Driven by the development of medical technology and the increasing workload of hospitals, high-cost medical consumables are playing an ever more important role. Operating theatres, as the biggest consumer of high-cost consumables, cannot afford to manage the consumables in a detailed manner under the traditional approaches of management. This article elaborates on the complete management of the high-cost consumables with the help of bar code technology. Information management of high-cost consumables has brought about higher work efficiency, streamlined management process, greater medical safety and higher economic viability of hospitals.
Costs and Cost Analysis ; Electronic Data Processing ; Equipment and Supplies, Hospital ; economics ; Operating Rooms

Influenza can be prevented through annual appropriate vaccination against the virus concerned. In China, influenza vaccine is categorized as "Class Ⅱ" infectious diseases which the cost is paid out of the user's pockets. The annual coverage of influenza vaccination had been 2%-3%. The main reasons for the low coverage would include the following factors: lacking awareness on both the disease and vaccine, poor accessibility of vaccination service, and the cost of vaccination. To reduce the health and economic burden associated with influenza, comprehensive policies should be improved, targeting the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination. These items would include: ① Different financing reimbursement schemes and mechanisms to improve the aspiration on vaccination and on the vaccine coverage in high-risk groups, as young children, elderly, people with underlying medical conditions; ② to ameliorate equality of vaccination services; ③ to improve knowledge of the health care workers (HCWs) and the public on influenza and related vaccines; ④ to improve clinical and preventive medical practice and vaccination among HCWs through revising clinical guidelines, pathway and consensus of experts; ⑤ to provide more convenient, accessible and normative vaccination service system; ⑥ to strengthen research and development as well as marketing on novel influenza vaccines; ⑦ to revise items regarding the contraindication for influenza vaccine on pregnancy women, stated in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
Aged ; Awareness ; Child ; China ; Costs and Cost Analysis ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Health Personnel ; Health Promotion/methods* ; Humans ; Influenza Vaccines/economics* ; Influenza, Human/prevention & control* ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Vaccination

Bevacizumab is increasingly used in recurrent, persistent or metastatic cervical cancer. The early retrospective case reports found that bevacizumab combined with 5-FU (including capecitabine) or paclitaxel was well tolerated and displayed encouraging anti-tumor activity in recurrent or persistent cervical cancer. Phase Ⅱ clinical trials showed that bevacizumab was well tolerated and active in the second- and third-line treatment of patients with recurrent cervical cancer. Large scale phase Ⅱ and phase Ⅲ clinical trials demonstrated that bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy was effective in the first- and second-line treatment of patients with persistent cervical cancer, prolonged survival time and improved remission rate. The article also reviews the research progress on predictive factors of bevacizumab efficacy, showing the use of imaging and biomarkers in predicting the efficacy of bevacizumab treatment. In addition, this article analyzes the cost-effectiveness of bevacizumab, finding that bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy meets the standard of cost-effectiveness.
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; economics ; therapeutic use ; Bevacizumab ; economics ; therapeutic use ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; economics ; therapeutic use ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; drug therapy ; Paclitaxel ; economics ; therapeutic use ; Remission Induction ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; economics ; mortality

Airway Management ; China ; Clinical Competence ; Costs and Cost Analysis ; Humans ; Simulation Training ; economics

Three patients of pseudomyxoma peritonei who were diagnozed by transumbilical endoscopic surgery (TUES) were reviewed retrospectively from September 2014 to November 2014. Three cases of ascites patients underwent TUES were diagnozed as pseudomyxoma peritonei. All operations were successful. No open surgery or laparoscopic surgery was required. The mean operative time was (45±16) min; the mean intraoperative blood loss was 510 mL; the mean hospital stay time was 3 days. During the follow up of 911 months, no obvious scar was observed. Cosmetic results appear to be excellent. All patients were treated with intraperitoneal hyperthermia and chemotherapy. The survival rate was 100%. As a novel scarless endoscopic invasive abdominal surgery, TUES has high clinical value with the advantages such as small trauma, no scars, small risk and low cost in the diagnosis of unexplained ascites.
Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Ascites ; etiology ; Blood Loss, Surgical ; Cicatrix ; prevention & control ; Costs and Cost Analysis ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; Laparoscopy ; adverse effects ; economics ; methods ; Length of Stay ; Operative Time ; Peritoneal Neoplasms ; Pseudomyxoma Peritonei ; diagnosis ; mortality ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

To learn about the economic studies on traditional Chinese medicines in domestic literatures, in order to analyze the current economic assessment of traditional Chinese medicines and explore the existing problems. Efforts were made to search CNKI, VIP, Wanfang database and CBM by computer and include all literatures about economic assessment of traditional Chinese medicines published on professional domestic journals in the systematic assessment and quality evaluation. Finally, 50 articles were included in the study, and the systematic assessment and quality evaluation were made for them in terms of titles, year, authors' identity, expense source, disease type, study perspective, study design type, study target, study target source, time limit, cost calculation, effect indicator, analytical technique and sensitivity analysis. The finally quality score was 0.74, which is very low. The results of the study showed insufficient studies on economics of traditional Chinese medicines, short study duration and simple evaluation methods, which will be solved through unremitting efforts in the future.
Costs and Cost Analysis ; Databases, Factual ; economics ; Drug Therapy ; economics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; economics ; therapeutic use ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; economics ; Publications ; economics

This study involved a cost-utility analysis of early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy depending on the screening strategy used. The four screening strategies evaluated were no screening, opportunistic examination, systematic fundus photography, and systematic examination by an ophthalmologists. Each strategy was evaluated in 10,000 adults aged 40 yr with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (hypothetical cohort). The cost of each strategy was estimated in the perspective of both payer and health care system. The utility was estimated using quality-adjusted life years (QALY). Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) for the different screening strategies was analyzed. After exclusion of the weakly dominating opportunistic strategy, the ICER of systematic photography was 57,716,867 and that of systematic examination by ophthalmologists was 419,989,046 from the perspective of the healthcare system. According to the results, the systematic strategy is preferable to the opportunistic strategy from the perspective of both a payer and a healthcare system. Although systematic examination by ophthalmologists may have higher utility than systematic photography, it is associated with higher cost. The systematic photography is the best strategy in terms of cost-utility. However systematic examination by ophthalmologists can also be a suitable policy alternative, if the incremental cost is socially acceptable.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; *Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Diabetic Retinopathy/*diagnosis/economics/*therapy ; Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological/economics ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fluorescein Angiography/economics ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Male ; Markov Chains ; Mass Screening/*economics/methods/statistics & numerical data ; Middle Aged ; Models, Economic ; National Health Programs/economics ; Quality-Adjusted Life Years ; Republic of Korea

OBJECTIVEBy using questionnaire method to understand the evaluation regarding cost-effectiveness of acupuncture for migraine in both doctors and patients.

METHODSBy using questionnaire method, questionnaires for doctors and patients were made respectively; by using network platform, two sets of questionnaires were publicly released, which were filled in online. The results were real-time background collected and then analyzed.

RESULTSTotally 696 effective questionnaires for patients and 114 questionnaires for doctors were collected. The results indicated that (1)the direct cost (including treatment fee and material fee) for preventive treatment of migraine was 109 yuan per time in regular acupuncture, 152 yuan per time in regular acupuncture + electroacupuncture (EA) and 238 yuan per time in acupoint catgut embedding. The travelling expense was 42 yuan per time within the city and 193 yuan per time between cities. The indirect cost included cost for loss of working time (208 yuan per time), cost for treatment time (acupoint catgut embedding: 10 to 30 min per time, once one to three weeks; the remaining two treatments: 20 to 50 min per time, once to 5 times every week), time cost for arriving and departing hospital (1 to 3 hours per time within the city and 4 hours per time between cities). From the angle of treatment course, acupoint catgut embedding reduced the treatment frequency, leading to a lower total cost. (2)A mong the reasons to select different acupuncture methods to treat migraine, the results of patient questionnaire indicated that the focus in the patients who selected acupoint catgut embedding was different from that in the patients who selected two other treatments. The main advantage of acupoint catgut embedding was superior and lasting efficacy with low cost. The results of doctor questionnaire indicated the main reason to select acupoint catgut embedding was "lasting efficacy after single treatment" (87. 5%) and "lower frequency of treatment" (75. 0%). (3) The main reason to obstruct the popularization of acupoint catgut embedding was this method was not widely known.

CONCLUSIONThe acupoint catgut embedding is one ideal preventive treatment for migraine, which has higher cost-effectiveness, however, currently it is not widely applied. In future advertisement and training program should be strengthened to perform targeted popularization of acupoint catgut embedding for migraine.

Acupuncture Therapy ; economics ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Female ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Migraine Disorders ; economics ; psychology ; therapy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was conducted to evaluate whether medical costs can be reduced using endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) instead of conventional surgeries in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). METHODS: Patients who underwent open gastrectomy (OG), laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG), and ESD for EGC were recruited from three medical institutions in 2009. For macro-costing, the medical costs for each patient were derived from the expenses incurred during the patient's hospital stay and 1-year follow-up. The overall costs in micro-costing were determined by multiplying the unit cost with the resources used during the patients' hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 194 patients were included in this study. The hospital stay for ESD was 5 to 8 days and was significantly shorter than the 12-day hospital stay for OG or the 11- to 17-day stay for LAG. Using macro-costing, the average medical costs for ESD during the hospital stay ranged from 2.1 to 3.4 million Korean Won (KRW) per patient, and the medical costs for conventional surgeries were estimated to be between 5.1 million and 8.2 million KRW. There were no significant differences in the 1-year follow-up costs between ESD and conventional surgeries. CONCLUSIONS: ESD patients had lower medical costs than those patients who had conventional surgeries for EGC with conservative indications.
*Costs and Cost Analysis ; Dissection/*economics/methods ; Gastrectomy/*economics/methods ; Gastric Mucosa/surgery ; Gastroscopy/*economics/methods ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay/statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology/*surgery

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was conducted to evaluate whether medical costs can be reduced using endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) instead of conventional surgeries in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). METHODS: Patients who underwent open gastrectomy (OG), laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG), and ESD for EGC were recruited from three medical institutions in 2009. For macro-costing, the medical costs for each patient were derived from the expenses incurred during the patient's hospital stay and 1-year follow-up. The overall costs in micro-costing were determined by multiplying the unit cost with the resources used during the patients' hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 194 patients were included in this study. The hospital stay for ESD was 5 to 8 days and was significantly shorter than the 12-day hospital stay for OG or the 11- to 17-day stay for LAG. Using macro-costing, the average medical costs for ESD during the hospital stay ranged from 2.1 to 3.4 million Korean Won (KRW) per patient, and the medical costs for conventional surgeries were estimated to be between 5.1 million and 8.2 million KRW. There were no significant differences in the 1-year follow-up costs between ESD and conventional surgeries. CONCLUSIONS: ESD patients had lower medical costs than those patients who had conventional surgeries for EGC with conservative indications.
*Costs and Cost Analysis ; Dissection/*economics/methods ; Gastrectomy/*economics/methods ; Gastric Mucosa/surgery ; Gastroscopy/*economics/methods ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay/statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology/*surgery