Daily non-political popular news in brief.

IQWiG presents a concept for cost-benefit assessment methods in the German health care system

German legislature has expanded the responsibilities of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care with the latest Health Care Reform. So far, the assessment of drugs has been limited to their clinical benefit. In future, the Institute is also to consider the costs of therapies and place these costs in relation to the benefits determined beforehand. IQWiG has recently presented a methods proposal that will be discussed broadly with the public in the coming months.

Read more »

Keywords: iqwig, presents, concept, cost-benefit, assessment, methods, german, health, care, system, present, cost, benefit, method

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "IQWiG presents a concept for cost-benefit assessment methods in the German health care system":

1. Stanford study highlights cost-effective method of lowering heart disease risks
   08-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
   As US policy experts continue to search for ways to reengineer the country's health-care system, a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows that a case-management approach helped a diverse group of patients reduce their overall risk of heart disease by roughly 10 percent, and did so in a cost-effective way.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
2. Different method of evaluating the urinary tract system reduces radiation dose
   08-28-2007 · EurekAlert!
   The split-bolus (cross sectional imaging) MDCT urography technique reduces both radiation dose and number of images produced, according to a recent study conducted by radiologists from Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, Calif., and VA Palo Alto Health Care System in Palo Alto, Calif.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
3. MedImmune presents new pharmaco-economic data at AAP regarding infants at high risk for RSV
   10-29-2007 · EurekAlert!
   MedImmune today announced results from a recent economic analysis of Synagis (palivizumab), a monoclonal antibody that is the standard of care for prevention of severe lower respiratory tract infection due to respiratory syncytial virus in high-risk infants. Released at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2007 National Conference and Exhibition, the analysis evaluated the costs of providing Synagis to premature infants, as well as the potential health benefits and cost savings that could occur from lower rates of severe RSV infections.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
4. Researchers find best way to detect airborne pathogens
   03-21-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Current methods used to sniff out dangerous airborne pathogens may wrongly suggest that there is no threat to health when, in reality, there may be. But researchers have found a better method for collecting and analyzing these germs that could give a more accurate assessment of their actual threat. For example, the findings may make it easier to detect airborne pathogens in low concentrations.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
5. Pre-kindergarten TB testing not cost effective, study finds
   07-02-2007 · EurekAlert!
   The health care system in California could save nearly $1.3 million a year with few adverse public health effects if it discontinued universal tuberculosis skin testing of children entering kindergarten, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
6. Tip sheet Annals of Internal Medicine, April 17, 2007
   04-16-2007 · EurekAlert!
   The following articles are in the April 2007, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet: "Chondroitin, Popular Supplement For Joint Pain, Shows No Benefit," "Sequential Therapy Beats Standard Therapy For Helicobacter Pylori," and "How to Use Quality Improvement Methods Ethically in Health Care."
   Similar news · Read more »
   
7. Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
   02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
8. Firms covering large majority of nation's workers view health benefits as important recruitment tool
   11-14-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Despite intense health care cost pressures, firms covering more than 90 percent of the nation's workforce view health benefits as an important tool to attract and retain qualified workers, according to a national study by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and the Commonwealth Fund published in the November/December edition of Health Affairs.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
9. Health-care inequities underscore racial disparities in prostate cancer
   03-12-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Improving access to and utilization of the healthcare system may benefit African-American prostate cancer patients more than educational or motivational interventions, according to a new study.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
10. ACP supports new bill to promote adoption of health information technology
    04-19-2007 · EurekAlert!
    "The American College of Physicians is greatly encouraged by the introduction of the 'National Health Information Incentive Act of 2007'," ACP President Lynne M. Kirk, M.D., F.A.C.P., said today. "Increased use of health information technology could greatly benefit health care in the US through improved patient care, reduction in medical errors, higher efficiency and potential long run cost savings."
    Similar news · Read more »