Acceptability and consumers' willingness to pay for comprehensive medication management services in Brazil.

Aim: Comprehensive medication management (CMM) is a clinical service that aims to optimize the therapeutic results of patients at the individual level. Studies carried out in Brazil and in several parts of the world have found a positive impact of the service, mainly in the resolution of drug therapy problems and in improving clinical outcomes and patients' quality of life. This service is not widespread and its acceptability and willingness to pay were not defined by the population yet. Objective: This work aims to conduct a study with users of private health services to determine the acceptability and willingness to pay for CMM services. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey conducted through face-to-face interviews, among residents over 18 years of age of the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Results: For this study, 563 individuals were interviewed. Most respondents were female (55.1%), had completed high school (46.8%) and were employed (62.5%). The acceptability for the service was 93,25%, and among all respondents, 37 would not accept the service even if it was free. The amount of consumers' willingness to pay for the CMM service was estimated at $17.75 (40.00 BRL). Conclusion: The research results show that most people are willing to pay for the CMM service. This study can contribute to the decision-making regarding the implementation and pricing of the service in Brazil.

Adiponectin and Stnfr2 peripheral levels are associated with cardiovascular risk in patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between cytokine peripheral levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with schizophrenia and controls. METHODS: A sample of 40 patients and 40 control subjects participated in the study. Psychiatric diagnosis was established following structured clinical assessment. The Framingham Score was used to assess cardiovascular risk (CVR). Serum levels of the cytokines IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70 and TNF-α were determined by cytometric bead array (CBA) technique, and the serum levels of IL-33, sST2, sTNFR1, sTNFR2, Leptin and Adiponectin by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia showed greater frequency of moderate CVR when compared with controls (p = 0.14). In addition, patients showed higher levels of sTNFR2 and Adiponectin compared to controls (p = 0.007 and p < 0.001, respectively). Adiponectin and sTNFR2 were associated with CVR only in patients (p = 0.0002 and p = 0.033, respectively). In multivariate analysis controlling for socio-demographic and clinical confounders, illness duration (r = 0.492; p < 0.002) and sTNFR2 (r = 0.665; p < 0.004) were independent predictors of CVR. CONCLUSION: Our results reinforce the concept that patients with schizophrenia are at greater risk to develop cardiovascular diseases, and suggest that the associated chronic low-grade inflammation might play a role in this process.

A Strategy to Improve Knowledge about Health Policies and Evidence Based Medicine for Federal Magistrates in Health Litigation.

Several countries maintain universal health coverage, which implies responsibility to organize delivery formats of healthcare services and products for citizens. In Brazil, the health system has a principle of universal access for more than 30 years, but many deficiencies remain and the country observes a day practice for those seeking judicial decisions to determine provision of healthcare.

Cost-minimization analysis of teledermatology versus conventional care in the Brazilian National Health System.

Aims: Cost-minimization analysis (CMA) comparing the teledermatology service of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil with the provision of conventional care, from the societal perspective. Patients & methods: All costs related to direct patient care were considered in calculation of outpatient costs. The evaluation was performed using the parameters avoided referrals and profile of hospitalizations. The economic analysis was developed through a decision tree. Results: Totally, 40% of 79,411 tests performed could be managed in primary care, avoiding commuting and expanding the patients' access. The CMA showed the teledermatology service had a cost per patient of US$196.04, and the conventional care of US$245.66. Conclusion: In this scenario, teledermatology proved to be a cost-saving alternative to conventional care, reducing commuting costs.

Lay abstract Diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases through teledermatology avoid patient referrals, improves accessibility to specialized care, as well as the skin care provided by physicians. This study compared the costs of the teledermatology service of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil with the costs of the provision of conventional care, to check which of them was more efficient. All costs related to direct patient care were considered in the calculation of costs. Totally, 40% of 79,411 dermatological tests performed could be locally managed in primary care, avoiding commuting, and expanding the patients' access to care. The teledermatology service had a cost per patient of US$196.04, compared with the cost of conventional care of US$245.66. In this evaluation, teledermatology proved to be cheaper than conventional care, reducing commuting costs.

Integrative Review of Managed Entry Agreements: Chances and Limitations.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Managed entry agreements (MEAs) consist of a set of instruments to reduce the uncertainty and the budget impact of new high-priced medicines; however, there are concerns. There is a need to critically appraise MEAs with their planned introduction in Brazil. Accordingly, the objective of this article is to identify and appraise key attributes and concerns with MEAs among payers and their advisers, with the findings providing critical considerations for Brazil and other high- and middle-income countries. METHODS: An integrative review approach was adopted. This involved a review of MEAs across countries. The review question was 'What are the health technology MEAs that have been applied around the world?' This review was supplemented with studies not retrieved in the search known to the senior-level co-authors including key South American markets. It also involved senior-level decision makers and advisers providing guidance on the potential advantages and disadvantages of MEAs and ways forward. RESULTS: Twenty-five studies were included in the review. Most MEAs included medicines (96.8%), focused on financial arrangements (43%) and included mostly antineoplastic medicines. Most countries kept key information confidential including discounts or had not published such data. Few details were found in the literature regarding South America. Our findings and inputs resulted in both advantages including reimbursement and disadvantages including concerns with data collection for outcome-based schemes. CONCLUSIONS: We are likely to see a growth in MEAs with the continual launch of new high-priced and often complex treatments, coupled with increasing demands on resources. Whilst outcome-based MEAs could be an important tool to improve access to new innovative medicines, there are critical issues to address. Comparing knowledge, experiences, and practices across countries is crucial to guide high- and middle-income countries when designing their future MEAs.

Funding and Service Organization to Achieve Universal Health Coverage for Medicines: An Economic Evaluation of the Best Investment and Service Organization for the Brazilian Scenario.

BACKGROUND: There are many health benefits since 31 years after the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) in Brazil, especially the increase in life expectancy. However, family-income inequalities, insufficient funding, and suboptimal private sector-public sector collaboration are still areas for improvement. The efforts of Brazil to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) for medicines have resulted in increased public financing of medicines and their availability, reducing avoidable hospitalization and mortality. However, lack of access to medicines still remains. Due to historical reasons, pharmaceutical service organization in developing countries may have important differences from high-income countries. In some cases, developing countries finance and promote medicine access by using the public infrastructure of health care/medical units as dispensing sites and cover all costs of medicines dispensed. In contrast, many high-income countries use private community pharmacies and cover the costs of medicines dispensed plus a fee, which includes all logistic costs. In this study, we will undertake an economic evaluation to understand the funding needs of the Brazilian NHS to reduce inequalities in access to medicines through adopting a pharmaceutical service organization similar to that seen in many high-income countries with hiring/accrediting private pharmacies. METHODS: We performed an economic evaluation of a model to provide access to medicines within public funds based on a decision tree model with two alternative scenarios public pharmacies (NHS, state-owned facilities) versus private pharmacies (NHS, agreements). The analysis assumed the perspective of the NHS. We identified the types of resources consumed, the amount, and costs in both scenarios. We also performed a budget impact forecast to estimate the incremental funding required to reduce inequalities in access to essential medicines in Brazil. FINDINGS: The model without rebates for medicines estimated an incremental cost of US$3.1 billion in purchasing power parity (PPP) but with an increase in the average availability of medicines from 65% to 90% for citizens across the country irrespective of family income. This amount places the NHS in a very good position to negotiate extensive rebates without the need for external reference pricing for government purchases. Forecast scenarios above 35% rebates place the alternative of hiring private pharmacies as dominant. Higher rebate rates are feasible and may lead to savings of more than US$1.3 billion per year (30%). The impact of incremental funding is related to medicine access improvement of 25% in the second year when paying by dispensing fee. The estimate of the incremental budget in five years would be US$4.8 billion PPP. We have yet to explore the potential reduction in hospital and outpatient costs, as well as in lawsuits, with increased availability with the yearly expenses for these at US$9 billion and US$1.4 billion PPP respectively in 2017. INTERPRETATION: The results of the economic evaluation demonstrate potential savings for the NHS and society. Achieving UHC for medicines reduces household expenses with health costs, health litigation, outpatient care, hospitalization, and mortality. An optimal private sector-public sector collaboration model with private community pharmacy accreditation is economically dominant with a feasible medicine price negotiation. The results show the potential to improve access to medicines by 25% for all income classes. This is most beneficial to the poorest families, whose medicines account for 76% of their total health expenses, with potential savings of lives and public resources.