A Cost-Utility Scenario Analysis of Bilateral Cochlear Implantation

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Abstract
HEALTH technologies should be reassessed when the technology changes or when criteria of candidature for the technology change.1 Where radical changes are contemplated, scenario analysis—a technique in which available sources of data are used to predict future outcomes under a range of assumptions—can be a useful tool for exploring the consequences of change.2,3 Bilateral cochlear implantation is a radical change in relation to the routine practice of providing implants unilaterally because it adds materially to the cost of provision. This article describes a health-economic scenario analysis designed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of bilateral cochlear implantation. Such analysis can inform future research strategy by identifying interventions whose cost-effectiveness is uncertain in relation to current criteria of acceptability. Resources available for research can then be allocated to measuring the cost-effectiveness of those interventions empirically.