health economics

Then by Monday 8PM, respond to at least one students’ post in approx. 150 words.
Here I copy & paste my classmate’s(Han) post. Reply to his post for 150 words.

The article addresses about why health care providers need to transform into patient-oriented structure and strategies, called value agenda, to achieve the transformation. The strategy consists of five categories, 1) organizing integrated practice units, 2) measuring outcomes and costs from the patients; perspective, 3) adopting bundled payments system, 4) integrating care delivery across separate facilities, 5) expanding services across geography, 6) making use of information technology platforms. Among these sub strategies, the second category, measuring outcomes and costs, is the one that needs exploration for the discussion.

The article points out that traditional measurement of outcomes has been measuring a providers reliability and reputation rather than the quality of care, or the improvement of a patients health condition. The article distinguishes the outcomes that matter to patients into three categories, 1) a patients health status as a consequence of the care, e.g., mortality rates, organs functional intactness, 2) outcomes relate the care cycle, e.g., readmission rate, 3) outcomes relate to the sustainability of health.

The first category of outcomes is related to Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. For example, a mortality rate is the one of the measures that shows an effectiveness of a specific treatment. The second and third category of outcomes that presented in the article are more related to Cost-Utility Analysis. Treatments that require frequent visits to the hospital, those that cause more discomfort in daily life, will show lower outcomes in CUA. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the patients utility when measuring the health care outcomes.

However, measuring an individual’s utility is not easy. Take the frequency of hospital visits, for example. People who have a lot of free time (for example, retirees) will not mind frequent visits to the hospital, if the treatment has other advantages. On the other hand, those with limited time will prefer treatment options that require fewer hospital visits, even if they cost more. Therefore, to measure the overall outcome of healthcare, we will need data of various people and cases, which is essential for utility analysis.

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