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The importance of patient centricity in healthcare decision making has been recognized and advocated for decades. However, approaches for including the patient perspective are diverse, and progress varies among countries. Some reimbursement bodies acknowledge the importance of patient preferences in health technology assessment (HTA) and funding decision processes. However, patients’ perspectives are not yet systematically and transparently included in value assessment frameworks globally, and even less so in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. This systematic review aimed to investigate how patients’ perspectives are used to inform pricing and reimbursement decisions in the APAC region.
A systematic review is ongoing that utilized a search of 12 databases, including MEDLINE and Embase, to identify publications on the consideration of patient perspectives in health policy decision-making published to November 2022. Conference abstracts published in the last five years from ISPOR and Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) were screened, along with gray literature and government websites from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Publications were included if the impact of either one or more of the following on HTA decision-making was assessed: active participation of patients or patient advocacy groups; type, extent, and evolution of patient-reported outcomes; health-related quality of life or quality of life tools; and themes where the impact of patients’ perspectives on value assessment was the primary outcome. Countries were characterized into archetypes based on similarities or differences in the weight and value assigned to patient perspectives in decision-making.
A total of 6,438 retrieved citations will undergo the systematic review process. Additionally, 758 conference abstracts from ISPOR, 1,312 from HTAi conferences and 73 records from gray literature will be screened.
The results of the systematic review will be consolidated into country archetypes, examples, and learnings. Gaps and opportunities will also be identified.
The research will provide recommendations to increase shared decision-making and support the development of decision-making frameworks that systematically incorporate patients’ perspectives in value assessment across APAC countries.
This study was conducted to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of sunitinib versus interferon-alfa for the treatment of advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in Singapore.
A partitioned survival model with three health states (progression-free, progressive disease, and death) was developed from a healthcare payer perspective over a 10-year time horizon. Survival curves from the pivotal trial of sunitinib versus interferon-alfa were extrapolated beyond the trial period to estimate the underlying progression-free survival and overall survival parametric distributions. Health state utilities were derived from the literature and direct costs were sourced from local public healthcare institutions. The sunitinib dose in the model reflected local prescribing practices whereby a combination of 50 mg (28 percent) and 37.5 mg (72 percent) strengths are used.
The base-case analysis comparing sunitinib versus interferon-alfa resulted in an incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) of SGD191,061 (USD139,757) per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the ICER was most sensitive to variations in the utility value assumed for the progression-free health state and the price of sunitinib.
In the absence of any price reduction, sunitinib had an exceedingly high ICER and was not considered a cost-effective use of healthcare resources in Singapore's context for the first-line treatment of advanced RCC. The findings from our evaluation will be useful to inform local healthcare decision making and resource allocations for tyrosine kinase inhibitors when appraised alongside comparative clinical effectiveness data and payer affordability considerations.
Heart failure (HF) is a major public health problem worldwide and in Asia. Sacubitril/valsartan reduces cardiovascular death and hospitalizations for HF. However, decision makers need to determine whether its benefits are worth the additional costs, given the low-cost generic status of current standard of care.
Using a Markov model, we projected lifetime clinical and economic outcomes of sacubitril/valsartan versus enalapril for 66-year-old patients with HF in Singapore. Key health states included New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes; patients in each state incurred a monthly risk of hospitalization for HF and cardiovascular death. Probabilities of events were based on the PARADIGM-HF trial. The uncertain treatment effect of sacubtril/valsartan in Asian patients was modelled using a hazard ratio (HR) of 1 as upper limit in sensitivity analyses. Utilities were obtained from published literature. Local national epidemiological and cost data were applied. Analyses were conducted from the Singapore healthcare payer's perspective. Both one-way and Probabilistic Sensitivity Analyses (PSA) based on 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations were performed.
Compared to enalapril, sacubitril/valsartan was associated with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of SGD74k (USD52k) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. The cost-effectiveness of sacubitril/valsartan was highly dependent on its effectiveness in reducing the risk of cardiovascular death. However, this was uncertain, particularly in the Asian subgroup, where results were not statistically significant. In sensitivity analyses using results from Asian patients, the ICERs ranged from SGD41k (USD30k) to SGD1.3 million (USD 0.94 million) per QALY gained. PSA showed the probability of sacubitril/valsartan being cost-effective was below 1 percent, 12 percent and 71 percent at thresholds of SGD20k (USD14k), SGD50k (USD36k) and SGD100k (USD 72k) per QALY gained, respectively.
Given the uncertain ICER, sacubtril/valsartan may not provide good value for money compared to enalapril in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with HF at the current daily cost. Our study highlights the cost-benefit trade-off that healthcare professionals and patients face when considering HF therapy.
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