10.08.2013 Views

Valeurs seuils pour le rapport coût-efficacité en soins de santé - KCE

Valeurs seuils pour le rapport coût-efficacité en soins de santé - KCE

Valeurs seuils pour le rapport coût-efficacité en soins de santé - KCE

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

<strong>KCE</strong> reports 100 ICER Thresholds 41<br />

The most ext<strong>en</strong>sive discussion on the use of ICER threshold values by governm<strong>en</strong>t<br />

ag<strong>en</strong>cies can be found in the UK. In the UK, argum<strong>en</strong>ts have be<strong>en</strong> <strong>de</strong>veloped why it is<br />

improper to apply a specific threshold. 61 For a number of reasons, NICE formally rejects<br />

the use of an absolute ICER threshold value for judging the <strong>le</strong>vel of acceptability of a<br />

technology: 67<br />

“Firstly, there is no c<strong>le</strong>ar empirical basis for <strong>de</strong>ciding at what value a threshold should be set.<br />

Secondly, there may be circumstances, as discussed below, in which the Institute would want to<br />

ignore a threshold ev<strong>en</strong> if one could be <strong>de</strong>fined. Thirdly, to set a threshold would imply,<br />

unreasonably, that effici<strong>en</strong>cy (health maximisation) had an absolute priority over other<br />

objectives (particularly equity or fairness). Fourthly, many of the supply industries whose<br />

products are appraised by the Institute are monopolies or oligopolies with high R&D costs but<br />

low production costs. Consequ<strong>en</strong>tly, there are natural t<strong>en</strong>d<strong>en</strong>cies towards monopoly pricing and<br />

a threshold would provi<strong>de</strong> an inc<strong>en</strong>tive to set prices to achieve an ICER just below the threshold<br />

and discourage price competition” w. In the same discussion context, NICE adopted a formal<br />

standpoint on the use of sci<strong>en</strong>tific and social values x “Social value judgem<strong>en</strong>ts are equally<br />

necessary but are concerned with the societal values embodied, explicitly or implicitly, in the<br />

Institute’s advice. The need for judgem<strong>en</strong>ts of this kind is in<strong>de</strong>p<strong>en</strong>d<strong>en</strong>t of the sci<strong>en</strong>tific or<br />

empirical validity of the evid<strong>en</strong>ce, and is concerned with what should be consi<strong>de</strong>red to be<br />

appropriate for the NHS”<br />

Therefore, judgm<strong>en</strong>ts about whether ICERs can be consi<strong>de</strong>red ‘reasonab<strong>le</strong>’ are ma<strong>de</strong> by<br />

in<strong>de</strong>p<strong>en</strong>d<strong>en</strong>t members of NICE's advisory committees (particularly the appraisal y<br />

committee) and the gui<strong>de</strong>line <strong>de</strong>velopm<strong>en</strong>t groups. Moreover, <strong>de</strong>cision makers have to<br />

judge anyway whether an ICER repres<strong>en</strong>ts good value by following a ‘ru<strong>le</strong> of thumb’<br />

rather than looking formally at opportunity cost (see for more <strong>de</strong>tails in 3.5.2). Decision<br />

makers have a very imperfect i<strong>de</strong>a of the costs and b<strong>en</strong>efits of curr<strong>en</strong>t health care<br />

interv<strong>en</strong>tions which have not always be<strong>en</strong> systematically docum<strong>en</strong>ted. Therefore, it is<br />

not always c<strong>le</strong>ar whether existing interv<strong>en</strong>tions or alternatives should (continue to) be<br />

reimbursed.<br />

Based on an analysis of cost-effectiv<strong>en</strong>ess research in US public health policy, Grosse et<br />

al (2007, p. 382) 114 conclu<strong>de</strong> that “although CEA methods pose ethical chal<strong>le</strong>nges, excluding<br />

cost-effectiv<strong>en</strong>ess as a consi<strong>de</strong>ration is also ethically prob<strong>le</strong>matic. Ultimately cost is an issue of<br />

fairness as well as of effici<strong>en</strong>cy. CEA findings should be used as inputs in a <strong>de</strong>liberative evid<strong>en</strong>ce<br />

based <strong>de</strong>cision making process that consi<strong>de</strong>rs the viewpoints and values of multip<strong>le</strong><br />

stakehol<strong>de</strong>rs.”<br />

The use of ICER threshold values is paradoxical. On the one hand it appears to be an<br />

easy way to communicate about the comp<strong>le</strong>x issue of effici<strong>en</strong>t use of public means. On<br />

the other hand the methodological prob<strong>le</strong>ms associated with <strong>de</strong>fining the value of the<br />

ICER threshold are an argum<strong>en</strong>t for <strong>de</strong>cision makers to maintain the <strong>de</strong>liberation and<br />

negotiation process.<br />

Economic evaluation (CEA or ICERs) cannot provi<strong>de</strong> a blue-print solution for <strong>de</strong>cision<br />

making. At best, it supports the process of a more rationalised <strong>de</strong>cision making process.<br />

Multip<strong>le</strong> criteria have to be discussed for setting priorities in the allocation of<br />

constrained resources.<br />

The observation that in priority setting multip<strong>le</strong> criteria play a ro<strong>le</strong> and that <strong>de</strong>cisions<br />

are the result of comp<strong>le</strong>x processes has <strong>le</strong>d to the exploration of multi-criteria <strong>de</strong>cision<br />

analysis (MCDA) techniques. Baltuss<strong>en</strong> and Niess<strong>en</strong> 103, 142 argue that MCDA may be an<br />

important tool towards a more rational priority setting process in health care,<br />

promoting the use of quantitative rather than qualitative analysis.<br />

w http://www.gserve.nice.org.uk/niceMedia/Pdf/boardmeeting/brdmay04item6.pdf<br />

x http://www.gserve.nice.org.uk/niceMedia/Pdf/boardmeeting/brdmay04item6.pdf<br />

y NICE c<strong>le</strong>arly distinguishes ‘assessm<strong>en</strong>t’ from ‘appraisal’. Assessm<strong>en</strong>t refers to the review of the evid<strong>en</strong>ce<br />

about how well a group of similar treatm<strong>en</strong>ts work, and whether they offer value for money. The<br />

assessm<strong>en</strong>t report forms the basis for the appraisal. Appraisal refers to the formal assessm<strong>en</strong>t of the<br />

quality of research evid<strong>en</strong>ce and its re<strong>le</strong>vance to the clinical question or gui<strong>de</strong>line un<strong>de</strong>r consi<strong>de</strong>ration,<br />

according to pre<strong>de</strong>termined criteria. The Appraisal Committee <strong>de</strong>velops NICE’s guidance about using<br />

drugs or treatm<strong>en</strong>ts in the NHS (see http://www.nice.org.uk/website/glossary/).

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!