As it also happens in nature, technological networks typically evolve in an incremental manner, instead of being optimally designed. This evolutionary process is driven by changes in the underlying parameters and constraints (the “environment”) and it typically aims to minimize the modification cost after each change in the environment. In this paper, we first formulate the incremental network ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the cost-effectiveness of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) in a neonatal screening panel for 14 fatty acid oxidation and organic acidemia disorders in the Wisconsin Newborn Screening Program. STUDY DESIGN An incremental cost-effectiveness analysis with a hypothetical cohort of 100,000 infants was performed. A threshold of $50,000/QALY (quality-adjusted life-year) was used...

OBJECTIVE To provide an accurate representation of the economic burden of arthritis by estimating the adjusted incremental healthcare cost of arthritis at multiple percentiles and reporting the cost trends across time. METHODS A healthcare cost study based on health survey and linked administrative data, where costs were estimated from the government's perspective in dollars per person per ye...

A randomised trial was conducted in order to estimate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of social recovery orientated cognitive behavioural therapy (SRCBT) for people diagnosed with psychosis, compared to case management alone (CMA). The mean incremental health and social care cost, and the mean incremental quality adjusted life year (QALY) gain, of SRCBT was calculated over the 9 month inter...

PURPOSE To report (1) the costs of verteporfin photodynamic therapy (VPDT) in routine treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), (2) the relationship between health and social service costs and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), (3) the cost-effectiveness of VPDT versus a best supportive care (BSC) group who were assumed to have no active treatment, and (4) lessons for ...

BACKGROUND Depression is a prevalent long-term condition that is associated with substantial resource use. Telehealth may offer a cost-effective means of supporting the management of people with depression. AIMS To investigate the cost-effectiveness of a telehealth intervention ('Healthlines') for patients with depression. METHOD A prospective patient-level economic evaluation conducted alo...

PURPOSE Estimating the incremental costs of scaling-up novel technologies in low-income and middle-income countries is a methodologically challenging and substantial empirical undertaking, in the absence of routine cost data collection. We demonstrate a best practice pragmatic approach to estimate the incremental costs of new technologies in low-income and middle-income countries, using the exa...

There are three approaches to health economic evaluation for comparing two therapies. These are (i) cost minimization, in which one assumes or observes no difference in effectiveness, (ii) incremental cost-effectiveness, and (iii) incremental net benefit. The latter can be expressed either in units of effectiveness or costs. When analysing data from a clinical trial, expressing incremental net ...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to perform a reference case, cost-utility analysis of initial cataract surgery using the current literature on cataract outcomes and complications. DESIGN Computer-based econometric modeling. METHODS Visual acuity data of patients treated and observed over a 4-month postoperative period was obtained from the US National Cataract Patient Outcomes Researc...