Using Cost-Effectiveness Evidence to Inform Health Service Provision
2016
This article discusses three challenges of using cost-effectiveness thresholds to inform whether a third-party payer will fund a particular service. First, how is the appropriate cost-effectiveness threshold - or threshold range - to be determined? (And should there be a single threshold or multiple thresholds?) Second, how can the valuation of health benefits be refined to better capture the value of treatments to patients and to the economy as a whole? Third, how should a decision-maker assess the trade-off between cost-effectiveness and the long term sustainability of health services? Though there is a range of sources for identifying appropriate thresholds, the author concludes that using the opportunity cost in terms of the health benefits from displaced activities will maximize affordability when resources are scarce. Finally, some discussion is provided on weighted quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).
Using Cost-Effectiveness Evidence to Inform Health Service Provision
Source:
Cairns J. Using Cost-Effectiveness Evidence to Inform Decisions as to Which Health Services to Provide. Health Systems & Reform 2016; 2 (1): 32-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2015.1124172