The Article outlines the contribution of health economics to the realization of child-friendly health care. The application of classic economic adult health care cost models to child health care is technically difficult because child health care is often more complex and less standardized than adult care (eg, pediatricians are not only treating diseases but the whole child and the family). Up to 8000 rare diseases are the main causes for children with long-term conditions, thus making the use of diagnosis-related group (DRG) systems very difficult to implement. Measures such as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) developed for adults may be insensitive to the needs of children for a number of reasons, including the lack of appropriate measures and long-term studies. In summary, there appears to be no role for overly dogmatic economic guidelines in child health, but a high degree of innovation and flexibility is required on which stakeholders in society must agree. The economic models for child health care may have to be adjusted according to different age groups, conditions, settings, and countries.

Starting the Debate on the Role of Health Economics to Support Child Friendly Health Care in Europe

PETTOELLO MANTOVANI, MASSIMO;
2015-01-01

Abstract

The Article outlines the contribution of health economics to the realization of child-friendly health care. The application of classic economic adult health care cost models to child health care is technically difficult because child health care is often more complex and less standardized than adult care (eg, pediatricians are not only treating diseases but the whole child and the family). Up to 8000 rare diseases are the main causes for children with long-term conditions, thus making the use of diagnosis-related group (DRG) systems very difficult to implement. Measures such as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) developed for adults may be insensitive to the needs of children for a number of reasons, including the lack of appropriate measures and long-term studies. In summary, there appears to be no role for overly dogmatic economic guidelines in child health, but a high degree of innovation and flexibility is required on which stakeholders in society must agree. The economic models for child health care may have to be adjusted according to different age groups, conditions, settings, and countries.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11369/330022
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