When prisoners are transferred to Federal Medical Centers for psychiatric care, the costs of transportation and security for the transfer are included. The incremental cost of housing prisoners at the relatively more expensive medical center, rather than in ordinary prisons, is measured but not included. These transfers occurred under both telemedicine and conventional care, although there were fewer under telemedicine. The total costs of all transfers of psychiatric patients are therefore counted in equations for both conventional and telemedicine consultations. (See equation B.4.)

In the basic model, the per diem costs at Federal Medical Centers are assumed to be zero. That is, no additional housing costs at FMCs, as opposed to U.S. penitentiaries, are included.