Thrombolysis For Stroke Saves Money After Five Years

Main Category: Stroke
Article Date: 13 Oct 2009 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

The financial stream over time of new medical interventions has become a key-point for decision-makers.

When a treatment as thrombolysis for stroke has financial consequences in terms of drug cost and saved costs related to the avoided disability prevalence, there is a need for budget impact analysis.

The balance between costs and saving yields a net benefit after five years. A recent study "Budget impact analysis of thrombolysis for stroke in Spain: a discrete event simulation model". Published in Value in Health, it addresses the financial consequences of the introduction of the thrombolytic treatment for stoke and show that it is affordable if both social and health costs are taken into account. The study was co-authored by Javier Mar, Arantzazu Arrospide and Mercè Comas of Hospital Alto Deba and Hospital del Mar, Spain.

Thrombolysis is an expensive treatment that reduces the evolution of stroke patients in a 30%.

Says Dr. Mar, we face new challenges when assessing interventions to improve the prognosis of diseases that generate disability. The use of a model based on discrete event simulation has helped to show that the financial balance of this treatment is cost-saving for the Spanish society.

Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) publishes papers, concepts, and ideas that advance the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research and help health care leaders to make decisions that are solidly evidence-based. The journal is published bi-monthly and has a regular readership of over 4,000 clinicians, decision-makers, and researchers worldwide.

ISPOR is a nonprofit, international organization that strives to translate pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research into practice to ensure that society allocates scarce health care resources wisely, fairly, and efficiently.

Source
ISPOR