Resolving Tension Between Cost-Effectiveness Analysis And Patient Centricity

There appears to be an inherent tension between cost-effectiveness analysis that informs allocative efficiency at the population level, and patient centricity. Here, patient centricity can be defined as incorporation of patient-centric outcomes in value calculations and inclusion of patient input in clinical and economic decisions.

Ideally, precision medicine resolves this tension, as by definition it’s patient-centric, and when done right, cost-effective. But, there’s still a long way to go before precision medicine’s promise becomes widespread reality.

Through intermediaries, such as payers, cost-effectiveness analysis informs treatment choices made by physicians and patients. For patients and their healthcare providers, issues can arise when reimbursement protocols (e.g., formularies) derived from population-based cost-effectiveness analysis impact (often limit) the choices patients and physicians can make.

The full Forbes article can be viewed at this link.