Comparison of several evaluation methods of health economics

Health economics analysis and evaluation methods mainly include the following:

(1) cost-benefit analysis

The basic idea of cost-benefit ratio analysis is to achieve the determined planned objectives at the lowest cost. There are generally three methods.

① Compare the effect when the cost is the same. It means that the total cost of the scheme is the same, so compare its effects.

(2) compare the cost when the effect is the same. It means that the effect of the scheme is the same and its cost is comparative.

③ Compare the ratio of incremental cost and incremental effect. When the investment of health plan is not constrained by budget, the cost can be more or less, and the effect will change accordingly. At this time, the ratio index of incremental cost and incremental effect can be used to evaluate the health plan.

(2) cost-benefit analysis

Cost-benefit analysis is a method to evaluate alternatives by comparing the present value of all expected benefits and all expected costs of various alternatives. Its main content is to study whether the income of any scheme exceeds the opportunity cost of its resource consumption. Only the scheme whose income is not lower than the opportunity cost is feasible. The most commonly used methods for cost-benefit analysis are as follows:

① Net present value method. Net present value method is based on the principle of time value of money, excluding the influence of time factor of money, comparing the present value of total benefit with the present value of total cost of planned scheme, and evaluating and making decisions according to the difference, that is, net present value.

② Annual equivalent net benefit method. The annual equivalent net benefit is to convert the actual net benefit of the scheme in each year into the annual average net benefit value, that is, the annual average of the discounted net present value.

③ Benefit-cost ratio method. Benefit-cost ratio is the ratio of total benefit present value to total cost present value of health plan.

④ Internal rate of return method. The internal rate of return method considers the time factor of money and reflects the rate of return of unit funds during the planning period. It can compare, evaluate and make decisions with reference to the benchmark discount rate or the lowest expected rate of return.

(3) Cost-utility analysis

Cost-effectiveness analysis is usually used to compare the costs and results of prevention and treatment of different programs for the same health problem, but it is often difficult to compare and analyze the costs and effects of health plans or programs for different health problems. The evaluation indexes of health plans or programs that can be applied to different health problems are quality-adjusted life years and disability-adjusted life years, and the method of evaluating them is called cost-utility analysis.

(4) Cost minimization analysis

Cost minimization analysis is used to compare two or more schemes with the same result. If it is known that the final results of the schemes to be compared are the same, then it is only necessary to compare which schemes have the lowest cost and the scheme with the lowest cost is the best. In some cases, the benefits of several projects to be compared may be the same for individuals, but it means saving medical costs for society. These saved costs can be regarded as additional benefits and converted into monetary form to minimize costs and improve efficiency.