Week 9 AssignmentInstructions:
Please post what you view as the appropriate responses to the above prompts. Your initial post should be
250-300 words. Please provide response with a clear, well-formulated thesis; sentence structure,
grammar, punctuation, and spelling count. Support ALL posts with appropriate rationale and citations from
readings; document sources using APA format.
Please provide responses for the below posts:
1)
In the book, it states cost effectiveness analysis “is the process of measuring the costs and health
benefits of various medical treatments, procedures, or therapies (Bhattacharya et al., 2014).” It not only
calculates the cost, but the questions are asked, if the cost is worth it. A concept that is used is called
quality adjusted life year, “It reflects how many years of high-quality life a patient gains with a particular
intervention (Drexler, 2014).” Professor Weinstein feels that we should use a cost-effectiveness analysis
to determine what the most effective medications should be mostly used. Treatments such as the
aromatase inhibitors are extremely expensive and the drug will never catch on due to the price, “costeffectiveness ratio was on the order of $20,000 per quality-adjusted life year (Drexler, 2014).” The drugs
are expensive but increases the longevity. In his opinion this would increase the patient outcome.
On the other hand, expensive treatments such as a pap smears yearly may not be as effective. If
someone does it 3 years consecutive and it is normal, it is best to do them less often. The cost effective
of doing them every year, “is almost a million dollars per quality-adjusted life year (Drexler, 2014).” Ways
to reduce the problem of overusing medical care that is not cost effective is to use the cost effectiveness
analysis. It has not been done in the U.S. because it is too complex and the conversation is avoided. “No
president has talked about this, ever, they dance around it, they talk about cost savings and prevention
and waste (Drexler, 2014).”
References:
Drexler, M. (2014, February 19). Can cost-effective health care = Better Health Care?.
News. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/winter10assessment/
Bhattacharya, J., Hyde, T., & Tu, P. (2014). Health Economics. Palgrave Macmillan.
2)
•
Why are some expensive treatments (like lung transplants and pap smears) considered to be bad value and
other expensive treatments (like aromatase inhibitors, an expensive class of drugs to treat breast cancer) to
be good value?
This depends on the cost-effectiveness ratio. A cost-effective ratio is defined as the net cost divided by
changes in health outcomes (2021). In the example with the annual pap spear, the cost-effectiveness of
screening every year compared to screening every two years is almost a million dollars per quality-adjusted
life year. By doing a pap smear every year, there is only a catch of a few treatable cervical lesions but the
cost of doing the Pap smear every year is much higher (2014). As for expensive treatments like aromatase
inhibitors and expensive class of drug to treat breast cancer, these are considered to be good value. The
reason being is that they tend to have greater benefits. These treatments are considered good value since
they are accepted as being worth it or have long-term benefits.
•
What can the U.S. do to address the problem of overusing medical care that is not cost effective, and why
isn’t the U.S. doing this already
I think that the United States can create better guidelines to address the problem of overusing medical care
that is not cost effective. It would be beneficial to provide treatment recommendations that are based on
strong evidence. I also feel that a broader use of health information technology and electronic health
records can be used as an effective tool in combatting both overuse and underuse. A well-designed
electronic health record can include algorithms, clinical pathway analysis, vetting of orders, and restriction
of tests to ensure an appropriate test supply. This can direct doctors toward high-value care. I believe that
the United States is not doing this already since this implementation will require additional research and
costs on their end.
References
Can cost-effective health care = Better Health Care?. News. (2014, February 19).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, October 20). Cost-effectiveness analysis. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/policy/polaris/economics/costeffectiveness/index.html#:~:text=A%20cost%2Deffectiveness%20ratio%20is,reported%20as%20net%20cost
%20savings.
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