Costs were not discounted given the short time frame of the study (1 year). Quantities and costs were reported separately. Direct costs included laboratory costs, costs of r-HuEPO, transfusion costs, medical day unit visit costs, physician costs and costs of post-transfusion events. The quantity/cost boundary adopted was that of the health service. The estimation of quantities and costs was based on actual data. The costs of hospital services were determined with the assistance of the Chedoke-McMaster Corporate Cost Model. The cost to determine the r-HuEPO level was based on the unit cost per test at the St. Joseph Hemostasis Laboratory, Hamilton, Ontario. The cost of a unit of PRBC was supplied by the Canadian Red Cross, Ottawa, Canada. Physician costs were based on the Ontario Schedule of Benefits for Physician Services. The costs of post-transfusion events was derived from an economic analysis of r-HuEPO among haemodialysis patients. The price year was 1994.