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Are QALYs an appropriate measure for valuing morbidity in acute diseases?
Author(s) -
Bala Mohan V.,
Zarkin Gary A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1050(200003)9:2<177::aid-hec497>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , quality adjusted life year , measure (data warehouse) , actuarial science , economics , medicine , willingness to pay , cost–benefit analysis , order (exchange) , public economics , cost effectiveness , operations management , computer science , microeconomics , finance , database , biology , ecology , psychiatry
In this paper, we examine the problems associated with using quality adjusted life years (QALYs) as the measure of effectiveness to evaluate interventions for acute conditions. We illustrate the way in which using commonly accepted benchmarks for costs per QALY, in order to adopt interventions for acute conditions, might result in decisions that are not consistent with maximizing net societal benefit. We suggest that an alternate methodology, such as willingness to pay, may be more appropriate to make allocation decisions for acute conditions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.