Bismarck and the Long Road to Universal Health Coverage

Cost-utility of VISITAG SURPOINT in catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation

BACKGROUND

Clinical studies have demonstrated the safety, efficacy, and efficiency of VISITAG SURPOINT® (VS), which provides important lesion markers during catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF). The present study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of CA with VS compared to CA without VS in AF from the publicly-funded German and Belgium healthcare perspectives.

METHODS

We constructed a two-stage cost utility model that included a decision tree to simulate clinical events, costs, and utilities during the first year after the index procedure and a Markov model to simulate transitions between health states throughout a patient's lifetime. Model inputs included published literature, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials AF outcomes, and publicly available administrative data on costs. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to determine the robustness of the model.

RESULTS

CA with VS was associated with lower per patient costs vs CA without VS (Germany: €3295 vs. €3936, Belgium: €3194 vs. €3814) and similar quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) per patient (Germany: 5.35 vs. 5.34, Belgium: 5.68 vs. 5.67). CA with VS was the dominant ablation strategy (incremental cost-effectiveness ratios: Germany: €-52,455/QALY, Belgium: €-50,676/QALY). The model results were robust and not highly sensitive to variation to individual parameters with regard to QALYs or costs. Freedom from AF and procedure time had the greatest impact on model results, highlighting the importance of these outcomes in ablation.

CONCLUSIONS

CA with VS resulted in cost savings and QALY gains compared to CA without VS, supporting the increased adoption of VS in CA in Germany and Belgium.

Modeling the global impact of reducing out-of-pocket costs for children's surgical care

Over 1.7 billion children lack access to surgical care, mostly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with substantial risks of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) and impoverishment. Increasing interest in reducing out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures as a tool to reduce the rate of poverty is growing. However, the impact of reducing OOP expenditures on CHE remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to estimate the global impact of reducing OOP expenditures for pediatric surgical care on the risk of CHE within and between countries. Our goal was to estimate the impact of reducing OOP expenditures for surgical care in children for 149 countries by modeling the risk of CHE under various scale-up scenarios using publicly available World Bank data. Scenarios included reducing OOP expenditures from baseline levels to paying 70%, 50%, 30%, and 10% of OOP expenditures. We also compared the impact of these reductions across income quintiles (poorest, poor, middle, rich, richest) and differences by country income level (low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income, and high-income countries).Reducing OOP expenditures benefited people from all countries and income quintiles, although the benefits were not equal. The risk of CHE due to a surgical procedure for children was highest in low-income countries. An unexpected observation was that upper-middle income countries were at higher risk for CHE than LMICs. The most vulnerable regions were Africa and Latin America. Across all countries, the poorest quintile had the greatest risk for CHE. Increasing interest in financial protection programs to reduce OOP expenditures is growing in many areas of global health. Reducing OOP expenditures benefited people from all countries and income quintiles, although the benefits were not equal across countries, wealth groups, or even by wealth groups within countries. Understanding these complexities is critical to develop appropriate policies to minimize the risks of poverty.

Initial Outcomes and Survival of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: EuReCa Serbia Multicenter Cohort Study

Introduction Although the global survival rate of patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has increased in the previous years, there still remain significant multifactorial public health challenges with many important aspects influencing the overall survival rate of these patients. The objective of this article is to analyze basic epidemiological parameters of OHCA in Serbia and to evaluate the influence of pre-hospitalization factors on the survival of OHCA patients. Methods Data on OHCA within the EuReCa Serbia Registry was collected according to the EuReCa Study protocol during the period October 1, 2014 - December 31, 2019, and included basic demographic data of the patients, data related to OHCA prior to hospital arrival, as well as data regarding subsequent hospitalization. Results The study included 6,266 EuReCa events (54% males), with a median age of 73 years [interquartile range (IQR) 63-82]. Cardiac arrest was witnessed in 3,111 out of 6,266 cases (49.6%), of which 2,725 cases (87.6%) were witnessed by bystanders and 286 cases (12.4%) by the emergency medical service (EMS) team. Resuscitation measures were attempted in 2,097 of 3,111 (67.4%) witnessed OHCA cases. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was initiated in 288 cases within the bystander-witnessed group of 2,725 cases (10.6%). An initial shockable rhythm was detected in 323 out of 3,111 witnessed cases (10.4%). Any return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) prior to hospital arrival was observed in 441 out of 2,097 cases where CPR was initiated (21.0%). Within the group of 2,097 events where CPR was initiated, in 287 cases the patient was transported to the hospital with ROSC (13.7%). An automated external defibrillator (AED) was used by bystanders in three cases. The collapse in locations other than the place of residence [p < 0.01; odds ratio (OR) 3.928], attempt to initiate CPR by a bystander (p < 0.01; OR 2.169), and presence of initial shockable rhythm (p = 0.01; OR 2.070) were observed as significant predictors of any ROSC in OHCA patients. Out of 287 patients hospitalized with ROSC, 54 (18.8%) were discharged alive. Conclusion Collapse outside of residence place, bystander CPR initiation, and initially detected shockable rhythm are important predictors of ROSC prior to hospital arrival and overall survival. Key factors of CPR-providing performance observed in this study were witnessing OHCA, CPR initiated by a bystander, presence of initial shockable rhythm, and any ROSC prior to hospital arrival.

National Health Systems and COVID-19 Death Toll Doubling Time

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has placed stress on all National Health Systems (NHSs) worldwide. Recent studies on the disease have evaluated different variables, namely, quarantine models, mitigation efforts, damage to mental health, mortality of the population with chronic diseases, diagnosis, use of masks and social distancing, and mortality based on age. This study focused on the four NHSs recognized by the WHO. These systems are as follows: (1) The Beveridge model, (2) the Bismarck model, (3) the National Health Insurance (NHI) model, and (4) the “Out-of-Pocket” model. The study analyzes the response of the health systems to the pandemic by comparing the time in days required to double the number of disease-related deaths. The statistical analysis was limited to 56 countries representing 70% of the global population. Each country was grouped into the health system defined by the WHO. The study compared the median death toll DT, between health systems using Mood's median test method. The results show high variability of the temporal trends in each group; none of the health systems for the three analyzed periods maintain stable interquartile ranges (IQRs). Nevertheless, the results obtained show similar medians between the study groups. The COVID-19 pandemic saturates health systems regardless of their management structures, and the result measured with the time for doubling death rate variable is similar among the four NHSs.