New Findings from Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in the Area of Diabetic Angiopathies Reported (Cost-Utility Analysis of Extending Public…

New Findings from Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in the Area of Diabetic Angiopathies Reported (Cost-Utility Analysis of Extending Public Health Insurance Coverage to Include Diabetic Retinopathy Screening by Optometrists)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Researchers detail new data in Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases and Conditions - Diabetic Angiopathies. According to news reporting from Ottawa, Canada, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the leading causes of vision loss and blindness in Canada. Eye examinations play an important role in early detection."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, "However, DR screening by optometrists is not always universally covered by public or private health insurance plans. This study assessed whether expanding public health coverage to include diabetic eye examinations for retinopathy by optometrists is cost-effective from the perspective of the health care system. We conducted a cost-utility analysis of extended coverage for diabetic eye examinations in Prince Edward Island to include examinations by optometrists, not currently publicly covered. We used a Markov chain to simulate disease burden based on eye examination rates and DR progression over a 30-year time horizon. Results were presented as an incremental cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained. A series of one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Extending public health coverage to eye examinations by optometrists was associated with higher costs ($9,908,543.32) and improved QALYs (156,862.44), over 30 years, resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $1668.43/QALY gained. Sensitivity analysis showed that the most influential determinants of the results were the cost of optometric screening and selected utility scores. At the commonly used threshold of $50,000/QALY, the probability that the new policy was cost-effective was 99.99%. Extending public health coverage to eye examinations by optometrists is cost-effective based on a commonly used threshold of $50,000/QALY."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Findings from this study can inform the decision to expand public-insured optometric services for patients with diabetes."

For more information on this research see: Cost-Utility Analysis of Extending Public Health Insurance Coverage to Include Diabetic Retinopathy Screening by Optometrists. Value in Health, 2017;20(8):1034-1040. Value in Health can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, 360 Park Ave South, New York, NY 10010-1710, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Value in Health - www.journals.elsevier.com/value-in-health/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting K. Thavorn, ICES UOttawa, Inst Clin Evaluat Sci, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Additional authors for this research include Y.P. Jin, G.E. Trope, B. Yvonne, L. Masucci, R. Wedge, J. Flanagan, M.H. Brent, S. El-Defrawy, H.A. Tu and S. van Katwyk.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2017.04.015. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, North and Central America, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases and Conditions, Health Insurance, Diagnostics and Screening, Vascular Diseases and Conditions, Retinal Diseases and Conditions, Eye Diseases and Conditions, Diabetic Angiopathies, Diabetic Retinopathy, Ophthalmology, Public Health, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

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