Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/128150
Citations
Scopus Web of Science® Altmetric
?
?
Type: Journal article
Title: Economic evaluation of point-of-care testing in the remote primary health care setting of Australia’s Northern Territory
Author: Spaeth, B.A.
Kaambwa, B.
Shephard, M.D.S.
Omond, R.
Citation: ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research, 2018; 10:269-277
Publisher: Dove Press
Issue Date: 2018
ISSN: 1178-6981
1178-6981
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Brooke A Spaeth, Billingsley Kaambwa, Mark DS Shephard, Rodney Omond
Abstract: Aim: To determine the cost-effectiveness of utilizing point-of-care testing (POCT) on the Abbott i-STAT device as a support tool to aid decisions regarding the emergency medical retrievals of patients at remote health centers in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. Methods: A decision analytic simulation model-based economic evaluation was conducted using data from patients presenting with three common acute conditions (chest pain, chronic renal failure due to missed dialysis session(s), and acute diarrhea) at six remote NT health centers from July to December 2015. The specific outcomes measured in this study were the number of unnecessary emergency medical retrieval prevented through POCT. Cost savings through prevented unnecessary medical retrievals for each presentation type were then determined and extrapolated to give per annum NT-wide estimates. Results: POCT prevented 60 unnecessary medical evacuations from a total of 200 patient cases meeting the selection criteria (48/147 for chest pain, 10/28 for missed dialysis, and 2/25 for acute diarrhea). The associated cost savings were AUD $4,674, $8,034, and $786 per patient translating to NT-wide savings of AUD $13.72 million, $6.45 million, and $1.57 million per annum (AUD $21.75 million in total) for chest pain, missed dialysis, and acute diarrhea presentations, respectively. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that POCT when used to aid decision making for acutely ill patients delivered significant cost savings for the NT health care system by preventing unnecessary emergency medical retrievals.
Keywords: Acute; remote health; primary care; retrieval; acute care; myocardial infarction; dialysis; dehydration; Indigenous health; pathology testing; medical retrieval; cost-effectiveness
Rights: © 2018 Spaeth et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php).
DOI: 10.2147/CEOR.S160291
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/ceor.s160291
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest 4
Public Health publications

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
hdl_128150.pdfPublished Version380.46 kBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.