Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research
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A substantial gap exists between medical evidence that is known and medical evidence that is put into practice. Although the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has a long history of developing the content of evidence, the agency now pivots to close that gap by focusing on evidence dissemination and implementation. Achieving better health outcomes requires both the generation of new patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) knowledge and the appropriate and timely implementation of that knowledge into practice. ⋯ Toward this goal, AHRQ is actively engaging partners, such as professional societies and insurers, to make evidence central to decision making. In addition, AHRQ recently launched two programs that seek to both understand and encourage the use of evidence in clinical practice. Throughout these efforts, AHRQ will continually assess needs and adapt initiatives to ensure that PCOR translates into improved patient-centered health outcomes.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Modeling Health State Utility Values in Ankylosing Spondylitis: Comparisons of Direct and Indirect Methods.
Cost-effectiveness analyses of technologies for patients with ankylosing spondylitis frequently require estimates of health utilities as a function of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI). ⋯ These results add to a body of evidence that the statistical model used to estimate health utilities matters. Linear models are not appropriate. The four-class bespoke mixture model approach provides the best performing method to estimate the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire values from BASDAI and BASFI.
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Comparative Study
Analysis of Medicine Prices in New Zealand and 16 European Countries.
To compare prices of medicines, both originators and generics, in New Zealand and 16 European countries. ⋯ Medicine prices varied considerably between European countries and New Zealand as well as among the European countries. These differences are likely to result from national pricing and reimbursement policies.
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To identify generic, multidimensional patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for children up to 18 years old and describe their characteristics and content assessed using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Children and Youth version (ICF-CY). ⋯ A broad variety of PROMs is available to assess children's health. Nevertheless, only a few PROMs can be used across all age ranges to 18 years. When mapping their content on the ICF-CY, it seems that most PROMs exclude at least one major domain, and all conflate aspects of functioning and well-being in the scales.
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Clinical trials evaluating medicines, medical devices, and procedures now commonly assess the economic value of these interventions. The growing number of prospective clinical/economic trials reflects both widespread interest in economic information for new technologies and the regulatory and reimbursement requirements of many countries that now consider evidence of economic value along with clinical efficacy. As decision makers increasingly demand evidence of economic value for health care interventions, conducting high-quality economic analyses alongside clinical studies is desirable because they broaden the scope of information available on a particular intervention, and can efficiently provide timely information with high internal and, when designed and analyzed properly, reasonable external validity. ⋯ Uncertainty should be characterized. Articles should adhere to established standards for reporting results of cost-effectiveness analyses. Economic studies alongside trials are complementary to other evaluations (e.g., modeling studies) as information for decision makers who consider evidence of economic value along with clinical efficacy when making resource allocation decisions.