COSTS OF COMPRESSION THERAPY IN VENOUS LEG ULCERS IN GERMANY AND MODELLING OF THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN HEALTH CARE
Author(s)
Gutknecht M1, Walzer S2, Heyer K1, Dröschel D2, Shannon RJ3, Lindsay F4, Augustin M1
1University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, 2MArS Market Access & Pricing Strategy GmbH, Weil am Rhein, Germany, 3Global Health Economic Projects, LLC, New York, NY, USA, 4SIMUL8 Corporation, Glasgow, UK
OBJECTIVES: With a proportion of 57 to 80% leg ulcers are the most frequent chronic wounds next to decubitus and diabetic foot ulcers. Because of the high disease burden and the economic relevance, qualified and timely therapy is highly important. One of the constant aspects of causal therapy of venous leg ulcers is the medical compression therapy. Due to regional disparities in the treatment of venous leg ulcers, the question of economic effects arises. METHODS: A discrete event simulation model for conducting health economic evaluations in patients with chronic wounds from the perspective of German statutory health insurances has been developed. It contains different treatment and financing options. The effectiveness of compression therapy has been observed with available data from clinical studies. Cost data were implemented from a cross-sectional study. The proportion of patients with compression therapy is based on recent data of the Barmer GEK. RESULTS: The average costs for compression therapy are 230 € per patient and year. A pilot run of the model analyses indicates significant differences in costs between the regions, depending on the utilisation of compression therapy. The highest total costs of chronic wound treatment were generated in the federal states with the lowest prescription rates of compression therapy and the lowest costs in those states with the highest utilisation of compression treatment. CONCLUSIONS: An increased proportion of patients with compression therapy is associated with an increase in the healing rate and interrelated cost savings for the German health care system.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2015-11, ISPOR Europe 2015, Milan, Italy
Value in Health, Vol. 18, No. 7 (November 2015)
Code
PMD156
Topic
Health Service Delivery & Process of Care
Topic Subcategory
Health Care Research
Disease
Sensory System Disorders