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Evaluation of costs and effects of epidural analgesia and patient-controlled intravenous analgesia after major abdominal surgery.

BACKGROUND: The outcome of different treatment strategies for postoperative pain has been an issue of controversy. Apart from efficacy and effectiveness a policy decision should also consider cost-effectiveness. Since economic analyses on postoperative pain treatment are rare we developed a decision model in a pilot cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) comparing epidural analgesia (EDA) and patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) after major abdominal surgery in routine care. METHODS: Using a decision-tree model, treatment with EDA (ropivacaine and morphine) was compared with PCIA (morphine). Effects and costs of treatment were established. The number of pain-free days at rest (pain intensity <30 using visual analogue scale 1-100 mm) was the primary measure of effect. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated as the difference in direct costs divided by the difference in effect. A database on 644 patients collected for the purpose of quality control during the period of 1997 to 1999 was the main data source. Sensitivity analysis was used to test uncertain data. RESULTS: EDA was more effective in terms of pain-free days but more expensive. The additional cost for each pain-free day was 5652 Euros. CONCLUSION: It is a judgement of value if the additional cost is reasonable. When the cost of around 55,000 Euros per gained life-year with full health for other interventions is debated, our result indicates poor cost-effectiveness for EDA. Before any conclusion can be drawn concerning policy recommendations the difference in costs has to be related to other outcome measures as length of hospital stay, morbidity and mortality are required.

Abdomen↗

Mathematical models for predicting the epidemiologic and economic impact of vaccination against human papillomavirus infection and disease.

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer, other anogenital cancers, genital warts, and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis. Clinical studies have demonstrated that a prophylactic HPV vaccine can prevent infection, genital warts, and the precancerous lesions that lead to cervical cancer. Given the absence of data on the long-term effectiveness of HPV vaccination, a number of mathematical models have been developed to provide insight to policy makers by projecting the long-term epidemiologic and economic consequences of vaccination and evaluate alternative vaccination policies. This paper reviews the state of these models. Three types of HPV mathematical models have been reported in the literature: cohort, population dynamic, and hybrid. All have demonstrated that vaccination can significantly reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in the long term. However, only the cohort and hybrid models have evaluated the cost-effectiveness of vaccination strategies for preventing cervical cancer. These models have generally shown that vaccinating females can be cost-effective. None has accounted for the potential benefits of vaccinating the population to reduce the burden of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and cancers of the vagina, vulva, anus, penis, and head/neck. Given that only the population dynamic model can account for both the direct and indirect (i.e., herd immunity effects) benefits of vaccination in the population, future research should focus on further development of dynamic models by expanding the range of epidemiologic outcomes tracked and including the ability to assess the cost-effectiveness of alternative vaccination policies.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗

Redistributive effects of the Swedish social insurance system.

BACKGROUND: Four principles are used to distribute payments via the Swedish social-insurance system in cases of temporary or permanent illness and death. This paper studies the redistributive effects on income of these four principles. METHODS: The analysis is based on aggregate social-insurance data from the 25 municipalities that comprise Stockholm County in Sweden. For nine different types of social-insurance payments based on the four principles, the degree of income redistribution is measured according to concentration indexes and differences between Gini coefficients with social-insurance payments excluded and included. RESULTS: The concentration indexes for payments from the nine social-insurance schemes in total is -0.0469. The Gini coefficient falls from 0.0437 excluding insurance payments (i.e. for income only from gainful work, IGW) to 0.0379 when including insurance payments with income from gainful work (IGW + TP). That is, the Gini coefficient is 15% lower when insurance payments are included. Decomposition by payment shows that the largest redistribution effect on income inequality is made by disability pension. CONCLUSION: Municipalities with low average income are favoured by the Swedish social-insurance system. Payment principles can be ranked according to their redistributive capacity: mix of compensating-lost-income and flat-rate, compensating-lost-income, means-testing, flat-rate, and need-based respectively. The nine social-insurance schemes contribute very differently to income redistribution. Disability pension and sickness allowance contribute most to income redistribution and reducing income inequality.

Cost of Illness↗

Does better access to primary care reduce utilization of hospital accident and emergency departments? A time-series analysis.

BACKGROUND: Availability of primary care emergency facilities has been improved to help curb heavy growth in the use of Accident and Emergency Departments (A&EDs). The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between time series for visits to hospital A&EDs and primary care centres. METHODS: Using a co-integration time series we analyse the visits to the emergency services of the county hospital and seven healthcare primary centres in the healthcare district of Mieres, Asturias, España, during the period 1992-1999. The main outcome measured is the relationship between the time series for emergency visits to the primary care centres and the hospital A&ED, for groups aged 0-14 years, over 14 years and the total. RESULTS: A total of 506,158 visits to the emergency services of the primary care centres (62.4%) and hospital A&ED (37.6%) have been studied. Emergency visits rose by 40.9% during the period studied (50.3% in primary care centres and 26.5% in the hospital). The gross rise in visits was higher for adults (51.2%) than for 0-14 year olds (6.6%). The co-integration time-series analysis showed that in both age groups and in the total, there was a significant and positive relationship between the primary care and hospital series, indicating that the use of both services had grown simultaneously. The use of the hospital services did not decrease as a result of the increase in primary care services. CONCLUSIONS: The rise in use of primary care emergency services did not reduce use of the hospital A&ED.

Adolescent↗

Evaluating innovation in general practice: a pragmatic framework using programme budgeting and marginal analysis.

BACKGROUND: Innovation in primary care in the UK, in terms of new service developments, is occurring at a fast pace. However, little information is available on the costs and benefits of these changes. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to illustrate the use of programme budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA) as a framework for evaluating innovation in primary care, using an example of practice-based diabetes care. The aim was to examine changes in the use of practice resources and the changes in benefits to patients, following the introduction of a diabetes clinic. METHODS: PBMA is a form of pragmatic economic evaluation combining practice data for the 'before' period and data from the literature to model the 'after' period. RESULTS: In 1995/6, the total amount of resources devoted to diabetes care in the two practices was 145813 pound sterling (634 pound sterling per patient). Of this sum, 62% was allocated to out-patient visits, 28% to prescribing, 5% to hospital admissions, 2% to GP consultations and 2% to tests. The literature suggests that a nurse-run diabetes clinic would result in similar health outcomes and better access for patients. The introduction of such a clinic could potentially save each practice between 2000 pound sterling and 16000 pound sterling per year. This result takes into account a wide range of assumptions about changes in resource use, but does depend on the findings of previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that PBMA is a useful framework for helping practices be accountable and make 'evidence-based' decisions about service innovations in primary care.

Adult↗

The costs of care in general practice: patients compared by the council tax valuation band of their home address.

BACKGROUND: It is difficult to measure and compare workload in UK general practice. A GP/health economist team recently proposed a means of calculating the unit cost of a GP consulting. It is therefore now possible to extrapolate to the costs of other clinical tasks in a practice and then to compare the workloads of caring for different patients and compare between practices. OBJECTIVES: The study aims were: (i) to estimate the relative costs of daily clinical activities within a practice (implying workload); and (ii) to compare the costs of caring for different types of patients categorized by gender, by age, and by socio-economic status as marked by the Council Tax Valuation Band (CTVB) of home address. METHODS: The study design was a cross-sectional cost comparison of all clinical activity aggregated, by patient, over one year in an English semi-rural general practice. The subjects were 3339 practice patients, randomly selected. The main outcome measures were costs per clinical domain and overall costs per patient per year; both then compared by gender, age group and by CTVB. RESULTS: CTVB is as significant a predictor of patient care cost (workload) as is patient gender and age (both already known). CONCLUSIONS: It is now possible to estimate the cost of care of different patients in such a way that NHS planning and especially resource allocation to practices could be improved.

Catchment Area, Health↗

Economic rationality, the affordability of private long-term care insurance, and the role for public policy.

This study uses data from the 1984 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) of the U.S. Bureau of the Census to develop new estimates of the potential market for private long-term care insurance. It found that this market is potentially significant--especially among individuals in the 65-69 age group who are willing to spend up to 50% of their discretionary income on such insurance--but considerably lower than previous estimates, such as those of Cohen and colleagues (1987).

Aged↗

The cost-effectiveness of community services in a frail elderly population.

We use an integrated model incorporating simple principles of decision analysis and marginal cost analysis to discuss cost-effectiveness of community long-term care services as a substitute for nursing home care. By taking individuals as the unit of analysis and analyzing different types of community services separately, the model defines the targeting issue precisely and permits key policy parameters to be estimated empirically. When applied to data from the National Long Term Care Channeling Demonstration, 41% of those screened into the control group were found to have some potential for net long-term care cost reduction through program services.

Aged↗

The effects of caregiving on women's Social Security benefits.

Using data from the Social Security Administration's 1982 New Beneficiary Survey, we tested a life-course model that suggests that early- and late-life caregiving reduce monthly Social Security benefits of newly retired women workers. Each child raised was associated with a loss of $8 to $16 dollars in the 1983 Social Security primary insurance amounts (PIAs). The 1983 PIAs of women leaving their last jobs to care for others were $127 lower than the PIAs of women who left because of the availability of Social Security benefits, to receive a pension, or because they wanted to retire. Leaving work to care for others exerted a stronger depressing effect on the Social Security benefits of women with low- and moderate- as opposed to high-earnings histories.

Caregivers↗

Predictors of dental use for low-income, urban elderly persons upon removal of financial barriers.

This study examines a low-income, urban elderly population of dental and medical, nondental users. A total of 1,378 medical, nondental users and 2,086 dental users were identified using longitudinal claims data (1983-1992) from a Medicare-waiver program that reimbursed for health care services at cost. Dental users were more likely to be from a younger age cohort (born after 1910, p = .0001) and were more likely to be black (63.3% vs 35.7%, P = .0001) than medical, nondental users. Medical, nondental users had more medical visits (p = .0001), higher medical and pharmacy charges (p = .0001), and more prescriptions (p = .0001) than did the dental users. These findings indicate that among this population of urban elderly, dental users were more likely to be black and have lower medical utilization than nondental users.

Aged↗

The economic and fiscal impact of aging retirees on a small rural region.

The literature on the economic and fiscal impacts of in-migrating retirees on rural communities tends to concentrate on the younger, more affluent newly retired. This article addresses an issue not systematically addressed: the impacts on communities as these retirees age. Households that vary by age have different income levels and expenditure patterns. A county-level, conjoined input-output/econometrics simulation model is used to assess the impacts of an aging rural population. As hypothesized, the magnitude and nature of impacts is in direct proportion to relative household size and income level. The increased local government expenditures are covered by the increased revenues, even as retirees age.

Aged↗

Predicting state Medicaid home and community based waiver participants and expenditures, 1992-1997.

PURPOSE: The study examined trends and predictors of state Medicaid home and community based waiver participants and expenditures from 1992 to 1997 to identify factors of interest to policy makers and clinicians. DESIGN AND METHODS: HCFA Form 372 data were collected from state officials for each waiver for each year. Two separate regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects of sociodemographic, economic, political, policy, and health services on state waiver participants and expenditures. RESULTS: State waiver participants were positively associated with those aged 85 and over, personal income, residential care beds, and inpatient users and negatively with home health regulation and nursing home beds. State waiver expenditures were positively associated with democratic governors, personal income, home health reimbursement methods, Medicaid eligibility, home health agencies, and Medicare home health users. IMPLICATIONS: The factors policy makers might consider changing include increasing the number of residential care beds and home health agencies, removing certificate of need for home health care, using Medicare home health reimbursement methods for Medicaid, and raising the Medicaid eligibility criteria. In some states with low nursing home occupancy rates, reducing the supply of nursing home beds may also be considered. All of these approaches would be controversial and should be based on additional cost-effectiveness analysis.

Age Factors↗

The effect of self-reported and performance-based functional impairment on future hospital costs of community-dwelling older persons.

PURPOSE: We determined the prognostic value of self-reported and performance-based measurement of function, including functional transitions and combining different measurement approaches, on utilization. DESIGN AND METHODS: Our cohort study used the 6th, 7th, and 10th waves of three sites of the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, linked to 1- and 4-year Medicare Part A hospital costs. We examined mean hospital expenditures based on (a) 1- and 4-year transitions in self-reported functional status; (b) 4-year transitions in performance-based functional status; (c) combined baseline self-reported and performance-based functional status; and (d) poorest self-reported and performance-based functional status during a 4-year period. RESULTS: Even modest declines in self-reported or performance-based functional status were associated with increased expenditures. When baseline self-reported and performance-based assessments were combined, mean 1- and 4-year adjusted costs were higher with progressively worse performance-based scores, even among those who were independent in self-reported function. When the poorest 4-year self-reported and performance-based functions were examined, self-reported functioning was the most important determinant of hospital costs, but within each self-reported functional level, poorer performance-based function was associated with progressively higher costs. IMPLICATIONS: The costs associated with even modest functional decline are high. Combining self-reported and performance-based measurements can provide more precise estimates of future hospital costs.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Researching the public/private mix in health care in a Thai urban area: methodological approaches.

The private health sector has been growing rapidly in many low and middle income countries, yet not enough is known about its sources of finance or characteristics of its users. Moreover, health care reform measures are leading to alterations in the mix of public and private finance and provision, increasing further the need for information. This paper presents and evaluates some research methods which can be used to collect information relevant to considering policies on the public/private mix. They comprise a household survey, a health diary and interview survey, a bed census, and a health resource survey. Each method is described as it was used in a study in a large urban setting in Thailand, and strengths and weaknesses of the methods are identified. The use of data to estimate the shares of public and private finance and provision, and particularly private sources of finance of public hospitals and public sources of finance for private hospitals, is demonstrated. Policy issues highlighted by the data are identified.

Health Care Reform↗

Determining the full costs of medical education in Thai Binh, Vietnam: a generalizable model.

We summarize a model for determining the full cost of educating a medical student at Thai Binh Medical School in Vietnam. This is the first full-cost analysis of medical education in a low-income country in over 20 years. We emphasize policy implications and the importance of looking at the educational costs and service roles of the major health professions. In Vietnam fully subsidized medical education has given way to a system combining student-paid tuition and fees with decreased government subsidies. Full cost information facilitates resource management, setting tuition charges at a school and adjusting budget allocations between medical schools, teaching hospitals, and health centres. When linked to quality indicators, trends within and useful comparisons between schools are possible. Cost comparisons between different types of providers can assist policy-makers in judging the appropriateness of expenditures per graduate for nursing and allied health education versus physician education. If privatization of medical education is considered, cost analysis allows policy-makers to know the full costs of educating physicians including the subsidies required in clinical settings. Our approach is intuitively simple and provides useful, understandable new information to managers and policy-makers. The full cost per medical graduate in 1997 was 111 462 989 Vietnamese Dong (US$9527). The relative expenditure per Vietnamese physician educated was 2.8 times the expenditure in the United States when adjusted for GNP per capita. Preliminary findings suggest that, within Vietnam, the cost to educate a physician is 14 times the cost of educating a nurse. Given the direct costs of physician education, the lifetime earnings of physicians and the costs that physicians generate for the use of health services and supplies, it is remarkable that so little attention is paid to the costs of educating physicians. Studies of this type can provide the quantitative basis for vital human resource and health services policy considerations.

Budgets↗

Consumer out-of-pocket spending for pharmaceuticals in Kazakhstan: implications for sectoral reform.

What do consumers pay for pharmaceuticals in a transition economy, and who is hit hardest? Kazakhstan is in the midst of emerging from a Soviet Union state to a market economy. It has seen a significant dip in Gross Domestic Product and available revenues for health as a result. New sources of revenues, such as out-of-pocket payments, both formal and informal, have become widespread. In this paper we use the results of a 1996 Living Standards survey jointly sponsored by the World Bank and the Kazakhstan Government to examine patterns of prescribed pharmaceutical spending. We use a two-part regression model that is utilized to adjust for the skewness of non-spenders and heavy utilizers. Results suggest that upper-income groups spend more in absolute terms, but low-income groups pay a higher share of their income for pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical expenditure is positively related to poor health status, chronic illness and rural area residence. Our estimates suggest that on average people in rural areas spend 16% more than people in urban areas. The analysis shows that certain types of illnesses impose significant out-of-pocket burden for consumers - gynaecologic as well as intestinal and cardiac. The findings can be used for developing and designing a new 10-year World Bank-financed programme for restructuring the health sector. They also suggest the need for prioritizing rural care, as well as covering pharmaceuticals for specific types of care interventions and certain demographic groups.

Community Participation↗

Allowing for uncertainty in economic evaluations: qualitative sensitivity analysis.

Sensitivity analysis allows analysts to explore the impact of uncertainty on their findings. It is an important part of any economic evaluation, and a lack of analysis is evidence of a poor quality study. Sensitivity analysis helps the analyst evaluate the reliability of conclusions for the context of the evaluation and can also facilitate consideration of the generalizability of results to other settings. The variety of one and multi-way sensitivity analyses offer simple and complementary approaches to evaluating the impact of uncertainty on the results and conclusions of economic evaluations. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the types of uncertainty that can arise in economic evaluation, and follows with suggestions of how to plan a justified sensitivity analysis. A number of specific techniques are worked through with examples, followed by a discussion of when it is best to use them. The main weakness associated with sensitivity analysis is the control that the analyst retains over three parts of the process: the choice of which variables to vary and which to treat as known or fixed; the amount of variation around the base value of the parameter that is considered clinically meaningful or policy-relevant; and the determination of what constitutes a sensitive or robust finding. It is therefore essential that the approach of the analyst is clear and justified. It is likely that the future will see further developments in the approaches and training of statistical analysis. But in the meantime, an increase in the number of evaluators undertaking a wider range of sensitivity analysis would improve the quality of evidence for, and outcomes of, decision-making.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗

Cost recovery beds in public hospitals in Indonesia.

A policy of allowing public hospitals to provide some better quality, higher priced hospital beds for those able to pay was introduced as government policy in Indonesia after 1993. A study was conducted in 1998 in three public hospitals in East Java to investigate if the policy objective of cost-recovery was being achieved. Hospital revenue from these commercial beds was less than both the recurrent and total costs of providing them in all three hospitals, but exceeded recurrent costs minus staff salaries in two hospitals. One reason for the low cost-recovery ratios was that between 55% and 66% of the revenue was used as staff incentives, mostly to doctors. This was more than the maximum of 40% stipulated in the policy. The high proportions of total revenue going to staff were a result of hospital management having set bed fees too low. The policy may be contributing to the retention of doctors within public sector employment; however, it is not achieving its stated objective, especially over the longer term where full recovery of salaries and investment costs needs to be considered. Public hospitals that wish to invest in commercial beds need effective management and accounting systems so as to be able to monitor and control costs and set fees at levels that recoup the costs incurred. Further research is required to determine if this form of public-private mix has negative effects on equity and access for poorer patients.

Accounting↗