The Economic Evaluation of Medical Devices: Challenges
Pritaporn Kingkaew BPharm, MSc*, Yot Teerawattananon MD, PhD*
Affiliation : * Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), Nonthaburi, Thailand
While many of the principles that guide the economic evaluation of medical devices are somewhat similar to those that guide the evaluation of other health technologies, most outline a methodology that focuses on pharmaceutical products rather providing specific guidance for medical devices. Given that medical devices use a wide range of technologies and can be used for many purposes, conducting an economic analysis for medical devices is not straight forward. The cost and effectiveness of a given technology may depend on a number of factors. The objective of this paper is to provide a summary of issues that need to be addressed before undertaking an economic evaluation of medical devices and to outline a number of suggested approaches for undertaking an economic evaluation of medical devices.
Keywords : Technology assessment, Cost-benefit analysis, Cost, Effectiveness, Medical device
