Direct costs relate strictly to medical resources and care, usually reimbursed by some health insurance system or state healthcare services. These costs represent resources that are consumed and may encompass:
- consultations with physicians (outpatient care)
- nursing services
- hospital in-patient treatments
- emergency room visits
- ambulance use and other travel expenses for obtaining medical care
- drugs
- devices (e.g., peak flow meters, encasings, etc.)
- diagnostic tests
- costs linked to the local or remote spreading of the disease to other organs of the body
- research and education
- capital costs of land, buildings and equipment.
Direct costs are relatively easy to estimate. They are expected to grow in the future because of the increasing incidence of allergic disease; the increasing cost of medical care; the availability of new drugs that are more active but more expensive, and the mandatory enhancement of physician's and patient's education in an attempt to better diagnose and treat the disease.
However, short-term increases in public health expenses are foreseen to produce significant savings in the long-term. This is particularly true with the allergic diseases, where appropriate self-management and compliance with the most effective therapy will ultimately serve to reduce physician intervention, hospitalization and inappropriate drug use.