Unrelated Future Costs and Unrelated Future Benefits: Reflections on NICE Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal

Citation

Morton A, Adler AI, Bell D, Briggs A, Brouwer W, Claxton K, Craig N, Fischer A, McGregor PG & van Baal P (2016) Unrelated Future Costs and Unrelated Future Benefits: Reflections on NICE Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal. Health Economics, 25 (8), pp. 933-938. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3366

Abstract
In this editorial, we consider the vexing issue of ‘unrelated future costs’ (for example, the costs of caring for people with dementia or kidney failure after preventing their deaths from a heart attack). The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance isnotto take such costs into account in technology appraisals. However, standard appraisal practice involves modelling the benefits of those unrelated technologies. We argue that there is a sound principled reason for including both the costs and benefits of unrelated care. Changing this practice would have material consequences for decisions about reimbursing particular technologies, and we urge future research to understand this better.

Keywords
health technology assessment; economic analysis; cost effectiveness analysis; costing; unrelated future costs

Notes
Output Type: Editorial

Journal
Health Economics: Volume 25, Issue 8