A Methodology for Reimbursing Health Technology through Economic Modelling: Derived from a Case Study Regarding Telehealth and Dementia.

Summary Objectives: The sustainability of health care systems presents a pressing issue on European countries and technological interventions are often thought to be one of the best ways to ensure this sustainability. The aim of this study was to provide third party payers with a methodology to conduct economic analyses (EAs) facilitated by an economic model (EM) for the procurement of technological interventions. This methodology was derived through building an EM regarding technological interventions for elderly people with dementia. Methods: The methodology was derived from a case study EA of a preventive sensory monitoring technology called ADLife. The costs of the technological intervention were based on those found in an evaluation study of ADLife done in the Netherlands. These costs of the technological intervention were compared to the costs of current care, which were derived from the Dutch nationwide third party payer declaration database. Results: The case study EA provided a methodology of constructing EMs for the procurement of technological interventions. The methodology consisted of five steps: Prior Conditions to Economic Modelling; Economic Modelling; Economic Model Results; Validity of the Data and the Assumptions; and Implications of the Economic Analysis. These steps facilitate the decision making on three levels of reimbursement: no reimbursement, conditional reimbursement or reimbursement. Discussion: Expansion of the use of this methodology for other diseases will lead to more insight into how the methodology can be adapted and perfected in the future. The introduction of non-economic benefits would bring the EM to a multi-criteria analysis and expand the scope of the methodology. However, adding these considerations would make the analysis more complex and therefore not very feasible for the procurement analyses the EM methodology was created for.