Resources Repository
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ReviewPublication 2015Medicare's Use of CEA for Prevention (But Not Treatment)
Medicare currently pays for 23 preventive services in its benefits package, the majority of which …
Medicare currently pays for 23 preventive services in its benefits package, the majority of which were added since 2005. In the past decade, the program has transformed from one essentially administering treatment claims, to one increasingly focused on health promotion and maintenance. What is largely unappreciated is the role cost-effectiveness analysis has played in the coverage of preventive services. This study reviews the role of cost-effectiveness analysis in Medicare coverage of preventive services and contrast it…
Technology Assessment | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Child/Nutrition | Infectious Diseases | Priority Setting/Ethics | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law -
BookPublication 1980Clinical Decision Analysis
This text was conceived and developed in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health …
This text was conceived and developed in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health at the Center for the Analysis of Health Practices. The book had its origins in a set of classroom materials developed during the academic year 1974-75 for an elective course in medical decision making at the Harvard Medical School. In this book students are shown how to structure clinical decision problems, how to systematically formulate the intertwining roles of diagnosis and treatment, how to…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Decision Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Child/Nutrition | Infectious Diseases | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Test Performance | Value of Information | State-Transition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Global | Europe | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Priority Setting/Ethics | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Global -
ArticlePublication 2018Should We Treat Acute Hepatitis C? A Decision and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
This study examines the potential benefits of treating acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection compared …
This study examines the potential benefits of treating acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection compared to deferring treatment until the chronic phase, utilizing a microsimulation model. By projecting long-term outcomes such as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs, the analysis evaluates the cost-effectiveness of initiating therapy during the acute phase. Results indicate that treating acute HCV increases QALYs by 0.02 and costs by $483 per patient not at risk of transmitting HCV, yielding an incremental…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Decision Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk -
BookPublication 1978Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease
This report from the Institute of Medicine, The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery …
This report from the Institute of Medicine, The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease, was written to review and critique the decisions made around the 1976 swine flu threat. In 1976, a small group of soldiers at Fort Dix were infected with a swine flu virus that was deemed similar to the virus responsible for the great 1918-19 world-wide flu pandemic. The U.S. government initiated an unprecedented effort to immunize every American against…
Risk Analysis | Decision Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2022Estimated Transmission Outcomes and Costs of SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Testing, Screening, and Surveillance Strategies Among a Simulated Population of Primary School Students
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic's significant educational disruptions, the U.S. government allocated $10 …
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic's significant educational disruptions, the U.S. government allocated $10 billion in March 2021 for testing in schools. The study aimed to analyze the costs and benefits of different COVID-19 testing strategies, particularly focusing on full-time, in-person elementary and middle school education. Utilizing an updated agent-based network model, the study simulated transmission scenarios in schools, considering various testing strategies ranging from diagnostic testing (test-to-stay) to reduce symptom-based isolations, routine screening…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Test Performance | Mathematical Models | Clinical Care | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2023Benefits and Costs of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations …
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for U.S. federal employees and healthcare and private sector workers. These mandates were controversial and some were halted by litigation. If they had been implemented as intended, the net benefits would depend on the course of the pandemic. If a more transmissible variant (such as Omicron) emerges, the net benefits may be large. If the pandemic instead fades, the benefits…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law -
ReviewPublication 2022Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations of COVID-19 Interventions: Non-Health Impacts and Distributional Issues
The authors conducted a systematic review of economic evaluations of COVID-19 interventions and assessed whether …
The authors conducted a systematic review of economic evaluations of COVID-19 interventions and assessed whether they incorporated non-health impacts and distributional concerns. Among the 70 articles included, more than half (56%) included at least one non-health impact, although only 21% incorporated non-economic consequences. Only 17% examined subgroups of interest. The median ICER for the entire sample was $67,000/quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) (interquartile range [IQR] $9000-$893,000/QALY). Interventions including a pharmaceutical component yielded a median ICER of $93,000/QALY (IQR…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Evidence Synthesis | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID and the Age–VSL Relationship
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions …
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions in analyses of lockdowns and other policies. Many rely on a population-average estimate of the value per statistical life (VSL); others adjust VSL for life expectancy at the age of death. The article explores the implications of theory and empirical studies, which suggest that the relationship between age and VSL is uncertain; these uncertainties in turn may affect whether the…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Preferences/Values | Government/Law