Objective: To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of a patient self-management approach versus a traditional treatment protocol in treating adult chronic asthma from an HMO’s perspective. Outcome Measures: The symptom-free day is used to measure treatment effectiveness; health care costs include expenses related to drugs, physician visits, hospitalization, emergency room visits, and medical equipment. Method: Using a decision tree model, this analysis simulates the scenarios under two treatment alternatives: self-management versus traditional treatment. The model simulates both the costs and health outcomes for each treatment alternative based on a hypothetical cohort of 100 adult patients who are followed for 5 years. The structure of the decision tree and its parameters are derived from a comprehensive review of published papers and statistical reports. Results: Under the primary assumptions in the model, the incremental cost-effectiveness of the self-management approach versus the traditional treatment protocol is about $ 0.13 per symptom-free-day. Results from the sensitivity analysis indicate that this number increases up to $ 6.46 per symptom-free-day, subject to re-specification of some model parameters, namely the price of one commonly used drug and the compliance rate. Conclusion: Results of analyses like this one provide valuable information to HMOs developing disease management programs for their adult asthma patients. This simulation suggests that an asthma self-management plan may improve asthma symptom control while costing a little more compared to a traditional therapy approach
Learning Objectives: 1) To indentify the cost components of different programs in treating adult chronic asthma; 2) To calculate the effectiveness of the programs for adults chronic asthma; 3) To construct a decision tree to guide the comparison between the programs
Keywords: Cost Issues, Disease Management
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.