Building a strong economic case is one of the key pieces of evidence needed for any medical device and may form part of the Value Proposition or be a stand-alone piece of work. We offer bespoke economic analysis appropriate to your stage of development and target market. Within a Value Proposition, at an early stage of development, we offer a Health Economics Scoping Exercise. As you progress towards and beyond regulatory approval we can develop a full Health Economic Analysis to support adoption.
A Health Economics Scoping Exercise involves a review of the literature and publicly available sources to identify any economic evaluations or costings relevant to the current pathway or devices similar to the technology in development. From this review and any other evidence provided by the developers (such as bench or animal studies), a potential structure for a decision analytic model may be suggested. The Scoping Exercise would highlight important evidence sources and identify the parameters of importance for health economic analysis (particularly outcome measures and resource use) which could be included in future studies. As part of the Scoping Exercise, we would identify which costs and health outcomes are likely to be impacted by the introduction of the new technology. We will suggest when and where incremental costs would be incurred and potential cost savings realised. This can inform the design and follow-up period required in future studies.
A full Health Economic Analysis would typically build on the Health Economics Scoping Exercise and involve the development of an early economic model. This may take the form of a decision tree or Markov model or a combination of both. The analysis may take a cost minimisation, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility or cost benefit approach, as appropriate to the decision problem. Developing an early model (or multiple models for plausible scenarios) provides an opportunity to explore the potential for the technology to be cost effective and cost saving. It will also identify which parameters are the most influential for health economic analysis and provide guidance, through headroom and threshold analysis of the levels of effectiveness and price of technology which will maximise the potential for cost-effectiveness or cost savings. As well as building a model from first principles, CHEATA can assess the suitability of existing economic models and provide amendments where necessary. As part of a full Health Economic Assessment we will consider when and where costs are impacted. This is essential as decision-makers will want to understand if and when additional costs are to be incurred as well as anticipate the timescale over which cost savings are likely to be realised.
We have advised many clients on the potential economic impact of their device in a particular patient pathway. Our input can range from an "easy-to-digest" summary suitable for presenting to ICBs or including in the Value Proposition for investors, through to more complex modelling suitable for NICE submissions.
Read more about how we helped the Health Innovation East Midlands (formerly East Midlands AHSN) funded project, Silhouette, evidence the cost savings for their novel 3D camera in assessing diabetic foot ulcers in a community setting.
