MONETARY VALUATION DEPENDS ON DEFINITION OF THE COST ATTRIBUTE IN A CHOICE EXPERIMENT

Maastricht, The Netherlands - In a cost-benefit analysis both the costs and the consequences of health interventions are expressed in monetary terms. This allows for a direct trade-off between the costs and benefits of an intervention. Cost-benefit analyses are not frequently used though, as assigning monetary values to health outcomes is difficult and controversial. Discrete choice experimentation is a relatively new technique to indirectly measure monetary valuation, which has gained increasing attention.

However, it is unclear whether the definition of the cost attribute in a discrete choice experiment as a discount (willingness to accept) or as a payment (willingness to pay) affects monetary valuation. A recent study, “Willingness to accept versus willingness to pay in a discrete choice experiment”, published in Value in Health, examined this specific issue, as well as potential explanations for the disparity between willingness to accept and willingness to pay, and whether the disparity influences policy recommendations. The study was co-authored by Janneke Grutters, Alfons Kessels, Carmen Dirksen, Debby van Helvoort-Postulart, Lucien Anteunis, and Manuela Joore of the University Hospital Maastricht.

“It is clear that willingness to accept exceeds willingness to pay, also in a discrete choice experiment”, says Dr. Grutters. “When using monetary valuation from a discrete choice experiment in a cost-benefit analysis, as shown in the present study, this may even alter policy recommendations. It is therefore important that there is consensus on when to define the cost attribute in a discrete choice experiment as a payment or a discount.”

Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) publishes papers, concepts, and ideas that advance the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research and help health care leaders to make decisions that are solidly evidence-based. The journal is published bi-monthly and has a regular readership of over 3,000 clinicians, decision-makers, and researchers worldwide.

ISPOR is a nonprofit, international organization that strives to translate pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research into practice to ensure that society allocates scarce health care resources wisely, fairly, and efficiently.

For more information: www.ispor.org

Value in Health Volume 11 Issue 6
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