18 Questions
What is the primary focus of pharmacoeconomics?
Cost and consequences of pharmaceutical use
Which economic technique provides valuable information for healthcare decision-makers?
Cost of illness
In pharmacoeconomics, what does an economic evaluation typically involve?
Comparing alternative courses of action
What is another term commonly used for pharmacoeconomics?
Health economics
Which aspect does pharmacoeconomics NOT address?
Behavioral interventions
What is the spectrum of patients and systems covered by pharmacoeconomic techniques?
Healthcare systems as a whole
What is the general rule when assessing programmes A and B in an incremental analysis?
Compare the difference in costs with the difference in consequences
What distinguishes studies on cost of illness from full economic evaluations?
Cost of illness studies do not compare alternatives
In pharmacoeconomic evaluation, what is similar across most economic evaluations?
Identification of various types of costs
Why is it important to consider doing nothing or a low-cost option as a comparator in evaluations?
The comparator may itself be inefficient
What type of analysis focuses on the prolongation of life after renal failure by comparing hospital dialysis with kidney transplantation?
Cost-effectiveness analysis
Why might not all studies measuring costs constitute economic evaluations?
They may not compare alternatives
What does the term 'equivalent' refer to in the context of pharmacoeconomic evaluation?
Similar treatment outcomes
When is it justifiable to conduct a comparison using cost–effectiveness analysis?
When the treatments are of near-identical technology
How does cost–utility analysis differ from cost-effectiveness analysis?
It measures health gain using a generic measure
Why is estimating preferences for health states considered useful in pharmacoeconomic evaluation?
To allow for health-related quality-of-life adjustments
What is the main benefit of using a generic measure of health gain in cost–utility analysis?
It enables comparison of costs and outcomes across different programmes
In what situations would it be unlikely to justify conducting a comparison through cost–effectiveness analysis?
When treatments belong to different pharmacological classes
Study Notes
Programme Comparison
- A programme of interest (Programme A) is compared to a comparator (Programme B), which can be an active treatment or even doing nothing.
- Programme B may itself be inefficient, and an evaluation should consider all relevant alternatives.
Economic Evaluations
- Economic evaluations measure the difference in costs and consequences between two alternatives ( Programme A and Programme B) in an incremental analysis.
- Not all studies measuring costs constitute economic evaluations; cost of illness or burden of illness studies are not full economic evaluations.
Pharmacoeconomics
- Pharmacoeconomics evaluates the behavior or welfare of individuals, firms, and markets relevant to the use of pharmaceutical products, services, and programs.
- It addresses clinical, economic, and humanistic aspects of healthcare interventions in disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management.
- Pharmacoeconomic techniques include cost-minimization, cost effectiveness, cost utility, cost benefit, cost of illness, cost-consequence, and other economic analytic techniques.
Types of Economic Evaluations
- Cost-effectiveness analysis: compares the costs and consequences of alternative programmes, such as hospital dialysis and kidney transplantation for renal failure.
- Cost-utility analysis (CUA): a variant of cost-effectiveness analysis that uses a generic measure of health gain to compare programmes in different healthcare areas.
Key Principles
- Economic evaluation always involves a comparative analysis of alternative courses of action.
- Comparing two or more treatments or programmes involves a choice between competing alternatives.
- Comparing costs is only justifiable when the consequences of two or more treatments or programmes are broadly equivalent.
Explore the fundamental principles of pharmacoeconomics, which involves evaluating the behavior, cost, and outcomes of pharmaceutical products and services in healthcare interventions. This field covers clinical, economic, and humanistic aspects of disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management.
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