Cost comparison of psychiatric outpatient clinics based in hospitals and in primary care (general practice health center)

Abstract

The first study to compare the costs of hospital-based and primary care (general practice health center)-based psychiatric outpatient clinics is reported. The operating costs of both clinic settings were estimated to be similar. There are many advantages of primary care-based clinics compared with hospital-based clinics. However, as there are no evaluative studies of the comparative efficacy of either clinic setting, before policy decisions to encourage primary care clinics are made such evaluative studies should take place.