The Impact Of Insurance On Use Of Dental Services And Oral Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$203,616.00
Summary
Dental problems are very common in the Australian population, and health expenditure on dental services is large. This project addresses the impact of dental insurance on use of dental services and oral health outcomes to investigate the effect of insurance on dental visit patterns and mix of dental services provided, and examine how the cost of dental care is related to outcomes such as tooth loss and quality of life.
Developing A Common Outcome Measure For Priority Setting In Health: Validation Of The 'Transfer To Utility' Technique
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,100.00
Summary
The economic evaluation of health programs is a common requirement of funders and purchasers seeking to get the best value from the health dollar. But researchers employ a wide range of disease specific and generic health status instruments to describe trial outcomes, making comparison between diverse interventions difficult. In response to this problem a 'Transfer to Utility' or TTU technique was developed by Dr Segal and colleagues, to translate diverse outcomes reported in clinical trials, in ....The economic evaluation of health programs is a common requirement of funders and purchasers seeking to get the best value from the health dollar. But researchers employ a wide range of disease specific and generic health status instruments to describe trial outcomes, making comparison between diverse interventions difficult. In response to this problem a 'Transfer to Utility' or TTU technique was developed by Dr Segal and colleagues, to translate diverse outcomes reported in clinical trials, into a utility score, so the performance of diverse health interventions can be expressed in cost-QALY and compared. The technique establishes a statistical transformation between instruments commonly used in clinical trials and a utility value. While the technique appears highly useful, based on a priority setting exercise in osteoarthritis enabling 20 disparate interventions to be compared its validity and applicability in other contexts is not established. The purpose of the grant is to explore the TTU technique to i) establish the best method for estimating the regression equation between common health outcome measures and a utility score and validating that method; ii) test generalisability to other disease areas, for which quality of life is the primary objective of management (in stroke, drug dependence and depression), iii) develop and validate a method for translating the most commonly used measure of general health status, the SF-36, into a utility score and iv) illustrate the application of the TTU in comparing intervensions for the prevention and management of depression. The results of the research will be of value to i) decision makers who must compare the performance of medical-health care interventions across a range of diseases and modalities and ii) to clinicians who want to practice evidenced based health care. The potential health gains for the community are substantial, in supporting the redirection of resources to more effective and cost-effectiveRead moreRead less
A Computer Simulation Model For The Evaluation Of Interventions For The Management Of Type 2 Diabetes In Austral
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$334,505.00
Summary
Diabetes imposes a heavy personal, societal and financial burden in Australia and this is predicted to increase over time. It has been estimated that one million people in Australia have diabetes and the annual cost of diabetes care is in the order of 3 billion dollars. Many studies show that the current quality of diabetes care in Australia is sub-optimal and therefore decisions must be made about prioritizing the allocation of limited resources to correct these deficiencies. This project invol ....Diabetes imposes a heavy personal, societal and financial burden in Australia and this is predicted to increase over time. It has been estimated that one million people in Australia have diabetes and the annual cost of diabetes care is in the order of 3 billion dollars. Many studies show that the current quality of diabetes care in Australia is sub-optimal and therefore decisions must be made about prioritizing the allocation of limited resources to correct these deficiencies. This project involves building a computer simulation model to inform clinicians and assist policy makers in the efficient allocation of resources to improve the quality of diabetes care in Australia.Read moreRead less
Systematic Practice-based Asthma Care In The Australian Setting
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$563,625.00
Summary
Asthma is an illness which increasingly is affecting the health and quality of life of millions of Australians. Much effort has been focused in recent years on ways of improving the management of those people who suffer from moderate and severe asthma. A recent government initiative has been to promote the use of the 3+ Visit Plan, which encourages a more proactive, systematic approach to assessing and treating asthma in general practice. There is currently no evidence about exactly how practice ....Asthma is an illness which increasingly is affecting the health and quality of life of millions of Australians. Much effort has been focused in recent years on ways of improving the management of those people who suffer from moderate and severe asthma. A recent government initiative has been to promote the use of the 3+ Visit Plan, which encourages a more proactive, systematic approach to assessing and treating asthma in general practice. There is currently no evidence about exactly how practices can best be organized to provide this systematic care, in a way which improves the process of care and the health outcomes for patients. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of changing aspects of practice organization and structure, such as setting up registers of asthma patients, providing recalls or reminders to patients to come in for regular review, having the GPs provide education and self-management skills to patients, focusing on the contributions which practice staff can make to the process, and initiating quality assurance measures such as audit and feedback to the GPs about their quality of care. We anticipate that these changes will provide positive benefits for the patients, but will also investigate what it costs the practices, patients and government to bring these changes about, within the perspective of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The evidence generated by this study will provide an excellent base for providing advice to policy makers, as well as contributing to the development of best-practice models of care for asthma patients in general practice.Read moreRead less
Exercise Therapy For Prevention Of Falls In People With Parkinsons Disease: A Randomised Controlled Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$598,820.00
Summary
Despite optimal medication regimes, people with Parkinson's disease frequently and recurrently experience falls. Up to 68% of the 100,000 people living in Australia with Parkinson's disease fall every year and fall-related injuries are the most common reason why people with Parkinson's disease are admitted to hospital. This project will implement an exercise program targeting risk factors for falls and will determine the efficacy and the cost effectiveness of the program.