Background Cancer is the third leading cause of mortality in the world, and cancer patients are more exposed to financial hardship than other diseases. This paper aimed to review studies of catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE) in cancer patients, measure their level of exposure to CHE, and identify factors associated with incidence of CHE. Methods This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction Isolation of COVID-19 patients is a vital strategy for preventing the spread of the virus. Isolation without any incentive or compensation for the patients cannot be effective. We sought to find the monetary value of the willingness to accept (WTA) being isolated for COVID-19 in Iran. Methods In this discrete choice experiment, scenarios were designed by reviewing the literature and semi-structural

Background The endogenous nature of healthcare expenditure means that instruments are often used when estimating the relationship between expenditure and mortality. Previous English studies of this relationship have largely relied on statistical tests to justify their instruments. A recent paper proposed that exogenous components of the resource allocation formula, used to distribute the national healthcare

Abstract When making decisions under uncertainty, it is reasonable to choose the path that leads to the highest expected net benefit. Therefore, to inform decision making, decision-model-based health economic evaluations should always present expected outputs (i.e. the mean costs and outcomes associated with each course of action). In non-linear models such as Markov models, a single ‘run’ of the model

Background The concept of the regulatory sandbox—a safe space for testing new regulatory processes—was first used within the financial technologies (FinTech) sector, but has since expanded into other sectors, including healthcare. Objectives This review aims to describe the extent of use of sandboxes in healthcare and assess the potential for the sandbox approach to be used to test and develop emerging

Background A recently conducted matching-adjusted indirect comparison demonstrated that bosutinib improved progression-free survival, and delayed progression to advanced disease compared with dasatinib and nilotinib in patients with second line (2L) chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CP-CML). However, the long-term clinical and economic impact of using bosutinib versus dasatinib and nilotinib

With vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) being introduced in countries across the world, policy makers are facing many practical considerations about how best to implement a vaccination programme. The supply of vaccines is insufficient for the global population, so decisions must be made as to which groups are prioritised for any vaccination and when. Furthermore, the aims of vaccination

Background There are concerns that high prices of cancer medicines may limit patient access. Since information on prices for cancer medicines and their impact on affordability is lacking for several countries, particularly for lower income countries, this study surveys prices of originator cancer medicines in Europe and Latin America and assesses their affordability. Methods For 19 cancer medicines

Objective Our paper aims to present Budget Impact Analysis (BIA) guidelines for health technology assessment (HTA) in India. Methodology A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted to retrieve information on existing BIA guidelines internationally. The initial set of principles for India were put together based on an interactive process between authors, taking into consideration the existing

Objective To generate a value set for the Mexican adult general population to support and facilitate the inclusion of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) into the health technology assessment process of the Mexican healthcare authorities. Methods A representative sample of the Mexican adult population stratified by age, sex and socio-economic status was used. Following version 2.0 of the EuroQol EQ-5D-5L

Background Vaccine allocation is a national concern especially for countries such as the Philippines that have limited resources in acquiring COVID-19 vaccines. As such, certain groups are suggested to be prioritized for vaccination to protect the most vulnerable before vaccinating others. Objective The study aims to determine an optimal and equitable allocation of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines

Objectives Major depression in South Korea, which remains under-diagnosed and under-treated, increases the risk of premature death, and reduces quality of life and work productivity. The aim of this study was to quantify the depression-related health and productivity loss in South Korea in terms of life-years lost and productivity-adjusted life-years (PALYs) lost. Method Age and sex-specific life table

Background Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are the cornerstone of infectious disease outbreak response in the absence of effective pharmaceutical interventions. Outbreak strategies often involve combinations of NPIs that may change according to disease prevalence and population response. Little is known with regard to how costly each NPI is to implement. This information is essential to inform

In the UK few if any regular processes explicitly address comparisons of value for money between spending in different government departments, despite the existence of mechanisms that could in principle achieve that. This leaves a very important gap in evidence and means that decisions about public spending allocations are likely to miss opportunities to improve social welfare from existing budgets

Health economists are currently debating, with some suspicion, the relative merits of cost-benefit analysis (CBA), grounded in theoretical welfare economics, and the proliferation of social return on investment (SROI), a pragmatic approach of developing a triple-bottom line (social, environmental and financial), but not grounded in welfare theory. We argue, in rather existential terms, that there is

Value-of-information analysis (VOI) is a decision-theoretic approach that is used to inform reimbursement decisions, optimise trial design and set research priorities. The application of VOI analysis for informing policy decisions in practice has been limited due, in part, to the perceived complexity associated with the calculation of VOI measures. Recent efforts have resulted in the development of

The arrival of precision oncology is challenging the evidence standards under which technologies are evaluated for regulatory approval as well as for health technology assessment (HTA) purposes. Several key concepts are discussed to highlight the source of the challenges in evaluating these products, particularly those impacting the HTA of histology-independent therapies. These include the basket trial

Background Equitable health financing is crucial to attaining universal health coverage (UHC). Health financing, a major focus of the National Health Insurance in South Africa, can potentially affect income distribution. Objective This paper assesses the impact of financing health services on income inequality (i.e. the income redistributive effect [RE]) in South Africa. Methods Data come from the

Background Studies have been published regarding the impact of major system change (MSC) on care quality and outcomes, but few evaluate implementation costs or include them in cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). This is despite large potential costs of MSC: change planning, purchasing or repurposing assets, and staff time. Implementation costs can influence implementation decisions. We describe our

Objectives The objective of this systematic review was to review the recommendations for the conduct of a budget impact analysis in national or organisational guidelines globally. Methods We searched several databases including MELDINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, National Guideline Clearinghouse, HTA Database (International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment), Econlit and IDEAS

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men commonly occur as a consequence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also known as prostate enlargement. Treatments for this can involve electrosurgical removal of a section of the prostate via transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). This can be performed using either monopolar or bipolar electrosurgery. Bipolar TURP uses saline for irrigation rather

Introduction Personalised nutrition (PN) has great potential for disease prevention, particularly if coupled with the power and accessibility of mobile technology. However, success of PN interventions will depend on the willingness of users to subscribe. This study investigates the factors associated with potential users' perceived value of PN and heterogeneity in these values. Methods A discrete choice

Background Within the UK, standard methods of economic evaluation centre on the maximisation of the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). However, preference-based measures used to estimate QALYs may not be suited to all economic evaluations, as they routinely measure only health outcomes. Aim This study used an economic evaluation alongside a clinical trial (EEACT) comparing patients’ preferences for

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-021-00645-5

Background In the UK, consultations for prescription medicines are available via private providers such as online pharmacies. However, these providers may have lower thresholds for prescribing certain drugs. This is a particular concern for antibiotics, given the increasing burden of antimicrobial resistance. Public preferences for consultations with online providers are unknown, hence the impact of

Objective To estimate the cost-effectiveness and value of information of cabozantinib compared to nivolumab in advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients, who previously failed treatment from a societal perspective in South Korea. Methods A partitioned survival model was used to evaluate the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of cabozantinib versus nivolumab. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free