Lifetime effects and cost-effectiveness of statin therapy for older people in the United Kingdom: a modelling study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk increases with age. Statins reduce cardiovascular risk but their effects are less certain at older ages. We assessed the long-term effects and cost-effectiveness of statin therapy for older people in the contemporary UK population using a recent meta-analysis of randomised evidence of statin effects in older people and a new validated CVD model. METHODS: The performance of the CVD microsimulation model, developed using the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' Collaboration (CTTC) and UK Biobank cohort, was assessed among participants ≥70 years old at (re)surveys in UK Biobank and the Whitehall II studies. The model projected participants' cardiovascular risks, survival, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and healthcare costs (2021 UK£) with and without lifetime standard (35%-45% low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction) or higher intensity (≥45% reduction) statin therapy. CTTC individual participant data and other meta-analyses informed statins' effects on cardiovascular risks, incident diabetes, myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. Sensitivity of findings to smaller CVD risk reductions and to hypothetical further adverse effects with statins were assessed. RESULTS: In categories of men and women ≥70 years old without (15,019) and with (5,103) prior CVD, lifetime use of a standard statin increased QALYs by 0.24-0.70 and a higher intensity statin by a further 0.04-0.13 QALYs per person. Statin therapies were cost-effective with an incremental cost per QALY gained below £3502/QALY for standard and below £11778/QALY for higher intensity therapy and with high probability of being cost-effective. In sensitivity analyses, statins remained cost-effective although with larger uncertainty in cost-effectiveness among older people without prior CVD. CONCLUSIONS: Based on current evidence for the effects of statin therapy and modelling analysis, statin therapy improved health outcomes cost-effectively for men and women ≥70 years old.

Cost of operating a human milk bank in the UK: a microcosting analysis.

ObjectiveGlobally, demand for donor human milk (DHM) is increasing with WHO guidelines recommending DHM as the first line nutrition for premature infants in the absence or shortfall of maternal milk. Policymakers and clinicians currently have limited knowledge regarding costs incurred by human milk banks (HMBs) making the planning and resourcing of these services challenging. This study aimed to evaluate costs in a national network of HMBs in the UK. DESIGN AND SETTING: All 14 UK HMBS were invited to complete a bottom-up microcosting survey from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 covering four key areas: Staffing, equipment, donor screening and incidental costs. Total annual salary costs included on-costs (ie, national insurance, pensions), qualifications, overheads (ie, non-staff costs) and capital overheads. The annual equivalent costs for each equipment item were based on the total cost over its useful life and discounted at 3.5%. RESULTS: 10 out of 14 milk banks provided responses with more complete datasets returned by larger milk banks. Staffing costs ranged from £24 983 to £476 194 (n=9, mean: £159 798) and considerable expertise was provided voluntarily or from non-costed staffing. Other costs included equipment (n=7, range: £2600-£51 453, mean: £19 279), donor screening (n=6, range: £925-£38 057, mean: £18 570), incidentals (n=6, range: £650-£109 996, mean: £23 774). The total annual cost of operating a milk bank annually was £202 719 (range, £27 583-£675 699) to provide between 205 and 3495 litres of DHM. The cost per litre averaged £173.49 (range, £95.94-£274.88). CONCLUSIONS: The average cost of DHM is currently higher than current cost recovery tariffs and this study likely under-represents total costs. This study provides useful benchmarking data for future economic analyses, trial development and service planning.

Budget impact analysis of implementing trauma registries in Argentina.

INTRODUCTION: In high-income countries, quality improvement interventions and research are usually guided by trauma registries. In low- and middle-income countries, the implementation of trauma registries has been limited mainly for cost reasons. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the budgetary impact of the implementation of trauma registries in Argentina. METHODS: We estimated direct costs of implementing trauma registries in public hospitals located in cities with a population over 50,000 inhabitants. In large urban areas, we selected hospitals by estimating a minimum volume of 240 severe trauma admissions/year and using the NBATS-2 instrument with geolocation techniques. We estimated costs based on a micro-costing approach of a trauma registry developed by Fundación Trauma. Scenario analysis was carried out restricting the population to hospitals from bigger cities and/or with higher concentration of trauma patients' care. For the high budget impact threshold, we used the total health spending estimation, and alternatively the health spending of the public sector. RESULTS: For the base case, 139 hospitals from 104 cities were included, comprising 175,605 injury-related discharges and 13,707 severely injured patients/year. The average cost for the initial three years was USD 3,753,085 (21.4 USD/per patient), falling below the high budget impact thresholds. The scenarios analysis showed a significantly costs reduction. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of trauma registries in Argentina would be affordable, and in consequence, it would improve the coordination, management and quality of care for this great public health issue.

Changes in payer mix of new and established trauma centers: the new trauma center money grab?

Background: Although timely access to trauma center (TC) care for injured patients is essential, the proliferation of new TCs does not always improve outcomes. Hospitals may seek TC accreditation for financial reasons, rather than to address community or geographic need. Introducing new TCs risks degrading case and payer mix at established TCs. We hypothesized that newly accredited TCs would see a disproportionate share of commercially insured patients. Study design: We collected data from all accredited adult TCs in Pennsylvania using the state trauma registry from 1999 to 2018. As state policy regarding supplemental reimbursement for underinsured patients changed in 2004, we compared patient characteristics and payer mix between TCs established before and after 2004. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess the relationship between payer and presentation to a new versus established TC in recent years. Results: Over time, there was a 40% increase in the number of TCs from 23 to 38. Of 326 204 patients from 2010 to 2018, a total of 43 621 (13.4%) were treated at 15 new TCs. New TCs treated more blunt trauma and less severely injured patients (p<0.001). In multivariable analysis, patients presenting to new TCs were more likely to have Medicare (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.9 to 2.1) and commercial insurance (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.5 to 1.6) compared with Medicaid. Over time, fewer patients at established TCs and more patients at new TCs had private insurance. Conclusions: With the opening of new centers, payer mix changed unfavorably at established TCs. Trauma system development should consider community and regional needs, as well as impact on existing centers to ensure financial sustainability of TCs caring for vulnerable patients. Level of evidence: Level III, prognostic/epidemiological.

Applying current European periodontitis clinical practice guidelines is not feasible even for the richest countries in the world.

Clinical practice guidelines aim to enhance the quality, equality and consistency of care but often demand more time than is available, rendering adherence impractical and exceeding feasible resources. The 2017 introduction of a new periodontal classification system by the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) sought to refine clinical and epidemiological practices by serving as the basis for clinical practice guidelines and epidemiological investigations around the world. Following this classification, the EFP recommends supportive periodontal care visits every 3-12 months for all periodontitis cases. Given that in Norway, approximately 72% of the adult population are identified as periodontitis cases under the current AAP/EFP case definition, this poses a significant demand on healthcare resources. We calculated that between 60% and 70% of all estimated available working hours available for adult dental care provided by dentists and dental hygienists in Norway in 2017 would be spent on supportive periodontal care visits alone if the recommendations were to be met. This situation calls for a reevaluation of disease definitions and clinical practice guidelines to ensure they are practical, financially feasible and patient-outcome relevant.

Costs, challenges and opportunities of decentralised chimeric antigen receptor T-cell production: a literature review and clinical experts' interviews.

The objectives were to summarise the evidence and clinical experts' views comparing the use of decentralised produced chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies versus commercially available products, regarding drug costs, time to finalised product and other reported advantages, disadvantages, challenges and facilitators. A literature review according to the PRISMA guidelines was conducted in Medline, Embase and Trip databases. Publications were included if they reported information on cost estimates, time to finalised products and other outcomes of interest of a decentralised CAR T-cell production strategy. A structured interview guide was developed and used for qualitative expert interviews. Five experts were purposively selected, and interviews were either conducted face-to-face or online, and recorded for the purpose of transcription. Transcripts were analysed and categories and codes extracted. Reporting is based on the COREQ checklist for reporting qualitative research. Costs of decentralised produced CAR T-cells appear to be lower by a factor two to 14, compared with commercial products. But there is high uncertainty about this estimate, because it is unclear whether cost components included are comparable and due to the heterogeneity of the studies. The most commonly reported advantages were proximity to patients and decreased product risks and costs, whereas the continuing dependency on centrally manufactured reagents and specific characteristics of 'fresh' CAR T-cells are reported as disadvantages. Compliance with regulatory requirements is mentioned as the biggest challenge. The availability of closed-system production devices is reported as one main facilitator, as are clear commitment, secured financing and knowledge transfer from already experienced centres. Apparent cost differences open a field for healthcare decision-makers to discuss and justify investment costs for implementation of a complementing decentralised production programme and to realise other associated benefits of such a strategy, such as flexibility, patient proximity and expanding patient access.

Comparative Review of the Socioeconomic Burden of Lower Back Pain in the United States and Globally.

Internationally, the United States (U.S.) cites the highest cost burden of low back pain (LBP). The cost continues to rise, faster than the rate of inflation and overall growth of health expenditures. We performed a comprehensive literature review of peer-reviewed and non- peer-reviewed literature from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for contemporary data on prevalence, cost, and projected future costs. Policymakers in the U.S. have long attempted to address the high-cost burden of LBP through limiting low-value services and early imaging. Despite these efforts, costs (~$40 billion; ~$2,000/patient/yr) continue to rise with increasing rates of unindicated imaging, high rates of surgery, and subsequent revision surgery without proper trial of non-pharmacologic measures and no corresponding reduction in LBP prevalence. Globally, the overall prevalence of LBP continues to rise largely secondary to a growing aging population. Cost containment methods should focus on careful and comprehensive clinical assessment of patients to better understand when more resource-intensive interventions are indicated.

Feasibility and acceptability of studying full-time nurse faculty salaries.

BACKGROUND: The nursing shortage is driven, in part, by the critical shortage of nursing faculty. Consequently, qualified potential nursing students are being turned away from nursing schools each year. The preeminent issue influencing the United States nurse faculty workforce shortage is salary; financial compensation is higher in clinical and private-sector settings than educational settings. The purpose of this study is to describe current full-time nurse faculty salary, sources of income, and perceived need for more income, as well as the feasibility and acceptability of research focused on full-time nurse faculty salaries, so to guide future nursing faculty workforce research. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional study design, full-time nursing faculty working in a Midwestern state in the United States completed a survey inclusive of fixed choice and free text response options focused on income (individual gross, faculty, and secondary), demographics, and feasibility/acceptability of the survey instrument. Descriptive statistics were used to describe salary, sources of income, and perceived need for additional income. Feasibility and acceptability were evaluated by descriptive statistics examining three feasibility and acceptability questions, and by comparing demographic differences between participants who answered income questions compared to those who did not using t tests, x2 tests, and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-three full-time nurse faculty completed the survey in six weeks, representing 27% of the full-time nurse faculty workforce in the state. Over half of participants, 57%, reported having another job(s) in addition to their full-time faculty position to support basic living expenses. Most respondents reported willingness to share financial/salary data and viewed the survey to be acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: Research focused on nursing faculty salaries was feasible and acceptable to those who chose to participate in the study. Perceived income needs may be an important factor driving career decisions for nursing faculty. Future research should focus on delineating how salary influences the decision to enter or stay in the nursing faculty workforce. Further, this study can inform policy recommendations on how to best measure and report nurse faculty salary and the gap between clinical salaries and faculty salaries.

Healthcare Costs due to Dizziness/Vertigo in Korea: Analyses Using the Public Data of Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service.

BACKGROUND: Dizziness/vertigo is one of the most common symptoms for which people seek healthcare. However, the healthcare expenditure attributable to dizziness/vertigo in South Korea remains poorly understood. We investigated the healthcare costs due to six major disorders causing dizziness/vertigo using claims data. METHODS: The healthcare costs were evaluated using all the claims data submitted to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service from January 1 to December 31, 2022. The six major vestibular disorders included for analysis were benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), psychogenic/persistent postural perceptual dizziness (PPPD), vascular vertigo/dizziness (VVD), vestibular migraine (VM), Meniere's disease (MD), and vestibular neuritis (VN). RESULTS: During the 1-year study period, 4.1% of adults aged 20 or older visited hospitals due to dizziness/vertigo in South Korea. Compared to the general population, the patients with dizziness/vertigo were more often elderly, female, and residents of small towns. The total healthcare cost for the six major vestibular disorders was ₩547.8 billion (approximately $406.5 million). BPPV incurred the highest annual healthcare cost (₩183.5 billion, 33.5%), followed by VVD (₩158.8 billion, 29.0%), MD (₩82.2 billion, 15.0%), psychogenic/PPPD (₩60.3 billion, 11.0%), VN (₩32.9 billion, 6.0%), and VM (₩30.1 billion, 5.5%). The mean healthcare cost per hospital visit due to dizziness/vertigo was ₩96,524 (95% confidence interval, ₩96,194-₩96,855), 30% higher than the average (₩73,948) of the overall healthcare cost per hospital visit over the same period. CONCLUSION: Owing to higher healthcare costs for dizziness/vertigo and increased prevalence of dizziness/vertigo in the aged population, healthcare costs due to dizziness/vertigo will increase rapidly in South Korea. Thus, a guideline for cost-effective management of dizziness/vertigo should be established to reduce the healthcare costs due to these common symptoms.

Antithrombin testing and treatment in pregnancy: Their real-world relationship to clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Antithrombin (AT) deficiency is a severe thrombophilia associated with increased rates of maternal morbidity, mortality, and greater healthcare resource utilization during pregnancy and postpartum. METHODS: Two large U.S. healthcare databases were queried for women aged 15-44 with delivery-related encounters: Cerner Real-World Data (CRWD, 01/01/2000-12/31/2021) and Premier Healthcare Database (PHD, 01/01/2016-01/01/2019). Individuals receiving cardiopulmonary bypass were excluded. Three cohorts were created: 1) Individuals who had AT levels tested any time between 9-months pre- through 3-months post-delivery (CRWD Test Cohort); 2) individuals prescribed AT concentrate (ATc) within 1-year pre- or 1-year post-delivery in CRWD (CRWD Medication Cohort); and 3) the same criteria as 2) applied to PHD (PHD Medication Cohort). RESULTS: There were 5411 individuals in the CRWD Test Cohort, 13 in the CRWD Medication Cohort and 38 in the PHD Medication Cohort. Demographic and baseline clinical characteristics were similar across cohorts. AT level testing occurred pre-delivery in 47.9 % of the CRWD Test Cohort and 23.1 % of the CRWD Medication Cohort. ATc was administered during the delivery hospitalization to 0.1 %, 23.1 % and 50.0 % of the CRWD Test, CRWD Medication, and PHD Medication Cohorts, respectively. Across cohorts, 5.4-7.9 % of individuals experienced thrombosis during the delivery-related encounter. Mean (SD) total costs for delivery through 1-year post-delivery were $190,894 ($276,893) with $123,763 ($177,122) of total costs related to abnormal coagulation. CONCLUSION: Opportunities exist to enhance the care of pregnant individuals with low AT levels throughout pregnancy, aiming for optimal maternal outcomes.

Quantifying societal burden of radiation-induced small bowel toxicity in patients with rectal cancer.

Introduction: Advancements in rectal cancer (RC) treatment not only led to an increase in lives saved but also improved quality of life (QoL). Notwithstanding these benefits, RC treatment comes at the price of gastrointestinal morbidity in many patients. Health economic modelling poses an opportunity to explore the societal burden of such side-effects. This study aims to quantify radiation-induced late small bowel (SB) toxicity in survivors of RC for Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT), Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy - Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IMRT/IGRT). Materials and methods: Materials and A model-based health economic evaluation was performed. The theoretical cohort consists of a case-mix of survivors of RC aged 25-99 years according to Belgian age-specific incidence rates. A societal perspective was adopted. The base case analysis was complemented with one-way deterministic analyses, deterministic scenario analyses and probabilistic sensitivity analysis (1,000 iterations). Results were presented as mean lifetime incremental cost (€) and utility (QALYs) per patient. Results: The analyses showed that the use of innovative radiotherapy (RT) improves lifetime QoL in survivors of RC by 0.11 QALYs and 0.05 QALYs by preferring IMRT/IGRT and IMRT over 3D-CRT, respectively. The use of IMRT/IGRT and IMRT results in an incremental cost-saving of €3,820 and €1,863 per patient, solely by radiation-induced SB toxicity, compared to 3D-CRT. Discussion and conclusion: It is important to consider late toxicity effects in decisions regarding investments and reimbursement as our analysis highlighted the potential long-term cost-savings and improved QoL of novel RT techniques in patients with rectal cancer.

Assessing the quality of artificial intelligence-generated patient counseling for rhinosinusitis.

KEY POINTS: GPT-4 generated moderate quality information in response to questions regarding sinusitis and surgery. GPT-4 generated significantly higher quality responses to questions regarding treatment of sinusitis. Future studies exploring quality of GPT responses should seek to limit bias and use validated instruments.

A global redistributive auction for vaccine allocation.

The global allocation of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic is widely perceived as unfair. Priority was given to countries that paid the most with little or no concern for who needed the vaccines the most. No satisfactory institutions have been established to allocate vaccines in a future pandemic. In this paper, we join reformers in proposing a new scheme for vaccine distribution: a global auction for vaccines where profits are distributed fairly to participating countries. Our proposal improves upon previous suggestions morally by taking countries' differing valuations of money and vaccines seriously. Since an auction is in the interest of both vaccine manufacturers and high-income countries, it is also politically feasible. A global redistributive auction for vaccines thus promises to be a robust and morally desirable way to allocate vaccines.

Periodontal Regeneration of Vital Poor Prognosis Teeth with Attachment Loss Involving the Root Apex: Two Cases with up to 5 Years Follow-Up.

Teeth with attachment loss involving the root apex are severely compromised and have a poor periodontal prognosis. In cases where periodontal regeneration is possible, current guidelines suggest that endodontic treatment is performed first. However, root canal treatment increases the overall treatment time and costs, has risks of endodontic complications, and could predispose teeth to mechanical failure. In this case report, two patients diagnosed with periodontitis stage III/IV grade C, no history of smoking or diabetes, and attachment loss involving the root apex of a tooth, were treated with guided tissue regeneration. These two cases are unique because successful periodontal regeneration was carried out without endodontic treatment, and the vitality of these teeth was maintained longitudinally. This report presents the management that led to this clinical outcome, and important guidelines for case selection are identified. Within the limitations of this study, vital teeth with radiographic bone loss involving the apex may be treated successfully with periodontal regeneration and remain vital at least in the short- to medium-term.

Direct and indirect costs of paediatric asthma in the UK: a cost analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the cost of paediatric asthma from a UK National Health Service (NHS) and societal perspective and explore determinants of these costs. DESIGN: Cost analysis based on data from a large clinical trial between 2017 and 2019. Case report forms recorded healthcare resource use and productivity losses attributable to asthma over a 12-month period. These were combined with national unit cost data to generate estimates of health service and indirect costs. SETTING: Asthma clinics in primary and secondary care in England and Scotland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost per asthma attack stratified by highest level of care received. Total annual health service and indirect costs. Modelled effect of sex, age, severity, number of attacks and adherence on total annual costs. RESULTS: Of 506 children included in the analysis, 252 experienced at least one attack. The mean (SD) cost per attack was £297 (806) (median £46, IQR 40-138) and the mean total annual cost to the NHS was £1086 (2504) (median £462, IQR 296-731). On average, children missed 6 days of school and their carers missed 13 hours of paid work, contributing to a mean annual indirect cost of £412 (879) (median £30, IQR 0-477). Health service costs increased significantly with number of attacks and participant age (>11 years). Indirect costs increased with asthma severity and number of attacks but were found to be lower in older children. CONCLUSIONS: Paediatric asthma imparts a significant economic burden on the health service, families and society. Efforts to improve asthma control may generate significant cost savings. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN 67875351.

Cost-effectiveness of emicizumab prophylaxis for haemophilia A with inhibitors: an adaptive health technology assessment for the Indian setting.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the cost-effectiveness of emicizumab prophylaxis for patients having haemophilia A with inhibitors in the Indian context using an adaptive health technology assessment (aHTA) methodology. DESIGN: Economic evaluation using multiple approaches aimed at adjusting previously generated cost-effectiveness results based on (1) price differences only ('simple') and (2) differences in cost and expected treatment duration ('moderate') and differences in cost, inflation and life expectancy ('complex'). SETTING: Typical haemophilia care in India. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with haemophilia A and inhibitors. INTERVENTION: Emicizumab prophylaxis using two vial strengths (30 or 150 mg/mL) in comparison to no prophylaxis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Adjusted incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICERa), incremental costs and incremental quality-adjusted life years associated with emicizumab prophylaxis from both the health system and societal perspectives. RESULTS: Using the simple ICER adjustment method, emicizumab prophylaxis resulted in potential cost savings from the payers' perspective for both vial strengths in patients aged ≥12 and <12 years. However, from a societal perspective, emicizumab prophylaxis was not cost-effective. Using the moderate adjustment method, emicizumab prophylaxis showed potential cost saving from the health system perspective. The complex adjustment method also revealed cost savings for emicizumab prophylaxis from the health system and societal perspectives across different age groups. CONCLUSION: We found that implementing emicizumab prophylaxis for patients with haemophilia A and inhibitors in India has the potential to result in cost savings. This study highlights the feasibility of using the expanded aHTA methodology for rapid evidence generation in the Indian context. However, it is crucial to address certain research gaps, including data limitations, challenges in translating international evidence to Indian context and associated uncertainties. Additionally, conducting a comprehensive budget impact analysis is necessary. These findings hold significant implications for decision-making regarding the potential provision of emicizumab prophylaxis through federal or/and state government-funded programmes and institutions in India.

Price Transparency in United States' Health Care: A Narrative Policy Review of the Current State and Way Forward.

Health care price transparency is gaining momentum as a tangible policy intervention that can unleash market principles to increase competition, help begin to decrease U.S. health care expenditures, and provide Americans with access to affordable, high-quality health care. Indeed, pricing reform is required to facilitate patient shopping in health care. In this narrative policy review, we offer a brief history of health care price transparency efforts and an overview of the health care price transparency literature. Further, we highlight the current rules and legislative initiatives aimed at achieving the full potential of health care price transparency. Lastly, we offer key takeaways and highlight suggestions for future policy directions, including the need to ensure hospital and insurance compliance through more appropriate penalties and incentives, importance of reducing regulation to promote financial upside that can be obtained by both patients and providers who actively promote shopping for lower cost, higher quality health care goods and services, and the need for transparent and easily found quality metrics, including outcomes most important to patients, driven by physicians "on the ground" with patient input.