Abstract
As medical knowledge advances, potential new tests and treatments are usually evaluated in randomised clinical trials and may then be adopted into clinical practice. Some are adopted because they are more effective than what went before, improving quality and/or quantity of life, others because they can achieve a similar clinical outcome at a lower cost. Comparing the costs and effects of various treatment options in the management of cardiac conditions is a fundamental process towards achieving the best outcomes for our own patients and our whole population with available resources. We all make daily decisions about treatment choices for our patients that no doubt take these issues into account, at least in a qualitative way, but formal quantitative methods are now well developed and will become increasingly important as we try to do the most good for the most people using our departmental, state and national health budgets.
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