Criterios económicos en la selección de nuevos tratamientos por el cardiólogo clínico

Clinical cardiologists have to deal regularly with the implementation of new therapeutic techniques, most of which involve a significant increase in healthcare costs. Being in a situation in which resources are limited, physicians must not only identify therapies that improve patient outcome, as shown by scientific evidence, but also take into account economic analyses that indicate whether the improvement gained justifies the cost incurred. This article presents a review of the basic principles of health economics, and illustrates them with some examples involving recently introduced cardiovascular therapies.