Background: In Greece, the provision of mental health services is limited to people residing in rural and remote areas. The operation of Mobile Mental Health Units (MMHUs) has been introduced in the Cyclades islands. ...Background: In Greece, the provision of mental health services is limited to people residing in rural and remote areas. The operation of Mobile Mental Health Units (MMHUs) has been introduced in the Cyclades islands. It is an innovative policy intervention that has been shown to be effective and efficient internationally. Objective: The aim was to evaluate the operation of MMHUs in the Cyclades islands based on real-world evidence (RWE), from a societal perspective. Methods: A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed where outcomes and costs were elaborated and classified based on two comparators, 1) with MMHUs’ operation and 2) without MMHUs’ operation. Clinical primary outcomes were based on RWE data and were elaborated for the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) values calculation, for a 12 months’ time horizon. Data descriptive statistics were performed with SPSS Statistics 22.0. Direct medical, non-medical and indirect costs were incorporated. Unit costs and monetary values were extracted from published data. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken to test the robustness of the results. Results: The operation of MMHUs in the Cyclades islands led to an incremental cost of €12,250.78 per DALY averted. A substantial higher increase is observed in the direct non-medical costs of the non-MMHUs’ operation where patients had to pay approximately €2,602 per capita annually for their transportation and accommodation due to hospitalization and outpatient care. Informal care expenses are 3 fold increasing in the non-MMHUs’ operation arm. Both direct non-medical and informal care costs correspond to high out of pocket payments totally covered by the patients. The sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the decision does not change when we varied the unit costs by ±10%. Conclusions: The operation of MMHUs appears to be a cost-effective option for treating patients with mental disorders in remote areas and islands in Greece. MMHUs appear to overcome the existing NHS structural inefficiencies by minimizing public expenditures and patients’ income losses by preventing and improving their mental health status.展开更多
Objectives: To identify local resource use such as pharmaceutical treatment, medical follow-up, and patient hospitalization and estimate the budget impact of simeprevir (SMV) plus pegylated interferon (P)/ribavirin (R...Objectives: To identify local resource use such as pharmaceutical treatment, medical follow-up, and patient hospitalization and estimate the budget impact of simeprevir (SMV) plus pegylated interferon (P)/ribavirin (R) as a treatment option in the early stages of the disease in Greece. Methods: A budget impact tool was developed with a two-year time horizon, which estimated the impact on the Social Insurance Funds (SIFs) of introducing SMV + PR in the management of the early disease stages. Total direct and indirect costs were estimated for each of the following health states: non-cirrhotic chronic Hepatitis C (and within that by fibrosis stage), compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Data gaps on treatment algorithms, resource use and productivity losses were covered via an expert panel of eight leading hepatologists. Epidemiology data were taken from the published literature. Unit costs were obtained from the Ministry of Health and SIFs. The perspective was that of the SIF and the cost base year was 2015. Results: The total (direct and indirect) cost per patient per year (excluding cost of antiviral treatment) was estimated at €647, €703, €5,753, €16,313 and €37,237 for non-cirrhotic CHC, compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, HCC and liver transplantation, respectively. The budget impact analysis showed that adding SMV to PR in the early stages of the disease would lead to an increase in the cost of antiviral treatment by €2.03 million. Conclusions: Costs of managing CHC increase dramatically with disease severity. SMV + PR for naive patients at early disease stages has a significant but manageable budget impact, and could prevent high costs in advanced stages.展开更多
Background: The inappropriate, irrational use or misuse of antibiotics is observed in all health systems and in all patients’ groups worldwide, especially for children, where antibiotics continue to be the drugs most...Background: The inappropriate, irrational use or misuse of antibiotics is observed in all health systems and in all patients’ groups worldwide, especially for children, where antibiotics continue to be the drugs most commonly prescribed. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in all public pediatric clinics in the Republic of Cyprus, from April to May 2015. A questionnaire was distributed to pediatricians in order to identify the antibiotic prescription practices in common childhood diseases and attitudes towards Pharmacovigilance. The SPSS 19.0 was used for the statistical analysis. In total 42 pediatricians and pediatric residents filled out the questionnaire. Results: A significant percentage of the respondents administered empirical therapy for possible group A streptococcus infection (59.5%), they implemented the “watchful waiting” tactic in acute otitis media (66.7%), whereas 11.9% of them administered antibiotics for the prevention of secondary respiratory tract infections. The majority of physicians did not feel diagnostic uncertainty leading to antibiotics prescribing (90.2%) and their prescribing habits were not influenced by parental demand (80.5%). Although 23.1% of physicians observed often/very often Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) after antibiotic administration during their clinical practice, however, 47.6% of the pediatricians declared that they did not report them. Conclusion: Health professionals’ continuing education on the use of therapeutic guidelines and protocols and the development of Pharmacovigilance programs could significantly contribute to the avoidance of the misuse of antibiotics in hospital care as well as to health professionals’ awareness on rational prescribing.展开更多
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities have been revealed as an emerging managerial tool and research field. The socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted several companies to take on CSR in...Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities have been revealed as an emerging managerial tool and research field. The socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted several companies to take on CSR initiatives. The objective of this study was to investigate CSR initiatives implemented in companies specializing in pharmaceutical and biomedical products as well as medical equipment, prior and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted in companies of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE), the Panhellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (PEF) and the Association of Health-Research and Biotechnology Industry (SEIV). A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a total of 112 companies. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0. Levels of significance were two-tailed and statistical significance was set at p = 0.05. The final sample consisted of 74 companies with a response rate of 77.7%. Among them 62.2% were multinational and 37.8% national companies. Some companies provided pharmaceuticals (40.5%), medical equipment and biotechnology products (32.4%) and others were specializing in both categories (27.1%). A percentage equal to 89.2% stated that they implemented CSR activities, out of which 75.7% carried out COVID-19 related initiatives, such as in public health (37.7%), societal issues (27.2%), environment (19.9%), etc. Approximately 50% increased their CSR activities during the pandemic. Moreover, the majority of companies devoted ≤30% of their total CSR budget against the pandemic. The higher a company’s turnover, the higher CSR activities performance. Pharmaceutical and biomedical companies in Greece implemented CSR actions, prior and during the pandemic. Companies contributed to handle the effects of health crisis through CSR Covid-19 related activities, which differentiated according to company’s culture and wealth. It is important that authorities should reward companies carrying out CSR initiatives, given that they positively contribute to the societal recovery by financially supporting the health care sector and the overall economy.展开更多
文摘Background: In Greece, the provision of mental health services is limited to people residing in rural and remote areas. The operation of Mobile Mental Health Units (MMHUs) has been introduced in the Cyclades islands. It is an innovative policy intervention that has been shown to be effective and efficient internationally. Objective: The aim was to evaluate the operation of MMHUs in the Cyclades islands based on real-world evidence (RWE), from a societal perspective. Methods: A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed where outcomes and costs were elaborated and classified based on two comparators, 1) with MMHUs’ operation and 2) without MMHUs’ operation. Clinical primary outcomes were based on RWE data and were elaborated for the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) values calculation, for a 12 months’ time horizon. Data descriptive statistics were performed with SPSS Statistics 22.0. Direct medical, non-medical and indirect costs were incorporated. Unit costs and monetary values were extracted from published data. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken to test the robustness of the results. Results: The operation of MMHUs in the Cyclades islands led to an incremental cost of €12,250.78 per DALY averted. A substantial higher increase is observed in the direct non-medical costs of the non-MMHUs’ operation where patients had to pay approximately €2,602 per capita annually for their transportation and accommodation due to hospitalization and outpatient care. Informal care expenses are 3 fold increasing in the non-MMHUs’ operation arm. Both direct non-medical and informal care costs correspond to high out of pocket payments totally covered by the patients. The sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the decision does not change when we varied the unit costs by ±10%. Conclusions: The operation of MMHUs appears to be a cost-effective option for treating patients with mental disorders in remote areas and islands in Greece. MMHUs appear to overcome the existing NHS structural inefficiencies by minimizing public expenditures and patients’ income losses by preventing and improving their mental health status.
文摘Objectives: To identify local resource use such as pharmaceutical treatment, medical follow-up, and patient hospitalization and estimate the budget impact of simeprevir (SMV) plus pegylated interferon (P)/ribavirin (R) as a treatment option in the early stages of the disease in Greece. Methods: A budget impact tool was developed with a two-year time horizon, which estimated the impact on the Social Insurance Funds (SIFs) of introducing SMV + PR in the management of the early disease stages. Total direct and indirect costs were estimated for each of the following health states: non-cirrhotic chronic Hepatitis C (and within that by fibrosis stage), compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Data gaps on treatment algorithms, resource use and productivity losses were covered via an expert panel of eight leading hepatologists. Epidemiology data were taken from the published literature. Unit costs were obtained from the Ministry of Health and SIFs. The perspective was that of the SIF and the cost base year was 2015. Results: The total (direct and indirect) cost per patient per year (excluding cost of antiviral treatment) was estimated at €647, €703, €5,753, €16,313 and €37,237 for non-cirrhotic CHC, compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, HCC and liver transplantation, respectively. The budget impact analysis showed that adding SMV to PR in the early stages of the disease would lead to an increase in the cost of antiviral treatment by €2.03 million. Conclusions: Costs of managing CHC increase dramatically with disease severity. SMV + PR for naive patients at early disease stages has a significant but manageable budget impact, and could prevent high costs in advanced stages.
文摘Background: The inappropriate, irrational use or misuse of antibiotics is observed in all health systems and in all patients’ groups worldwide, especially for children, where antibiotics continue to be the drugs most commonly prescribed. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in all public pediatric clinics in the Republic of Cyprus, from April to May 2015. A questionnaire was distributed to pediatricians in order to identify the antibiotic prescription practices in common childhood diseases and attitudes towards Pharmacovigilance. The SPSS 19.0 was used for the statistical analysis. In total 42 pediatricians and pediatric residents filled out the questionnaire. Results: A significant percentage of the respondents administered empirical therapy for possible group A streptococcus infection (59.5%), they implemented the “watchful waiting” tactic in acute otitis media (66.7%), whereas 11.9% of them administered antibiotics for the prevention of secondary respiratory tract infections. The majority of physicians did not feel diagnostic uncertainty leading to antibiotics prescribing (90.2%) and their prescribing habits were not influenced by parental demand (80.5%). Although 23.1% of physicians observed often/very often Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) after antibiotic administration during their clinical practice, however, 47.6% of the pediatricians declared that they did not report them. Conclusion: Health professionals’ continuing education on the use of therapeutic guidelines and protocols and the development of Pharmacovigilance programs could significantly contribute to the avoidance of the misuse of antibiotics in hospital care as well as to health professionals’ awareness on rational prescribing.
文摘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities have been revealed as an emerging managerial tool and research field. The socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted several companies to take on CSR initiatives. The objective of this study was to investigate CSR initiatives implemented in companies specializing in pharmaceutical and biomedical products as well as medical equipment, prior and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted in companies of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE), the Panhellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (PEF) and the Association of Health-Research and Biotechnology Industry (SEIV). A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a total of 112 companies. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0. Levels of significance were two-tailed and statistical significance was set at p = 0.05. The final sample consisted of 74 companies with a response rate of 77.7%. Among them 62.2% were multinational and 37.8% national companies. Some companies provided pharmaceuticals (40.5%), medical equipment and biotechnology products (32.4%) and others were specializing in both categories (27.1%). A percentage equal to 89.2% stated that they implemented CSR activities, out of which 75.7% carried out COVID-19 related initiatives, such as in public health (37.7%), societal issues (27.2%), environment (19.9%), etc. Approximately 50% increased their CSR activities during the pandemic. Moreover, the majority of companies devoted ≤30% of their total CSR budget against the pandemic. The higher a company’s turnover, the higher CSR activities performance. Pharmaceutical and biomedical companies in Greece implemented CSR actions, prior and during the pandemic. Companies contributed to handle the effects of health crisis through CSR Covid-19 related activities, which differentiated according to company’s culture and wealth. It is important that authorities should reward companies carrying out CSR initiatives, given that they positively contribute to the societal recovery by financially supporting the health care sector and the overall economy.
