Health Economics Review最新文献

Background: With the increasing demand for fertility services, it is urgent to select the most cost-effective assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment plan and include it in medical insurance. Economic evaluation reports are an important reference for medical insurance negotiation. The aim of this study is to systematically evaluate the economic evaluation research of ART, analyze the existing shortcomings, and provide a reference for the economic evaluation of ART.

Methods: PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and ScienceDirect databases were searched for relevant articles on the economic evaluation of ART. These articles were screened, and their quality was evaluated based on the Comprehensive Health Economics Evaluation Report Standard (CHEERS 2022), and the data on the basic characteristics, model characteristics and other aspects of the included studies were summarized.

Results: One hundred and two related articles were obtained in the preliminary search, but based on the inclusion criteria, 12 studies were used for the analysis, of which nine used the decision tree model. The model parameters were mainly derived from published literature and included retrospective clinical data of patients. Only two studies included direct non-medical and indirect costs in the cost measurement. Live birth rate was used as an outcome indicator in half of the studies.

Conclusion: Suggesting the setting of the threshold range in the field of fertility should be actively discussed, and the monetary value of each live birth is assumed to be in a certain range when the WTP threshold for fertility is uncertain. The range of the parameter sources should be expanded. Direct non-medical and indirect costs should be included in the calculation of costs, and the analysis should be carried out from the perspective of the whole society. In the evaluation of clinical effect, the effectiveness and safety indexes should be selected for a comprehensive evaluation, thereby making the evaluation more comprehensive and reliable. At least subgroup analysis based on age stratification should be considered in the relevant economic evaluation.

Background: Due to population aging, healthcare expenditure is projected to increase substantially in developed countries like Spain. However, prior research indicates that health status, not merely age, is a key driver of healthcare costs. This study analyzed data from over 1.25 million residents of Spain's Murcia region to develop a capitation-based healthcare financing model incorporating health status via Adjusted Morbidity Groups (AMGs). The goal was to simulate an equitable area-based healthcare budget allocation reflecting population needs.

Methods: Using 2017 data on residents' age, sex, AMG designation, and individual healthcare costs, generalized linear models were built to predict healthcare expenditure based on health status indicators. Multiple link functions and distribution families were tested, with model selection guided by information criteria, residual analysis, and goodness-of-fit statistics. The selected model was used to estimate adjusted populations and simulate capitated budgets for the 9 healthcare districts in Murcia.

Results: The gamma distribution with logarithmic link function provided the best model fit. Comparisons of predicted and actual average costs revealed underfunded and overfunded areas within Murcia. If implemented, the capitation model would decrease funding for most districts (up to 15.5%) while increasing it for two high-need areas, emphasizing allocation based on health status and standardized utilization rather than historical spending alone.

Conclusions: AMG-based capitated budgeting could improve equity in healthcare financing across regions in Spain. By explicitly incorporating multimorbidity burden into allocation formulas, resources can be reallocated towards areas with poorer overall population health. Further policy analysis and adjustment is needed before full-scale implementation of such need-based global budgets.

Introduction: In 2022, updated guidance from NICE expanded the options for self-monitoring of blood glucose for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), to include continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). In this budget impact analysis, the cost impact of CGM was compared with traditional self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in adults with T2DM over 1 year from the commissioner perspective in England.

Research design and methods: The NICE-eligible T2DM cohort was split into 4 subgroups to enable nuanced costing by insulin administration frequency: basal human insulin, premixed insulin, basal-bolus insulin and bolus insulin. The model's cost components comprised mild and severe hypoglycaemia (SH), diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), consumables and healthcare resource utilisation in primary and secondary care.

Results: The introduction of CGM is estimated to be cost additive by approximately £4.6 million in the basecase, driven by increased spending on the CGM device. Overall, healthcare activity was reduced by approximately 20,000 attendances, due to fewer SH and DKA episodes in the CGM arm. General Practitioner (GP) practice-based activity is expected to drop after the first year as patients requiring CGM training is reduced. The budget impact could be neutralised if the CGM sensor was discounted by 13.2% (£29.76 to £25.83).

Conclusions: CGM may result in increased spending in the NICE-eligible T2DM cohort but is expected to reduce demand on secondary care services and GP time. These findings may be of interest to local decision-makers who wish to resolve the COVID-19 backlog with transformational investment in primary care to reduce secondary care activity.

Background: To estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of once-weekly semaglutide versus sitagliptin as an add-on therapy for type 2 diabetes patients inadequately controlled on metformin in China, to better inform healthcare decision making.

Methods: The Cardiff diabetes model which is a Monte Carlo micro-simulation model was used to project short-term effects of once-weekly semaglutide versus sitagliptin into long-term outcomes. Short-term data of patient profiles and treatment effects were derived from the 30-week SUSTAIN China trial, in which 868 type 2 diabetes patients with a mean age of 53.1 years inadequately controlled on metformin were randomized to receive once-weekly semaglutide 0.5 mg, once-weekly semaglutide 1 mg, or sitagliptin 100 mg. Costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were estimated from a healthcare system perspective at a discount rate of 5%. Univariate sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis, and probabilistic sensitivity analysis were conducted to test the uncertainty.

Results: Over patients' lifetime projections, patients in both once-weekly semaglutide 0.5 mg and 1 mg arms predicted less incidences of most vascular complications, mortality, and hypoglycemia, and lower total costs compared with those in sitagliptin arm. For an individual patient, compared with sitagliptin, once-weekly semaglutide 0.5 mg conferred a small QALY improvement of 0.08 and a lower cost of $5173, while once-weekly semaglutide 1 mg generated an incremental QALY benefit of 0.12 and a lower cost of $7142, as an add-on to metformin. Therefore, both doses of once-weekly semaglutide were considered dominant versus sitagliptin with more QALY benefits at lower costs.

Conclusion: Once-weekly semaglutide may represent a cost-effective add-on therapy alternative to sitagliptin for type 2 diabetes patients inadequately controlled on metformin in China.

Background: Morocco is engaged in a health system reform aimed at generalizing health insurance across the whole population by 2025. This study aims to build a national database of costs at all levels of public hospitals in Morocco and craft this database as a resource for further use in a strategic purchasing system. It also aims at estimating the funding gap and the budget that should be secured for public hospitals in Morocco to fully play their roles in the current ambitious reform.

Method: A costing study was implemented in 39 hospitals in 12 regions of Morocco (10 provincial hospitals, 11 regional hospitals, and 18 teaching hospitals). Using the hospital costing approach, we adapted and validated nationally our methodology to generate a database of unit costs based on data from 2019. All perspectives on cost were considered. Data collection was performed by cadres from MoH and facilitated by the WHO country office in Morocco. The production of the cost database allowed the development of a bottom-up estimation of the financing size for public health hospitals.

Results: The study showed the feasibility of large-scale costing in the context of Morocco. The ownership of MoH and adherence to the process ensured the high quality of the collected data. There are many differences in unit costs for the same services moving from one hospital to another, which indicates existing inefficiencies. The database will contribute to shaping the strategic purchasing mechanism within the generalized health insurance schemes. The studied hospitals could be used as references to systematically update the billing system for health insurance.

Background: Barriers to utilization of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services by adolescents and young people (AYP) have persisted despite evidence that youth-friendly services have a positive effect on contraceptive use, and patient knowledge and satisfaction.

Objective: The objective of this study was to elicit, and derive relative valuations for, attributes of SRH services that adolescents and young people value, and their willingness to pay for these services, in public health facilities.

Methods: A discrete-choice-experiment (DCE) that was developed using a mixed methods approach was administered to AYP from Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria. The DCE attributes were: the type of staff; physical environment; health worker attitude; cost; waiting time; contraceptive availability; and opening hours. The choice tasks had two unlabeled alternatives and an opt-out option. Panel mixed logit choice model was used to fit the choice data, along with estimation of willingness to pay (WTP). Also, a latent class logit model was used to detect underlying preference heterogeneity among the respondents. Finally, the uptake of the services in health facilities was investigated by estimating the probabilities for selecting hypothetical health facilities under different scenarios.

Results: A total of 859 AYP participated resulting in 6872 choice observations. The physical environment attribute had the highest utility rating relative to the other attributes, followed by preference for a doctor and for a service provider who was open and friendly. The cost and time coefficients were negative, revealing preference for lower cost and shorter waiting time. The latent class model had three classes that varied by their background characteristics. Probability of choosing any of the facility alternatives increased with introduction of more favorable facility characteristics.

Conclusion: The pattern of preferences identified are potential targets for service design and delivery optimization that may result in improvements in service acceptability and utilization. These results strengthen the call for involving AYP in decision-making in health interventions for them and developing context-specific SRH programs for AYP in public health facilities.

Background: We investigate access disparities in pharmaceutical care among German patients with type 2 diabetes, focusing on differences between public and private health insurance schemes. The primary objectives include investigating whether patients with private health insurance experience enhanced access to antidiabetic care and analyzing whether the treatment received by public and private patients is influenced by the practice composition, particularly the proportion of private patients.

Methods: We estimate fixed effect regression models, to isolate the effect of insurance schemes on treatment choices. We utilize data from a prescriber panel comprising 681 physicians collectively serving 68,362 patients undergoing antidiabetic treatments.

Results: The analysis reveals a significant effect of the patient's insurance status on antidiabetic care access. Patients covered by private insurance show a 10-percentage-point higher likelihood of receiving less complex treatments compared to those with public insurance. Furthermore, the composition of physicians' practices plays a crucial role in determining the likelihood of patients receiving less complex treatments. Notably, the most pronounced disparities in access are observed in practices mirroring the regional average composition.

Conclusions: Our findings underscore strategic physician navigation across diverse health insurance schemes in ambulatory care settings, impacting patient access to innovative treatments.

Objectives: We aim to analyse the effects of government subsidies on residents' health and healthcare expenditure from the perspectives of supply and demand.

Data and methods: According to the regional division adopted in the data query system of the National Bureau of Statistics, this study divides 31 provinces and cities into three regions: eastern, central, and western. The data used are from public databases, such as the "China Statistical Yearbook," "China Health Statistical Yearbook," and "Government Final Account Report". In this study, mathematical model derivation is used to construct a fixed effects model, and an empirical study based on cross-sectional data and general linear regression is conducted. To prevent endogeneity issues, this study introduces instrumental variables and uses 2SLS regression to further analyse the output results.

Results: For every 1% increase in supplementary funding on the supply side, the perinatal mortality rate decreases by 1.765%, while for every 1% increase in financial compensation on the demand side, per capita outpatient expenses increase by 0.225% and per capita hospitalization expenses increase by 0.196%. Regarding medical resources, for every 1% increase in the number of beds per 1,000 people, per capita hospitalization expenses decrease by 0.099%. In the central and eastern regions, where economic levels are higher, supply-side government funding is more effective than demand-side funding. In contrast, demand-side funding is more effective in the western region.

Conclusions: The roles of multiple influencing factors and significant regional heterogeneity are clarified. Increasing financial compensation to providers positively impacts perinatal mortality but leads to higher per capita outpatient and hospital expenditures. Finally, this study provides targeted policy recommendations and solid theoretical support for policymakers.

Background: There is not yet sufficient scientific evidence to answer the question of the extent to which different reimbursement systems influence patient care and treatment quality. Due to the asymmetry of information between physicians, health insurers and patients, market-based mechanisms are necessary to ensure the best possible patient care. The aim of this study is to investigate how reimbursement systems influence multiple areas of patient care in form of structure, process and outcome indicators.

Methods: For this purpose, a systematic literature review of systematic reviews is conducted in the databases PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. The reimbursement systems of salary, bundled payment, fee-for-service and value-based reimbursement are examined. Patient care is divided according to the three dimensions of structure, process, and outcome and evaluated in eight subcategories.

Results: A total of 34 reviews of 971 underlying primary studies are included in this article. International studies identified the greatest effects in categories resource utilization and quality/health outcomes. Pay-for-performance and bundled payments were the most commonly studied models. Among the systems examined, fee-for-service and value-based reimbursement systems have the most positive impact on patient care.

Conclusion: Patient care can be influenced by the choice of reimbursement system. The factors for successful implementation need to be further explored in future research.