Some clinicians may challenge the wisdom of including costs in a policy recommending medical practices.
Costs are an everyday and unavoidable part of medical decision making.
Because resources are finite, the clinician inevitably factors costs into decision making. The Policy Team believed that it was most appropriate to account for costs more explicitly. A review of the literature on the costs of TOL and ERCS proved most vexing. Costs varied substantially from one institution to another, making direct comparisons virtually impossible. The comparative studies of the financial costs of cesarean section and vaginal births have traditionally used charges to represent costs.