Adoption of new technologies and costs of health care

New technological applications are usually expected to increase the health care costs. But they can also spawn cost savings in the long run, for example, when making time-consuming diagnostic methods more efficient and facilitating targeted therapy. This study analyses how the implementation of new technological applications in acute treatment affects the long-term cost structure of health care. The non-monetary utility is compared to cost-efficiency impacts of a new technology. A theoretical apparatus is constructed and utilized in two empirical cases: thrombolytic therapy for stroke, and Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) on glioblastoma-type brain cancers. The empirical cases indicate how the monetary cost-efficiency of the new technologies can be related to the nonmonetary patient utility.