Valuing inter-sectoral costs and benefits of interventions in the healthcare sector: methods for obtaining unit prices

ABSTRACT

Introduction: There is a lack of knowledge about methods for valuing health intervention-related costs and monetary benefits in the education and criminal justice sectors, also known as ‘inter-sectoral costs and benefits’ (ICBs). The objective of this study was to develop methods for obtaining unit prices for the valuation of ICBs.

Methods: By conducting an exploratory literature study and expert interviews, several generic methods were developed. The methods’ feasibility was assessed through application in the Netherlands. Results were validated in an expert meeting, which was attended by policy makers, public health experts, health economists and HTA-experts, and discussed at several international conferences and symposia.

Results: The study resulted in four methods, including the opportunity cost method (A) and valuation using available unit prices (B), self-constructed unit prices (C) or hourly labor costs (D).

Discussion: The methods developed can be used internationally and are valuable for the broad international field of HTA.

KEYWORDS:

• inter-sectoral costs and benefits
• valuation methods
• costs and cost analysis
• education
• criminal justice
• healthcare sector

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Eddy Adang (Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen), Lea den Broeder (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven), Wim Groot (The Council for Public Health and Health Care, The Hague), Leona Hakkaart-van Roijen (Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, Rotterdam), Jack Hutten (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, The Hague), Debora Moolenaar (Ministry of Security and Justice, The Hague), Johan Polder (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven), Gerbert Romijn (Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, The Hague), Filip Smit (Trimbos Institute, Utrecht), Rolf van der Velden (Maastricht University, Maastricht) and Ardine de Wit (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven) for their valuable feedback on the methods and results of this study. The authors would also like to thank the discussants and participants of the following conferences: ‘Dutch Conference on Public Health’ in The Hague, April 2014, ‘Lowlands Health Economists’ Studygroup’ in Oostvoorne, May 2014, ‘iHEA 10^th World Congress on Health Economics’ in Dublin, July 2014 and ‘Symposium on Social Cost-Benefit Analysis and Inter-Sectoral Costs and Benefits’ at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in The Hague, October 2014. Furthermore, the authors would like to thank Barbara Greenberg for her English editing services.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This research was supported by Grant 200400010 from the Dutch Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), The Hague. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.