Article type
Abstract
Background: Health economic evaluations is a key role to support decision-making process of health intervention reimbursement through identifying the benefits of health technologies in conjunction with their associated costs. Given the impact of economic evaluation on reimbursement decisions to create a sustainable healthcare system, it is imperative to ensure the accurate reporting and presentation of economic evaluation to guarantee reproducibility, transparency, and the quality of the results presented.
Aim: To assess the quality of reporting of health economic evaluation for the reimbursement of drugs into the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).
Methods: This is a meta-epidemiological study that involved the review of all submission dossiers in the Conitec repositories, encompassing health economic evaluations for the incorporation of pharmaceuticals into the SUS. The investigation was confined to dossiers submitted between January 2020 and May 2023, focusing only on cost-effectiveness analyses. Conformity of reporting was assessed in the methods and results sections within the dossiers, utilizing the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) 2022 instrument. Study Protocol: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/JVYEC.
Results: 104 dossiers with cost-effectiveness analyses were included in this study. We identified low reporting of health economic analysis plan (1.92%), valuation of outcomes (76.9%), currency, price date, and conversion (62.5%), rationale and description of the model (88.5%), analytics and assumptions (89.4%), characterization of heterogeneity (22.1%), characterization of distributional effects (29.8%), and partially reported study parameters (68.3%) in the results section and discussion of study findings (49%) (Figure X).
Conclusions: Cost-effectiveness analysis does not always report methodological requirements in the dossiers submitted to the reimbursement of drugs to SUS. While reporting of evidence synthesis had significant improvements, we observed heterogeneity in the reporting of health effectiveness in the methods of health economic studies. The quality of reporting is crucial to enhance transparency and reproducibility of health economic evaluations, especially in a context where the willingness-to-pay threshold has recently been defined in the Brazilian public health system.
Aim: To assess the quality of reporting of health economic evaluation for the reimbursement of drugs into the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).
Methods: This is a meta-epidemiological study that involved the review of all submission dossiers in the Conitec repositories, encompassing health economic evaluations for the incorporation of pharmaceuticals into the SUS. The investigation was confined to dossiers submitted between January 2020 and May 2023, focusing only on cost-effectiveness analyses. Conformity of reporting was assessed in the methods and results sections within the dossiers, utilizing the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) 2022 instrument. Study Protocol: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/JVYEC.
Results: 104 dossiers with cost-effectiveness analyses were included in this study. We identified low reporting of health economic analysis plan (1.92%), valuation of outcomes (76.9%), currency, price date, and conversion (62.5%), rationale and description of the model (88.5%), analytics and assumptions (89.4%), characterization of heterogeneity (22.1%), characterization of distributional effects (29.8%), and partially reported study parameters (68.3%) in the results section and discussion of study findings (49%) (Figure X).
Conclusions: Cost-effectiveness analysis does not always report methodological requirements in the dossiers submitted to the reimbursement of drugs to SUS. While reporting of evidence synthesis had significant improvements, we observed heterogeneity in the reporting of health effectiveness in the methods of health economic studies. The quality of reporting is crucial to enhance transparency and reproducibility of health economic evaluations, especially in a context where the willingness-to-pay threshold has recently been defined in the Brazilian public health system.