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Objectives: To measure Quality of Life (QoL) and costs of Heart Failure (HF) outpatients in Brazil as an introduction to the Value-Based Health Care (VBHC) concept., Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study, patients with HF, with ejection fraction <50%, were recruited from three hospitals in Brazil. Two QoL (36-Item Short Form Survey [SF-36] and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire [MLHFQ]) and two anxiety/depression questionnaires were applied. SF-36 scores were stratified by domains. Treatment costs were calculated using the Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) method. Results were stratified by NYHA functional class and sex., Results: From October 2018 to January 2021, 198 patients were recruited, and the median MLHFQ (49.5 [IQR 21.0, 69.0]) and SF-36 scores demonstrated poor QoL, worse at higher NYHA classes. A third of patients had moderate/severe depression and anxiety symptoms, and women had higher anxiety scores. Mean costs of outpatient follow-up were US$ 215 ± 238 for NYHA I patients, US$ 296 ± 399 for NYHA II and US$ 667 ± 1012 for NYHA III/IV. Lab/exam costs represented 30% of the costs in NYHA I, and 74% in NYHA III/IV (US$ 63.26 vs. US$ 491.05)., Conclusion: Patients with HF in Brazil have poor QoL and high treatment costs; both worsen as the NYHA classification increases. It seems that HF has a greater impact on the mental health of women. Costs increase mostly related to lab/exams. Accurate and crossed information about QoL and costs is essential to drive care and reimbursement strategies based on value., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 HCFMUSP. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

This communication piece is reporting the launching of the International Cost Standard set program, aiming to introduce standardized frameworks to measure costs for specific clinical conditions worldwide. A scientific committee including 16 international healthcare cost assessment experts from several countries, and International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement was formed to introduce the program. The committee got together in Lisbon for a first scientific meeting, followed by an international conference where time-driven activity-based costing applied studies were shared with the community. The cost standard set program start to offer instruments for people to measure with real-world data, the financial impact of having access to health technologies, improving the ability to evaluate inequity. Those advances might represent a paradigm shift in our ability to generate cost information on an individual level.

Objectives: Implementation of value-based initiatives depends on cost-assessment methods that can provide high-quality cost information. Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) is increasingly being used to solve the cost-information gap. This study aimed to review the use of the TDABC methodology in real-world settings and to estimate its impact on the value-based healthcare concept for inpatient management., Methods: This systematic review was conducted by screening PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus databases following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, including all studies up to August 2019. The use of TDABC for inpatient management was the main eligibility criterion. A qualitative approach was used to analyze the different methodological aspects of TDABC and its effective contribution to the implementation of value-based initiatives., Results: A total of 1066 studies were retrieved, and 26 full-text articles were selected for review. Only studies focused on surgical inpatient conditions were identified. Most of the studies reported the types of activities on a macrolevel. Professional and structural cost variables were usually assessed. Eighteen studies reported that TDABC contributed to value-based initiatives, especially cost-saving findings. TDABC was satisfactorily applied to achieve value-based contributions in all the studies that used the method for this purpose., Conclusions: TDABC could be a strategy for increasing cost accuracy in real-world settings, and the method could help in the transition from fee-for-service to value-based systems. The results could provide a clearer idea of the costs, help with resource allocation and waste reduction, and might support clinicians and managers in increasing value in a more accurate and transparent way., (Copyright © 2020 ISPOR–The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Micro-costing studies still deserving for methods orientation that contribute to achieve a patient-specific resource use level of analysis. Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) is often employed by health organizations in micro-costing studies with that objective. However, the literature shows many deviations in the implementation of TDABC, which might compromise the accuracy of the results obtained. One reason for that can be attributed to the non-existence of a step-by-step orientation to conduct cost analytics with the TDABC specific for micro-costing studies in healthcare. This article aimed at exploring the literature and practical cases to propose an eight-step framework to apply TDABC in micro-costing studies for health care organizations. The 8-step TDABC framework is presented and detailed exploring online spreadsheets already coded to demonstrate data structure and math formula building. A list of analyses that can be performed is suggested, including an explanation about the information that each analysis can provide to increase the organization capability to orient decision making. The case study developed show that actual micro-costing of health care processes can be achieved with the 8-step TDABC framework and its use in future researches can contribute to increase the number of studies that achieve high-quality level in cost information, and consequently, in health resource evaluation.

Background: A review of the literature on economic analyses in cancer (prevention, diagnosis, and treatment) using activity-based costing (ABC) or time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) for measuring costs and to examine how these approaches have been applied to assess and manage cancer costs., Methods: This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. We conducted a search for studies that used ABC or TDABC to calculate the cost of cancer in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Only English- and Portuguese-language articles were retrieved from Medline, Lilacs, ScieLO, and Embase (January 1990 to August 2016)., Results: In total, 421 studies were evaluated. However, only 27 papers were included. The first publications were from the early 2000s, but most of the studies were published in 2016 (n = 10). Most of the studies were carried out in the United States (n = 6) and Belgium (n = 6). Cancer treatment was the major focus of all studies (n = 20), followed by screening programs evaluations (n = 4) and diagnosis (n = 3). Among treatment modalities, economic analysis of radiotherapy was the most common topic of study. Retrospective clinical data represented 57.6% of the studies. More than 50% of the studies presented unspecified economic analysis. The hospital perspective was the most prevalent perspective among the studies (46.1%)., Conclusions: ABC and TDABC economic analyses are a promising area of studies in oncology costs., (Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aim of this research is to evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness of functional and anatomical strategies for diagnosing stable coronary artery disease (CAD), using exercise (Ex)-ECG, stress echocardiogram (ECHO), single-photon emission CT (SPECT), coronary CT angiography (CTA) or stress cardiacmagnetic resonance (C-MRI)., Setting: Decision-analytical model, comparing strategies of sequential tests for evaluating patients with possible stable angina in low, intermediate and high pretest probability of CAD, from the perspective of a developing nation's public healthcare system., Participants: Hypothetical cohort of patients with pretest probability of CAD between 20% and 70%., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: The primary outcome is cost per correct diagnosis of CAD. Proportion of false-positive or false-negative tests and number of unnecessary tests performed were also evaluated., Results: Strategies using Ex-ECG as initial test were the least costly alternatives but generated more frequent false-positive initial tests and false-negative final diagnosis. Strategies based on CTA or ECHO as initial test were the most attractive and resulted in similar cost-effectiveness ratios (I$ 286 and I$ 305 per correct diagnosis, respectively). A strategy based on C-MRI was highly effective for diagnosing stable CAD, but its high cost resulted in unfavourable incremental cost-effectiveness (ICER) in moderate-risk and high-risk scenarios. Non-invasive strategies based on SPECT have been dominated., Conclusions: An anatomical diagnostic strategy based on CTA is a cost-effective option for CAD diagnosis. Functional strategies performed equally well when based on ECHO. C-MRI yielded acceptable ICER only at low pretest probability, and SPECT was not cost-effective in our analysis., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

Several tests exist for diagnosing coronary artery disease, with varying accuracy and cost. We sought to provide cost-effectiveness information to aid physicians and decision-makers in selecting the most appropriate testing strategy. We used the state-transitions (Markov) model from the Brazilian public health system perspective with a lifetime horizon. Diagnostic strategies were based on exercise electrocardiography (Ex-ECG), stress echocardiography (ECHO), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), computed tomography coronary angiography (CTA), or stress cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (C-MRI) as the initial test. Systematic review provided input data for test accuracy and long-term prognosis. Cost data were derived from the Brazilian public health system. Diagnostic test strategy had a small but measurable impact in quality-adjusted life-years gained. Switching from Ex-ECG to CTA-based strategies improved outcomes at an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 3100 international dollars per quality-adjusted life-year. ECHO-based strategies resulted in cost and effectiveness almost identical to CTA, and SPECT-based strategies were dominated because of their much higher cost. Strategies based on stress C-MRI were most effective, but the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio vs CTA was higher than the proposed willingness-to-pay threshold. Invasive strategies were dominant in the high pretest probability setting. Sensitivity analysis showed that results were sensitive to costs of CTA, ECHO, and C-MRI. Coronary CT is cost-effective for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease and should be included in the Brazilian public health system. Stress ECHO has a similar performance and is an acceptable alternative for most patients, but invasive strategies should be reserved for patients at high risk., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Management of HF involves accurate diagnosis and implementation of evidence-based treatment strategies. Costs related to the care of patients with HF have increased substantially over the past 2 decades, partly owing to new medications and diagnostic tests, increased rates of hospitalization, implantation of costly novel devices and, as the disease progresses, consideration for heart transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and end-of-life care. Not surprisingly, HF places a huge burden on health-care systems, and widespread implementation of all potentially beneficial therapies for HF could prove unrealistic for many, if not all, nations. Cost-effectiveness analyses can help to quantify the relationship between clinical outcomes and the economic implications of available therapies. This Review is a critical overview of cost-effectiveness studies on key areas of HF management, involving pharmacological and nonpharmacological clinical therapies, including device-based and surgical therapeutic strategies.

Budget impact analysis (BIA) provides operational financial forecasts to implement new technologies in healthcare systems. There were no previous specific recommendations to conduct such analyses in Brazil. This paper reviews BIA methods for health technologies and proposes BIA guidelines for the public and private Brazilian healthcare system. The following recommendations were made: adopt the budget administrator's perspective; use a timeframe of 1 to 5 years; compare reference and alternative scenarios; consider the technology's rate of incorporation; estimate the target population by either an epidemiological approach or measured demand; consider restrictions on technologies' indication or factors that increase the demand for them; consider direct and averted costs; do not adjust for inflation or discounts; preferably, integrate information on a spreadsheet; calculate the incremental budget impact between scenarios; and summarize information in a budget impact report.

Objective: Exercise therapy in heart failure (HF) patients is considered safe and has demonstrated modest reduction in hospitalization rates and death in recent trials. Previous cost-effectiveness analysis described favorable results considering long-term supervised exercise intervention and significant effectiveness of exercise therapy; however, these evidences are now no longer supported. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of supervised exercise therapy in HF patients under the perspective of the Brazilian Public Healthcare System., Methods: We developed a Markov model to evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of supervised exercise therapy compared to standard treatment in patients with New York Heart Association HF class II and III. Effectiveness was evaluated in quality-adjusted life years in a 10-year time horizon. We searched PUBMED for published clinical trials to estimate effectiveness, mortality, hospitalization, and utilities data. Treatment costs were obtained from published cohort updated to 2008 values. Exercise therapy intervention costs were obtained from a rehabilitation center. Model robustness was assessed through Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis. Cost were expressed as international dollars, applying the purchasing-power-parity conversion rate., Results: Exercise therapy showed small reduction in hospitalization and mortality at a low cost, an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of Int$26,462/quality-adjusted life year. Results were more sensitive to exercise therapy costs, standard treatment total costs, exercise therapy effectiveness, and medications costs. Considering a willingness-to-pay of Int$27,500, 55% of the trials fell below this value in the Monte Carlo simulation., Conclusions: In a Brazilian scenario, exercise therapy shows reasonable cost-effectiveness ratio, despite current evidence of limited benefit of this intervention., (Copyright © 2011 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The rise in healthcare expenditures due to the incorporation of new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies and increasing life expectancy is a major concern, particularly in developing countries. The role of economic evaluation in health is to optimize the benefits of available resources. This article aims to allow readers to identify the basic characteristics and types of economic evaluation in health and understand its methods, with an emphasis on infectious diseases. We thus review the following concepts: study perspective, analytic scope, costs, and discount rate. We also focus on characteristics of cost-minimization, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, and cost-benefit analyses, with examples. The article describes the most popular study designs for economic evaluation, discusses different models, and examines the importance of sensitivity analysis. Our final comments address the importance of adopting economic evaluations in health in Brazil.

Objectives: To compare the cost-effectiveness ratios of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) with bare-metal stents (BMS) under two perspectives: the "supplementary medical system" (health plans and private patients) and the public health (SUS) system., Methods: A decision-analytic model using three different therapeutic strategies for coronary lesions: percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with BMS; with SES; or with BMS followed by SES to treat symptomatic restenosis. Study endpoints were one-year event-free survival and life expectancy. Decision trees were constructed using the results of published registries and clinical trials., Results: One-year restenosis-free survival was 92.7% with SES and 78.8% with BMS. Estimated life expectancy was very similar for all the strategies, ranging from 18.5 to 19 years. Under a nonpublic perspective, the cost difference in the first year between BMS and SES was R$3,816, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of R$27,403 per event avoided in one year. Under the SUS perspective, the cost per event avoided in one year was R$47,529. In the sensitivity analysis, probability of restenosis, risk reduction expected with SES, the price of the stent and cost of treating restenosis were all important predictors. In the Monte Carlo simulation, data per years of life saved showed very high cost-effectiveness ratios., Conclusion: In the Brazilian model, the cost-effectiveness ratios for SES were elevated. The use of SES was more favorable for patients with high risk of restenosis, as it is associated with elevated costs in restenosis management of and under a nonpublic perspective.

Objective: To estimate the annual cost of coronary artery disease (CAD) management in Public Health Care System (SUS) and HMOs values in Brazil., Methods: Cohort study, including ambulatory patients with proven CAD. Clinic visits, exams, procedures, hospitalizations and medications were considered to estimate direct costs. Values of appointments and exams were obtained from the SUS and the Medical Procedure List (LPM 1999) reimbursement tables. Costs of cardiovascular events were obtained from admissions in public and private hospitals with similar diagnoses-related group classifications in 2002. The price of medications used was the lowest found in the market., Results: The 147 patients (65 +/- 12 years old, 63% men, 69% hypertensive, 35% diabetic and 59% with previous AMI) had an average follow-up of 24 +/- 8 months. The average estimated annual cost per patient was R$ 2,733.00, for the public sector, and R$ 6,788.00, for private and fee-for-service plans. Expenses with medications (R$ 1,154.00) represented 80% and 55% of outpatient costs, and 41% and 17% of total expenses, in public and non-public sectors, respectively. The occurrence of cardiovascular event had a great impact (R$ 4,626.00 vs. R$ 1,312.00, in SUS, and R$ 13,453.00 vs. R$ 1,789.00, for HMOs, p<0.01) on the results., Conclusion: The average annual cost of CAD management was high, being the pharmacological treatment the main determinant of public costs. Such estimates may subsidize economical analyses in this area, and foster related healthcare policies.