The PleurX peritoneal drainage catheter for drainage of malignant ascites in a community setting has been evaluated by the NICE Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme. This article outlines the evidence included in the Sponsor's submission, the independent critique by the External Assessment...

Background:Background: When guidelines for health economic evaluations prescribe that a societal perspective should be adopted, productivity costs should be included. However, previous research suggests that, in practice, productivity costs are often neglected. This may considerably bias the...

Background: Research has consistently demonstrated a relationship between depression and increased levels of health service use over the short term. However, much less is known about how this relationship is influenced by the success, or otherwise, of depression management strategies, and the...

Background: In a previous article using population-level data, an a priori number-needed-to-decrease (NND) analysis was conducted to determine if there is potential opportunity in a given population for a disease management program to achieve financial effectiveness. Critics of that study have...

Epilepsy is an important health problem throughout the world. In order to best manage epilepsy within a population, its epidemiological profile should be established. Epidemiological studies have shown that epilepsy is a very common, chronic condition that particularly affects the young and...

Osteoporosis constitutes a major public health problem through its association with fractures at several skeletal sites, most notably the hip, wrist and vertebra. The lifetime risk of hip fracture in White women and men in the UK from age 50 years is 14% and 3%, respectively. These fractures...

In an effort to improve patient outcomes and reduce resource use and costs associated with asthma care, asthma disease management programmes have now gained momentum. If a programme is to be effective, the identification of goals and outcomes relevant to the target populations is essential....

Telemedicine applications, i.e. the use of telecommunication technologies to deliver health services over a distance, have demonstrated dramatic growth over the past decade. Reimbursement has emerged as a crucial issue as projects attempt to evolve from the demonstration stage to a mainstream...

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between adherence to antidepressant therapy and economic outcomes. Design: Retrospective database analysis using pharmacy and medical claims from a pharmacy benefit and medical management company serving a large managed care organization (MCO) that...

Aim: To determine whether participation in a six-session behavioral medicine group program was associated with a post-intervention decrease in health costs among participants. Methods: A retrospective study conducted in a convenience sample of 295 high utilizers of healthcare at a health...