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 non-monetary patient utility.
