The blog provides links to slide sets and posters relating to the value footprint of oncology treatments, treating obstructive sleep apnoea and sources of motivation in health care organisations.

The Expanding Value Footprint of Oncology Treatments

Speaking at the Spanish Health Economists Association Annual Meeting in Granada, Spain, 17-19th June 2015, OHE’s Jorge Mestre-Ferrandiz delivered a presentation on the expanding value footprint of oncology treatments.

Jorge’s presentation noted that cancer drugs tend to be more expensive than those used in most other therapeutic areas, and at the time of initial regulatory approval, the health gains from the use of new cancer drugs are often seen as being quite modest. Yet, many new cancer drugs have a therapeutic potential well beyond their initial indication. The objective of this study was to provide a better understanding of how changes in the use of an oncology medicine can affect the aggregate value of the treatment.

For more information contact Jorge Mestre-Ferrandiz.

The Economic Consequences of Treating OSA in the UK

OHE’s Juan Carlos also presented a poster at the Spanish Health Economists Association Annual Meeting. The poster provided a summary of an empirical study into the economic consequence of treating obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in the UK. 

The study found that OSA patients, the NHS and the wider society in the UK have not yet obtained all the economic and health benefits that could be achieved. An increase in the rate of uptake of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) could double the savings to the NHS and the health benefits to patients compared to current practice.

For more information contact Martina Garau at OHE.

Incentives and Intrinsic Motivation in Health Care Organizations: a Case Study from Servicio Navarro de Salud-Osasunbidea

OHE’s Mikel Berdud delivered a presentation at the iHEA 11th World Congress in Health Economics held in Milan, Italy, 12-15th July 2015. 

The presentation looked at how incentive schemes and policies which have been used to motivate physicians in recent decades may have crowded out1 doctors’ intrinsic motivation2 (IM), thereby provoking opportunistic behaviours and the opposite results from what was desired or expected. Mikel presented results of an interview based qualitative analysis which explored doctors’ intrinsic motivation, crowding-out effects of current incentive schemes, and potential ways to design incentives that may incentivise performance and improve doctors’ IM. 

For more information contact Mikel Berdud at OHE.

1 Crowding out is when rewards or incentives substitute individuals’ intrinsic motivation
2 Intrinsic motivation can be defined as doing something because is inherently interesting or enjoyable rather than for some separable consequence