Costs associated with hereditary haemochromatosis in Australia: a cost-of-illness study.

Conclusion The present cost-of-illness study, the first to be published for haemochromatosis, found that although costs were substantial, they could be decreased by reducing clinical penetrance. Development of cost-effective strategies to increase early diagnosis is likely to result in better health outcomes for patients and lower total costs.What is known about the topic? To date, no cost-of-illness study has been conducted for haemochromatosis. Previous economic work in this area has relied on cost estimates based on expert opinion.What does the paper add? This paper provides the first cost estimates for haemochromatosis for the Australian population. These estimates, calculated using a bottom-up approach, were extrapolated to the population level based on the most robust epidemiological estimates available for the Australian population.What are the implications for practitioners? Population screening programs have been widely suggested as an approach to reduce clinical penetrance; however, the lack of high-quality economic analyses has been cited as a barrier to implementation. The present study provides the most robust cost estimates to date, which may be used to populate economic models. In addition, the present study illustrates that reducing clinical penetrance of haemochromatosis is likely to result in substantial reductions in cost. PMID: 27444148 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research