| Carmel Montgomery, Colleen M. Norris, Darryl B. Rolfson, Henry Stelfox, Mohamad A. Zibdawi, Sean Bagshaw, Thanh Nguyen, Steven R. Meyer
There is limited information about the impact of frailty on public payer costs in cardiac surgery. This study aimed to determine quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and costs associated with pre-operative frailty in patients referred for cardiac surgery.
| Aaron J Trachtenberg, Amity Quinn, Braden Manns, Brenda Hemmelgarn, Flora Au, Kerry McBrien, Marcello Tonelli, Sepideh Souri, Elissa Rennert-May, Liam Manns, Nikita Arora, Paul Ronksley, Yewande Ogundeji
Physician payment models are perceived to be an important strategy for improving health, access, quality, and the value of health care. Evidence is predominantly from primary care, and little is known regarding whether specialists respond similarly. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize evidence on the impact of specialist physician payment models across the domains of…
To examine the association between individual-level deprivation and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in the general population.
| Alun Edwards, Amity Quinn, Braden Manns, Brenda Hemmelgarn, Flora Au, Kerry McBrien, Marcello Tonelli, Peter Faris, Peter Senior, Robert G. Weaver, Zhihai Ma
Question Is a specialist physician payment model associated with visit frequency, quality of care, and costs for people with chronic disease? Findings In this population-based cohort study that included a propensity-score matched cohort of 31?898 adults with diabetes or chronic kidney disease seen by 489 physicians, there was no statistical evidence of a difference…
Canada recently entered into two multinational trade agreements (i.e., the Canada, United States, and Mexico Trade Agreement; and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union). The resulting federal policy changes will prolong periods of market protection afforded to eligible brand-name prescription drugs by extending competition-blocking patent and data…
OBJECTIVES: To examine the resource use and healthcare costs for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Alberta, Canada between 2008 and 2016 and model the future costs to 2030.
The EQ-5D-5 L and the SF-12 are the most commonly used generic measures of health-related quality of life among people with arthritis. However, there is little evidence on the extent to which the individual dimensions and domains of these instruments perform among this population. The objective was to examine the discriminative validity of the EQ-5D-5 L and the SF-12…
Background: Antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis B is costly, which presents challenges for universal drug coverage for the estimated 480 000 people with the disease in Canada. We appraised criteria for reimbursement of chronic hepatitis B antivirals by public drug plans in Canada.
Most pharmaceutical expenditure in Canada is private. In 2017, Canadian provincial, territorial and federal governments were reported to have spent $14.5 billion on pharmaceuticals, accounting for only 43% of total pharmaceutical expenditure.1 A combination of private insurance and patient expenditures in the form of direct payment for pharmaceuticals, deductibles and other…
| Amity Quinn, Alun Edwards, Peter Senior, Kerry McBrien, Brenda Hemmelgarn, Marcello Tonelli, Flora Au, Zhihai Ma, Robert G. Weaver, Braden Manns
Background: As the number of people with chronic diseases increases, understanding the impact of payment model on the types of patients seen by specialists has implications for improving the quality and value of care. We sought to determine if there is an association between the specialist physician payment model and the types of patients seen.
Little is known about resource use and cost burden of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) beyond the index event. We examined resource use and care costs during the first and each subsequent year, among patients with incident AMI.
| Arun Jesudian, Brett E Fortune, Nicole T Shen, Robert S Brown Jr, Russell Rosenblatt, Stephen Congly, Yecheskel Schneider, Yunseok Namn
Treatment options for recurrent ascites resulting from decompensated cirrhosis include serial large-volume paracentesis and albumin infusion (LVP+A) or insertion of a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). Insertion of TIPSs with covered stents during early stages of ascites (early TIPS, defined as 2 LVPs within the past 3 weeks and <6 LVPs in the prior 3 months)…
Little is known about the cost burden of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) on healthcare systems. Accordingly, we examined the long-term trends of healthcare costs for AMI in the province of Alberta, Canada.
The recently released Canadian cardiac care quality indicators include 30-day in-hospital mortality and readmission rates after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We examined long-term trends and provincial variations in these outcomes among acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients.
Healthcare providers, managers and policy-makers in many jurisdictions are focused on a common goal: optimizing value and quality of care provided to their citizens within a resource envelope. Health technology reassessment is a structured, evidence-based assessment of the clinical, social, ethical and economic effects of a technology currently used in the healthcare system to…
Eplerenone has been demonstrated as being cost effective for the treatment of patients with systolic heart failure (HF) and mild symptoms in several jurisdictions; however, its cost effectiveness is unknown in the context of Alberta, Canada.
Vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) can occur despite immunoprophylaxis in mothers with high HBV DNA levels (>5-7 log10 IU/ml). Quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (qHBsAg) testing could be used as a surrogate marker to identify high viral load carriers, but there is limited data in pregnancy. We conducted a prospective observational study to determine…
Cost is a critical element in almost all public or private decisions regarding health care and human services. While cost as “opportunity cost” is straightforward on a conceptual level, making the concept operational, quantifying costs and integrating such information into decision analysis is a continuing challenge. An IHE conference, “On the State of the Art…