International journal of technology assessment in health care
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2008
Increasing decision-makers' access to economic evaluations: alternative methods of communicating the information.
Although the importance of economic evaluations is recognized, research suggests the ways in which studies are summarized may not be optimal for a busy decision maker with little training in economics methodology. Therefore, the objective of this study was to seek decision makers' views on different summary formats, including a score, short summary, and structured abstracts of different degrees of detail. ⋯ Decision makers require both an initial screen of study content, plus more detail should they find the study relevant or interesting.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2008
Value of information of a clinical prediction rule: informing the efficient use of healthcare and health research resources.
The aim of this study was to estimate the potential cost-effectiveness and expected value of perfect information of a recently derived clinical prediction rule for patients presenting to emergency departments with chest discomfort. ⋯ The EDPR is likely to be cost-effective; however, given the high degree of uncertainty in the estimates of costs and patient outcomes, further research is required to inform the decision to implement the intervention. The potential health and monetary benefits of this clinical prediction rule outweigh the costs of doing further research.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2007
Comparative StudyComparing the clinical and economic effects of clinical examination, pulse oximetry, and echocardiography in newborn screening for congenital heart defects: a probabilistic cost-effectiveness model and value of information analysis.
Congenital heart defects (CHD) are an important cause of death and morbidity in early childhood, but the effectiveness of alternative newborn screening strategies in preventing the collapse or death--before diagnosis--of infants with treatable but life-threatening defects is uncertain. We assessed their effectiveness and efficiency to inform policy and research priorities. ⋯ Adding pulse oximetry to clinical examination is likely to be a cost-effective newborn screening strategy for CHD, but further research is required before this policy can be recommended. Screening echocardiography is unlikely to be cost-effective, unless the detection of all clinically significant CHD is considered beneficial and a 5 percent false-positive rate acceptable.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2007
ReviewEconomic evaluation of laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer.
The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of laparoscopic surgery compared with open surgery for the treatment of colorectal cancer. ⋯ Laparoscopic surgery is likely to be associated with short-term quality of life benefits, similar long-term outcomes, and an additional pounds 300 per patient. A judgment is required as to whether the short-term benefits are worth this extra cost.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2007
Comparative StudyCost-effectiveness of an education and activation program for patients with acute and subacute shoulder complaints compared to usual care.
Shoulder complaints (SCs) constitute the second largest group of musculoskeletal disorders after low back pain. The economic burden in terms of costs of healthcare use and costs due to work absenteeism underlines the need for a cost-effectiveness analysis of the interventions involved. The education and activation program (EAP) is a newly developed early intervention to prevent the development of chronic SCs. A cost-effectiveness analysis should provide more information on the effect of an EAP on total costs related to SCs. ⋯ In view of the clinical relevance of the clinical outcomes and the considerable costs needed to achieve this, it can be concluded that the EAP is currently not cost-effective.