OBJECTIVES: In Ireland, cost inputs are frequently used to inform health economic evaluations. It is essential that the cost data used to inform these evaluations are both accurate and representative of the resource utilisation that occurs in clinical practice in Ireland. High volumes of outpatient department visits occur in the Irish health care system. The aim of this research is to estimate the per patient cost of an outpatient department visit to the publicly funded health care payer in Ireland.

METHODS: A micro-costing approach was used to estimate the cost of an outpatient department visit in Ireland. The perspective taken was that of the publicly funded health care payer. Resource utilisation was identified using data from a time-and-motion study previously conducted at an outpatient department clinic in May 2016 and categorised under the headings ‘staff and overheads’ and ‘materials’. Resource utilisation was valued using relevant unit costs. The total cost of the outpatient department clinic was calculated, and a per-patient visit cost was derived by dividing the total cost by the number of patients attending the session. Sensitivity analyses were undertaken to investigate parametric uncertainty.

RESULTS: The per patient cost of an outpatient department visit to the Irish health care payer was €58.60 (comprised €33.75 ‘staff and overheads’ costs and €24.85 ‘materials’). Results were sensitive to variation in the number of patients attending the session and the number of investigations associated with the attendance.

CONCLUSIONS: This research uses a micro-costing approach to estimate the cost of an outpatient department visit, using secondary data from a time-and-motion study conducted in a hospital in Ireland. Further research is required to establish the generalisability of these results to the broader context in Ireland.