Background Minimising prescription costs while maintaining quality is a core element of delivering high value healthcare. There are various strategies to achieve savings, but almost no research to date on determining the most effective approach. We describe a new method of identifying potential savings due to large national variations in drug cost, including variation in generic drug cost; and ...

BACKGROUND Minimising prescription costs while maintaining quality is a core element of delivering high-value healthcare. There are various strategies to achieve savings, but almost no research to date on determining the most effective approach. We describe a new method of identifying potential savings due to large national variations in drug cost, including variation in generic drug cost, and ...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to estimate the time to breakeven and 5-year net costs of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) taking both direct and indirect costs and cost savings into account. METHODS Estimates of direct cost savings from LAGB were available from the literature. Although longitudinal data on indirect cost savings were not available, these estimates wer...

It is well established that preventive care reduces the prevalence of disease and helps people live longer, healthier lives. Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of preventive care can guide policy-makers to allocate scarce resources. This synthesis reviews the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of clinical preventive care. Key findings include: although many preventive services are a good value ...

We report a policy experiment that illustrates a potential problem of using historical pass-through rates as a means of predicting the competitive consequences of projected firmspecific cost savings in antitrust contexts, particularly in merger analysis. The effects of cost savings on welfare can vary vastly, depending on how the savings affect the industry supply schedule. In a capacity-constr...

BACKGROUND The cost-benefit of raccoon rabies control strategies such as oral rabies vaccination (ORV) are under evaluation. As an initial quantification of the potential cost savings for a control program, the collection of selected rabies cost data was pilot tested for five counties in New York State (NYS) in a three-year period. METHODS Rabies costs reported to NYS from the study counties ...

OBJECTIVE To compare three pediatric asthma interventions for their impact on improving the health status of inner-city asthmatic children and in achieving cost savings. STUDY DESIGN A total of 212 children 1 to 16 years of age were randomized into three groups: group 1 (n = 74) received one individualized asthma education session; group 2 (n = 68) received reinforced asthma education; group ...