as partial clarifies what it can and cannot show, preventing a cost or outcome description being read as evidence of cost-effectiveness.
Source: Drummond et al. 2015
Trust Record
Verified by Dr Darrin Baines
British health economist
Professional identity: darrinbaines.org
Verification date: 26 Aug 2025
Content version: 1.0.0
Canonical Identity
- Term code
- HE-EE-EM-007
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