Cost-effectiveness calculators on health and social services planning and evaluation: an explorative interview study of key informants

Figures & data

Table 1. Background characteristics of the participants.

	M (Sd)	n (%)
Age, years	51 (9.7)
Gender
Male		7 (50.0)
Female		7 (50.0)
Education
Master’s degree		7 (50.0)
Doctoral degree		7 (50.0)
Position
Developmental and welfare leaders and coordinators		8 (57.1)
Researchers and research leaders		6 (42.9)
Workplace
Hospital districts or counties		5 (35.7)
Universities		4 (28.6)
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare		3 (21.4)
Municipalities		2 (14.3)

Table 2. The semi-structured interview guide.

Initial discussion	What do you think about cost-effectiveness calculators (Supplementary table 1)?Have you been using, or developing, such calculators?
Interview themes	1. What parties/levels need such calculators? (regional/national, public/private, other parties/levels) 2. What effects and target groups should the calculators target? 3. Who should develop and fund calculators? 4. What kind of information could be used in the calculators? (Existing information, new information, other information, what?) 5. What features would affect your use of the calculator? (Usability, accessibility, reliability, other features)
End discussion	Is there anything else you would like to say regarding cost-effectiveness calculators?

Table 3. The views of key informants on the development and use of cost-effectiveness calculators to plan and evaluate interventions that promote health and well-being in health and social services.

Main theme (n = 3)	Category (n = 9)	Sub-category (n = 30)
Need for calculators	The value base for health, well-being and safety promotion	Identifying needs
		Prioritization
	Tool and support for knowledge-based management and decision-making	Strengthening preventive work in municipalities
		Demonstrating the effects of well-being promotion work
		Assessment of the suitability of the measures and comparison of alternatives
	The basis for cost-effectiveness evaluation	The starting point is a change in human well-being
		Effectiveness of services and interventions
		Social impact
		Need for prospective evaluation
Selection and usability of calculators	Outcomes estimated by the calculators	Cost-effectiveness
		Experienced health and well-being
	Calculator features	Comprehensibility and practicality of the calculator
		Technical usability
		Transparency of calculator background assumptions
	Challenges related to calculator selection and use	Scarce resources of municipalities
		There is no national guidance
Development, use and funding of calculators	Roles of different actors	National development and financial responsibility
		Intra-regional and inter-regional differences must be taken into account
		Cooperation between different departments of municipalities in the management of well-being and health
		Networking with the NGOs (third sector) and companies
		Inclusion of the individual
	Data sources and data collection for calculator development	Research data
		Statistics and registers
		Basic data collected by service providers
		Regional and municipal knowledge bases
		Information collected by intelligent technology
	Challenges of data collection and utilization	Relevance and fragmentation of data
		Data protection legislation as a limiting factor
		Accumulation of data alongside normal operation
		Groups for which little data is available