This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Weintraub, W. S. PubMed Articles by Weintraub, W. S. Related Collections Health policy and outcome research Other Ethics and Policy Related Articles

Editorials

Controversies and Opportunities in Economic Analysis of Health Care

William S. Weintraub, MD

From the Department of Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Del.

Correspondence to William S. Weintraub, MD, Cardiology Section, Christiana Care Health System, 4755 Ogletown-Stanton Rd, Newark, DE 19718. E-mail wweintraub@christianacare.org

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Health, and specifically the cost of health care, is of great concern to public policy makers and to the public. Medical care is something we all want, in large part because medicine has reduced death and disability dramatically over the last several decades. However, there is a significant problem of rising cost, today consuming approximately $2.4 trillion annually in the United States and increasing at a rate of approximately 6% per year. Health care consumes approximately 17% of gross domestic product in the United States in 2009 and is expected to reach 20% within several years. Without substantial changes in our health care system, heath care costs will continue to increase and restrict other economic activities that are vying for these scarce resources. Thus, there has been great interest in health economics research to address the increasing problem of the high cost of health care.

Articles see p 421, 429, 484, and 514

In this issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, 4 articles extend the impressive track record of the journal in presenting health economic issues, and are illustrative of some of the problems we face as a society and how investigators approach them. Patrick et al¹ consider the cost-effectiveness of genotype warfarin dosing for patients with atrial fibrillation. They developed a simulation, in particular a Markov model, based on the medical literature. They found that for genotype guided therapy to cost less than $50 000 per quality-adjusted life-year saved, it would be necessary to increase the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Articles

Patients as Mercenaries?: The Ethics of Using Financial Incentives in the War on Unhealthy Behaviors

Scott D. Halpern, Kristin M. Madison, and Kevin G. Volpp
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2009 2: 514-516. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Impact of Restrictive Prescription Plans on Heart Failure Medication Use

George Thanassoulis, Igor Karp, Karin Humphries, Jack V. Tu, Mark J. Eisenberg, and Louise Pilote
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2009 2: 484-490. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Cost-Effectiveness of Genotype-Guided Warfarin Dosing for Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Amanda R. Patrick, Jerry Avorn, and Niteesh K. Choudhry
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2009 2: 429-436. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Cost-Effectiveness of Therapeutic Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest

Raina M. Merchant, Lance B. Becker, Benjamin S. Abella, David A. Asch, and Peter W. Groeneveld
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2009 2: 421-428. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. M. Krumholz One Year at Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes, September 1, 2009; 2(5): 399 - 401. [Full Text] [PDF]