A cost-minimization analysis of a preventive testing strategy for relatives of patients with BRCA mutated ovarian cancer

Purpose: This study aims to estimate the cost-minimization strategy of a preventive testing strategy destined to relatives of patients with BRCA mutated cancer versus a no test strategy in Italia. Methods: A BRCA testing pathway was designed by a panel of experts based on the MSTM Excel (2010) tool; the analysis was carried out considering the perspective of the Italian National Health Service. Two alternatives were considered: 1) preventive BRCA testing for relatives of patients affected by ovarian cancer carrying a BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation; 2) no test. Cost and effectiveness data, derived from literature and published sources validated by a Board of experts, were discounted using a discount factor equal to 3%. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed. Results: Considering an average cost of therapy for breast and ovarian cancer major of €90,000.00 per case, the economic impact related to the preventive testing strategy are equal to –€17,814,767.25. The sensitivity analysis confirms these results in the totality of the simulations performed. Conclusions: Preventive genetic testing in relatives of patients affected by ovarian cancer is cost-effective and represents a sustainable cost for the National Healthcare System in Italia, also in the light of its reference values

Feasibility of a Stop Smoking Program for Healthcare Workers in an Italian Hospital: Econometric Analysis in a Total Worker Health® Approach

Background: Over 20% of healthcare workers (HCWs) are active smokers. Smoking is a targeted issue for workplace health promotion (WHP) programs. Objective: Our study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Stop Smoking Promotion (SSP) intervention, a 6-hour training course for HCWs, which took place from May 2018 to July 2019. Methods: We compared HCWs who successfully quit smoking (n = 15) to those who did not (n = 25) in terms of Sickness Absence Days (SADs). Moreover, we conducted an econometric analysis by calculating the return on investment and implementing a break-even analysis. Findings: Among the 40 enrolled workers, a success rate of 37.5% was observed after a span of over two years from the SSP intervention (with nurses and physicians showed the best success rate). Overall, participants showed a noticeable absenteeism reduction after the SSP intervention, with a reduction rate of 85.0% in a one-year period. The estimated ROI for the hospital was 1.90, and the break-even point was 7.85. In other words, the organization nearly doubled its profit from the investment, and the success of at least eight participants balanced costs and profits. Conclusion: Our pilot study confirms that WHP programs are simple and cost-saving tools which may help improve control over the smoking pandemic in healthcare settings

The economic impact of biosimilars in Italy : a scenario analysis

Background: the first generation of biotechnology drugs is reaching, or has already reached, the patent expiry and a large number of biosimilars is entering the Italian pharmaceutical market. The objective of the analysis was to evaluate the economic impacts of biosimilars on the national health expenditure in Italy between 2014 and 2020. Methods: Based on the information deriving from consumption per standard unit and equivalent patients, it was estimated monthly expenditure for some of the biological drugs currently available in Italy that have had or will have a patent expiry within the analysis period (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, insulin glargine, trastuzumab, rituximab, bevacizumab and insulin aspart). Pharmaceutical expenditure was calculated on hospital sales prices net of transparent discounts required by law and visible from the AIFA database. Three alternative scenarios have been developed based on the perceptions of a board of clinical experts, pharmacologists and pharmacoeconomists involved in the study. The experts involved analyzed the estimates of treated patients between 2014 and 2017 and reports their hypothetical biosimilar penetration during the period 2018-2020. The results were represented as the difference between the estimated expenditure in the absence of biosimilars and the estimated expenditure in the presence of biosimilars with the real or hypothetical biosimilar penetration. Results: considering the standard units dispensed for each year, the economic model estimate an annual expenditure in 2014 equal to € 1.47 billion for the molecules considered in the analysis. These estimates rise to € 1.54, € 1.50 billion and € 1.51 billion during 2015, 2016 and 2017 in the scenario without biosimilar introduction. Biosimilar introduction generates cost savings between € 3.8 million in 2015 and € 32.9 million in 2017 if compared with the scenario without. Assuming an increasing biosimilar penetration between 2018 and 2020, scenario analysis estimates a cumulative cost reduction equal to € 597 million. Conclusions: Overall, biosimilar penetration generates important cost reduction that could be re-invested in the National Health Sistem

Economic evaluation of screening programs for hepatitis C virus infection: evidence from literature

Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by hepatitis C virus. Its main complications are cirrhosis and liver cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 185 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C virus and, of these, 350,000 die every year. Due to the high disease prevalence and the existence of effective (and expensive) medical treatments able to dramatically change the prognosis, early detection programs can potentially prevent the development of serious chronic conditions, improve health, and save resources

Economic evaluation of screening programs for HCV: evidence from literature.

ECONOMICS, SCREENING ANTI HC

Il ruolo delle competenze dei rappresentanti dei cittadini: evidenze dalle associazioni italiane dedite all'advocacy

In un contesto caratterizzato dalla crescente rilevanza attribuita al ruolo esercitato dai pazienti nelle scelte di politica sanitaria, il presente studio offre per la prima volta una fotografia su alcune caratteristiche salienti delle associazioni dedite all!advocacy. Tali associazioni, che nascono come aggregazione di più cittadini e pazienti interessati da un medesimo ambito patologico, hanno acquisito nel tempo il ruolo fondamentale di loro rappresentanti in termini di bisogni, valori e aspettative. I dati impiegati nel presente studio sono stati rilevati in via primaria attraverso una survey nazionale e in via secondaria attraverso l!osservazione delle performance realizzate dalle medesime. Obiettivo dello studio è dimostrare se e come le competenze possedute dai leader delle associazioni dedite all!advocacy nonché le caratteristiche organizzative delle associazioni stesse esercitino un impatto sul raggiungimento degli obiettivi per i quali le associazioni sono state istituite

Estimated direct costs of non-small cell lung cancer by stage at diagnosis and disease management phase: A whole-disease model

Background Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the first cause of cancer-related death among men and the second among women worldwide. It also poses an economic threat to the sustainability of healthcare services. This study estimated the direct costs of care for patients with NSCLC by stage at diagnosis, and management phase of pathway recommended in local and international guidelines.Methods Based on the most up-to-date guidelines, we developed a very detailed "whole-disease" model listing the probabilities of all potentially necessary diagnostic and therapeutic actions involved in the management of each stage of NSCLC. We assigned a cost to each procedure, and obtained an estimate of the total and average per-patient costs of each stage of the disease and phase of its management.Results The mean expected cost of a patient with NSCLC is 21,328 euro (95% C.I. -20 897-22 322). This cost is 16 291 euro in stage I, 19530 euro in stage II, 21938 euro in stage III, 22175 euro in stage IV, and 28 711 euro for a Pancoast tumor. In the early stages of the disease, the main cost is incurred by surgery, whereas in the more advanced stages radiotherapy, medical therapy, treatment for progressions, and supportive care become variously more important.Conclusions An estimation of the direct costs of care for NSCLC is fundamental in order to predict the burden of new oncological therapies and treatments on healthcare services, and thus orient the decisions of policy-makers regarding the allocation of resources.Key pointsSignificant findings of the study The high costs of surgery make the early stages of the disease no less expensive than the advanced stages.What this study adds An estimation of the direct costs of care is fundamental in order to orient the decisions of policy-makers regarding the allocation of resources

Return on Investment (ROI) and Development of a Workplace Disability Management Program in a Hospital—A Pilot Evaluation Study

The progressive ageing of the working population and the increase in related chronic diseases tend to affect working capacity. The aim of this study was to evaluate a Workplace Disability Management Program (WDMP) within a pediatric hospital. Absenteeism due to healthcare workers’ (HCWs) pre- and post- WDMP and the related costs were used for the program evaluation. The Return on Investment (ROI), the Break-Even Analysis (BEA) and the value of the average annual productivity of HCWs who took advantage of the Disability Management (DM) interventions to assess the economic impact of the program, were also used. The HCWs enrolled in the program were 131 (approximately 4% of hospital staff), of which 89.7% females and with an average age of 50.4 years (SD ± 8.99). Sick leave days of the HCWs involved decreased by 66.6% in the year following the end of WDMP compared to the previous one (p < 0.001). The total estimated cost reduction of absenteeism is 427,896€ over a year. ROI was equal to 27.66€. BEA indicated that the break-even point was reached by implementing the program on 3.27 HCWs. The program evaluation demonstrated the particular effectiveness of the implemented WDMP model, acting positively on the variables that affect productivity and the limitation to work

Analisi dei modelli organizzativi di risposta al COVID-19 in Italia: evidenze da 2 anni di ISTANT REPORT Altems

all’anno 2020 la storia dell’umanità ha dovuto fare i conti con la diffusione del Sars-COV-2 che ha generato in Italia, come in molti Paesi del pianeta una emergenza, sanitaria, sociale ed economica. L’Alta Scuola di Economia e Management dei Sistemi Sani- tari della Facoltà di Economia dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in collaborazione con il Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica (Sezione di Igiene) della Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia “A. Gemelli”, Cerismas (Centro di Ricerca e Studi in Management Sanitario), il Gruppo di Organizzazione Aziendale del DiGES Diparti- mento di Giurisprudenza, Economia e Sociologia dell’Università della Magna Graecia di Catanzaro, e il Centro di Ricerca sulla Leadership in Medicina della Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia “A. Gemelli” dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, ha settimanalmente pubblicato un Report per analizzare in modo sistematico e comparativo i modelli di risposta adottati dalle Regioni in risposta all’emergenza Covid-19, partendo dall’analisi epidemiologica dell’evoluzione della pandemia. A due anni dal primo paziente in Italia con COVID-19 di Codogno, ALTEMS ha voluto elaborare un report che sintetizzasse tutti gli elementi che hanno composto la risposta alla diffusione del virus soffermandosi sui modelli istituzionali ed organizzativi adottati dalle Regioni italiane. Questa serie settimanale, che aveva già visto una Edizione Speciale dell’Instant Report a fine anno 2020 in prossimità dell’avvio della campagna vaccinale, viene presentata in forma diversa rispetto agli 85 report precedenti. Il presente Report è stato strutturato per fornire una sintesi di quanto accaduto negli ultimi 24 mesi fornendo una lettura complessiva degli eventi e delle modalità di risposta adottate dalle Regioni