Abstracts by key term: Cost effectiveness
Recently published economic data show that hepatitis C therapy with direct antiviral agents (DAAs) leads to significant long-term savings in direct and indirect healthcare costs due to its curative nature. This example implies that when assessing the efficiency of innovations, it is crucial to weigh up clinical and economic short- and long-term effects in order to optimally use financial resources in the healthcare system.
02.04.2023
The high treatment costs of tobacco-related diseases and the immense economic damage caused by smoking will exacerbate the financing problems of social systems in the future. One approach to addressing this problem is to reduce the prevalence of smoking through evidence-based tobacco cessation measures such as nicotine replacement therapy (NET). In some European countries, particularly Great Britain, these findings have given nicotine replacement therapy an important role in public health programs. The therapeutic effectiveness and the achievable health economic effects make NET a dominant strategy for smoking cessation in this country too. The latest study results based on data from the German health system show that, particularly for smokers with previous illnesses, the financial resources for NET are not only used cost-effectively, but are even overcompensated by avoided health care costs. For Germany, the study results presented and the international experience provide reason to reposition nicotine replacement therapy with regard to the degree of use and integration into the healthcare system.
01.08.2009
Diabetes mellitus has become a widespread disease in Germany. There are at least 7 million people with diagnosed diabetes mellitus in Germany and, taking into account the undiagnosed cases and the increasing prevalence of the disease worldwide, especially among younger people, the German health system will face major challenges, including economic ones. Under certain conditions, self-monitoring of blood sugar can be a very useful and cost-effective therapeutic element in the treatment of the disease. Although this benefit in insulin-dependent diabetics is largely undisputed, there is still no consensus in Germany about the benefit in non-insulin-dependent type 2 diabetics. However, what is often overlooked in the benefit assessment is that self-measurement of blood glucose is a diagnostic procedure which – unlike medicines – cannot have an intrinsic effect. Applying drug evaluation methods to a diagnostic procedure can subsequently lead to misleading results. If blood glucose measurement is used correctly by patients and appropriate assessment methods are used, self-assessment of blood glucose in type 2 patients even proves to be cost-saving for health insurance companies.