| Dat Tran
Delay in transfer from intensive care unit (ICU) may contribute to strained capacity. Using a population-based patient cohort in 17 ICUs in Alberta between 2012 and 2016, this paper describes the epidemiologic features and healthcare costs attributable to potentially avoidable delays in ICU discharge. Potentially avoidable discharge delay occurred in approximately 70% of ICU patients…
Overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) contributes to childhood and adult obesity and numerous related diseases, including heart disease, strokes, cancers, and type 2 diabetes. It also increases healthcare costs. Sugary drink taxes have been implemented in several countries to curb sugar intake. However, there is a concern that sugary drink taxes are regressive. This…
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an opportunistic bacterial organism resistant to first line antibiotics. Acquisition of MRSA is often classified as either healthcare-associated or community-acquired. It has been shown that both healthcare-associated and community-acquired infections contribute to the spread of MRSA within healthcare facilities. The objective…
| Jane Nixon, Sarah Brown, Isabelle Smith, Elizabeth McGinnis, Armando Vargas-Palacios, E Andrea Nelson, Julia Brown, Susanne Coleman, Howard Collier, Catherine Fernandez, Rachael Gilberts, Valerie Henderson, Christopher McCabe, Delia Muir, Claudia Rutherford, Nikki Stubbs, Benjamin Thorpe, Klemens Wallner, Kay Walker, Lyn Wilson, Claire Hulme
Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a burden to patients, carers and health-care providers. Specialist mattresses minimise the intensity and duration of pressure on vulnerable skin sites in at-risk patients.
The objective of this study, published in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, was to describe the trends in pharmacologic treatment for patients newly diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Alberta, Canada.
The authors aimed to determine the cost effectiveness of initiating treatment early in the disease course (within 2 years of CD diagnosis) vs later in the disease course (more than 2 years after diagnosis). To do so, the authors constructed a Markov model of a hypothetical cohort of patients with CD in Canada to simulate disease progression after initiation of infliximab or adalimumab…
This study, published in PharmacoEconomics – Open, reports exploratory analysis of the provincial and nationwide costs of industry-sponsored drug clinical trials (CTs) in Canada. The costs of industry-sponsored drug CTs completed in 2016 were Can$2.1 billion. In addition to the creation of knowledge, these trials play an important role in alleviating the healthcare cost burden…
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.
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.
| Sean van Diepen, Dat Tran, Justin Ezekowitz, David Zygun, Jason Katz, Renato Lopes, L. Kristin Newby, Finlay McAlister, Padma Kaul
There is substantial variability among hospitals in critical care unit (CCU) utilization for patients admitted with non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes (NSTE ACS). We estimated the potential cost saving if all hospitals adopted low CCU utilization practices for patients with NSTE ACS.
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.
In pharmaceutical clinical trials, industrial sponsors pay for study drugs and related healthcare services. We conducted a study to determine industry’s economic contribution of these trials to the Alberta healthcare system.
| Klemens Wallner
Although current beta cell replacement therapy is effective in stabilizing glycemic control in highly selected patients with refractory type 1 diabetes, many hurdles are inherent to this and other donor-based transplantation methods. One solution could be moving to stem cell-derived transplant tissue. This study investigates a novel stem cell-derived graft and implant technology…
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.
