Resources Repository
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ReportPublication 2015Improving Diagnosis in Health Care
Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an …
Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. This report, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, explains that diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients.…
Test Performance | Health Outcomes | Value of Information | North America | Probability/Bayes | Health Systems | Health/Medicine -
ReportPublication 2014Redirecting Innovation in U.S. Health Care
This report from RAND Health explores methods of reducing health care spending and developing medical …
This report from RAND Health explores methods of reducing health care spending and developing medical products that provide cost value with health benefits. It summarizes literature and explores case studies to provide policy recommendations to meet these goals. It identifies a wide range of factors that affect the costs, risks, and rewards of medical product invention. Some of these features include treatment creep, the medical arms race, costs and risks of FDA approval, limited reward…
Evidence Synthesis | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | North America | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ReportPublication 2017Underestimated Cost of the Opioid Crisis
This report on the opioid public health crisis was released by the White House Council …
This report on the opioid public health crisis was released by the White House Council on Economic Advisors (CEA) in November 2017. It corrects previous estimates of related costs by adding the value of the associated deaths. Earlier estimates focused on medical and other expenditures, while the new report also includes estimates of the value that individuals place on reducing their own risks of premature mortality. The report notes that, in 2015, over 33,000 Americans…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Costing Methods | North America | Preferences/Values | Chronic Disease/Risk | Mental Health | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ReviewPublication 2015Major Concepts of Health Care Economics
This article provides a short simple guide to major economic concepts, such as supply, demand, monopoly, …
This article provides a short simple guide to major economic concepts, such as supply, demand, monopoly, monopsony, adverse selection, and moral hazard. Concepts are applied to central features of U.S. health care to illuminate some of the principal problems of health policy - high cost and the uninsured - and explain why solutions are difficult to obtain.
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Costing Methods | North America | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine -
ReportPublication 2015Opioid Dependence: Final Report
This report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) examines the comparative effectiveness and value …
This report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) examines the comparative effectiveness and value of interventions for the management of opioid dependence. The goals of the report are to document the federal and New England state regulations affecting treatment options, provide an overview of existing clinical guidelines and payer coverage policies, and summarize the evidence on the different management approaches for opioid dependence, including special considerations for adolescents. An appendix is provided by ICER.…
Evidence Synthesis | Health Outcomes | North America | Preferences/Values | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Technology Assessment | Chronic Disease/Risk | Mental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ReviewPublication 2021Considerations for Diagnostic COVID-19 Tests
During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rush by numerous diagnostic …
During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rush by numerous diagnostic test manufacturers to create, validate, and implement testing methods. This review discusses the pivotal role of diagnostic tests during the pandemic's first global wave, highlighting the challenges in technology and implementation experienced early on. The study also offers insights for enhancing the use of diagnostics, especially syndromic ones, should there be future spikes or regional outbreaks of COVID-19. The overarching…
Test Performance | North America | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ReviewPublication 2022Rapid, Point-of-Care Antigen Tests for Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
This study reviewed the diagnostic accuracy of rapid, point-of-care antigen tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection, …
This study reviewed the diagnostic accuracy of rapid, point-of-care antigen tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection, differentiating results between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Using data from 155 study cohorts, the study found that the sensitivity of antigen tests was generally higher for symptomatic individuals, especially during the first week after symptom onset, due to higher viral loads. For example, average sensitivity was higher in symptomatic (73.0%) compared to asymptomatic participants (54.7). Average sensitivity was higher in…
Test Performance | North America | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ReviewPublication 2022Significance of Advanced COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing in Pandemic Control Measures
Over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has mounted significant …
Over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has mounted significant efforts to combat the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 virus. Despite substantial progress in vaccines and treatments, leading to lower hospitalization and death rates, the virus has continued to evolve, primarily through mutations. From the onset, diagnostic tests have been crucial in identifying and controlling the virus spread. The scientific world has pioneered various diagnostic techniques, including nucleic acid, antigen, and antibody-based…
Test Performance | North America | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
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…
Evidence Synthesis | North America | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine