There is an increasing evidence base to show that targeted screening with CT scanning is a cost-effective approach to early diagnosis of lung cancer. Unsurprisingly, however, the same population has a significant risk of other pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, which can be coincidentally diagnosed during the CT scan.
As the further investigation and management of these patients is a clear consequential cost of the screening programme, the integration of this element into cost analyses is essential if we are to get a true picture of the health economics of a future screening programme.
Working in collaboration with a group of investigators carrying out a pilot project at a London teaching hospital, we have carried out a comprehensive cost of care assessment for around 1,500 people passing through the screening programme.
With the analysis now complete and the results written up, the study will be now submitted to a peer-review journal for publication later in the year
Hot off the press
We've just published a paper in the Journal of Medical Economics showing that adding the Parkinson’s KinetiGraph (the PKG, a wrist-worn movement recording device that collates continuous, objective, data during daily activities in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) providing a report for clinicians) to standard monitoring of PD is a cost-effective option.