Value of integrated care: revival of the monetary valuation of health care benefits

The number of economic evaluations looking at integrated care has increased in recent years [1]. A definition that is often used for economic evaluations is that these studies include a comparison of two or more alternatives in terms of both their costs and consequences [2]. Economic evaluation studies thus relate the cost to the effects of integrated care. Often a comparison is made in which a ‘more coordinated and integrated form of care provision’ is compared to ‘care as usual’. In these economic evaluation studies, the costs are expressed in monetary terms and outcomes are usually expressed in non-monetary values, such as quality of care, quality of life, or quality of labour.