Economic Evaluation of an Enhanced Post-Discharge Home-Based Care Program for Stroke Survivors.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the cost-effectiveness of an enhanced postdischarge home-based care program for stroke survivors compared with usual care. METHODS: This was a trial-based economic evaluation study. One hundred and sixteen patients with ischemic stroke were recruited from neurology units in a Chinese hospital and randomized into intervention (n = 58) or usual care groups (n = 58). The intervention commenced with predischarge planning and transitioned to home follow-up postdischarge. Trained nurse case managers supported by an interdisciplinary team provided comprehensive assessment, individualized goal setting, and skill training to support home-based rehabilitation for intervention group participants. Standard care was provided to usual care group participants. Total cost and quality-adjusted life-years gained at 3-month (T1), 6-month (T2), and 12-month (T3) follow-ups were calculated. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios between the groups were obtained. RESULTS: The intervention group showed a significant increase in utility compared with the usual care group at T1 (P = .003), T2 (P = .007), and T3 (P < .001). The average total QALY gain from baseline for the intervention group was higher than for the usual care group at all time points. The likelihood of being cost-effective ranged from 61.9% to 67.2% from the provider perspective, and from 59.7% to 66.8% from the societal perspective. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the intervention program was cost-effective with significantly higher quality-adjusted life-years for stroke survivors when compared with usual care. It provides economic evidence to support the development of home-based stroke rehabilitation program, especially in the low- and middle-income countries.

Barriers to preventive care utilization among Hong Kong community-dwelling older people and their views on using financial incentives to improve preventive care utilization.

BACKGROUND: Financial incentive is increasingly used as a mean to promote preventive care utilization (PCU), but the current Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme (EHCVS) in Hong Kong is ineffective for encouraging PCU. OBJECTIVE: To explore the older people's barriers to PCU and their views on financial incentive, including EHCVS, for improving private PCU. DESIGN AND SETTING: Focus-group discussions were conducted in community elderly centres located in five districts of Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling older people aged 60 years or above. RESULTS: Lack of understanding about preventive care and low awareness of the need for preventive care were key factors for the low motivation for PCU. Uncertainty over the level of service fee charged and concerns over service quality hindered the choice of using the private service providers under the current EHCVS. Financial incentives specific for preventive care services were thought to be cues to actions and guides for service promotion. However, some flexibility in service coverage and a set time limit of the financial incentives were preferred to accommodate individual needs. CONCLUSIONS: Apart from promoting knowledge of preventive care, official monitoring for service fee and quality is important for empowering older people to choose private service providers for preventive care. Financial incentives for preventive care services should be more specific to cue service promotion and uptake of preventive care while maintaining flexibility to accommodate individual needs. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Participants were recruited using purposive sampling with the coordination of community elderly centres. Data were analysed using thematic coding.

Long-term cost-effectiveness of a Patient Empowerment Programme for type 2 diabetes mellitus in primary care.

AIM: To evaluate the long-term cost-effectiveness of a Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP) for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in primary care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PEP participants were subjects with type 2 DM who enrolled into PEP in addition to enrolment in the Risk Assessment and Management Programme for DM (RAMP-DM) at primary care level. The comparison group was subjects who only enrolled into RAMP-DM without participating in PEP (non-PEP). A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using a patient-level simulation model (with fixed-time increments) from a societal perspective. We incorporated the empirical data from a matched cohort of PEP and non-PEP groups to simulate lifetime costs and outcomes for subjects with DM with or without PEP. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) in terms of cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained were calculated. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted with results presented as a cost-effectiveness acceptability curve. RESULTS: With an assumption that the PEP effect would last for 5 years as shown by the empirical data, the incremental cost per subject was US $197 and the incremental QALYs gained were 0.06 per subject, which resulted in an ICER of US $3290 per QALY gained compared with no PEP across the lifetime. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed 66% likelihood that PEP is cost-effective compared with non-PEP when willingness-to-pay for a QALY is ≥US $46 153 (based on per capita GDP 2017). CONCLUSIONS: Based on this carefully measured cost of PEP and its potentially large benefits, PEP could be highly cost-effective from a societal perspective as an adjunct intervention for patients with DM.

Five-year cost-effectiveness of the Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP) for type 2 diabetes mellitus in primary care.

This study evaluated the short-term cost-effectiveness of the Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP) for diabetes mellitus (DM) in Hong Kong. Propensity score matching was used to select a matched group of PEP and non-PEP subjects. A societal perspective was adopted to estimate the cost of PEP. Outcome measures were the cumulative incidence of all-cause mortality and diabetic complication over a 5-year follow-up period and the number needed to treat (NNT) to avoid 1 event. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of cost per event avoided was calculated using the PEP cost per subject multiplied by the NNT. The PEP cost per subject from the societal perspective was US$247. There was a significantly lower cumulative incidence of all-cause mortality (2.9% vs 4.6%, P < .001), any DM complication (9.5% vs 10.8%, P = .001) and CVD events (6.8% vs 7.6%, P = .018), in the PEP group. The costs per death from any cause, DM complication or case of CVD avoided were US$14 465, US$19 617 and US$30 796, respectively. The extra amount allocated to managing PEP was small and it appears cost-effective in the short-term as an addition to RAMP.

Cost-Effectiveness of Screening for Intermediate Age-Related Macular Degeneration during Diabetic Retinopathy Screening.

PURPOSE: To determine whether screening for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) during a diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening program would be cost effective in Hong Kong. DESIGN: We compared and evaluated the impacts of screening, grading, and vitamin treatment for intermediate AMD compared with no screening using a Markov model. It was based on the natural history of AMD in a cohort with a mean age of 62 years, followed up until 100 years of age or death. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects attending a DR screening program were recruited. METHOD: A cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken from a public provider perspective. It included grading for AMD using the photographs obtained for DR screening and treatment with vitamin therapy for those with intermediate AMD. The measures of effectiveness were obtained largely from a local study, but the transition probabilities and utility values were from overseas data. Costs were all from local sources. The main assumptions and estimates were tested in sensitivity analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome was cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. Both costs and benefits were discounted at 3%. All costs are reported in United States dollars ($). RESULTS: The cost per QALY gained through screening for AMD and vitamin treatment for appropriate cases was $12,712 after discounting. This would be considered highly cost effective based on the World Health Organization's threshold of willingness to pay (WTP) for a QALY, that is, less than the annual per capita gross domestic product of $29,889. Because of uncertainty regarding the utility value for those with advanced AMD, we also tested an extreme, conservative value for utility under which screening remained cost effective. One-way sensitivity analyses revealed that, besides utility values, the cost per QALY was most sensitive to the progression rate from intermediate to advanced AMD. The cost-effectiveness acceptability curve showed a WTP for a QALY of $29,000 or more has a more than 86% probability of being cost effective compared with no screening. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrated that AMD screening carried out simultaneously with DR screening for patients with diabetes would be cost effective in a Hong Kong public healthcare setting.