A systematic review of the accessibility, acceptability, safety, efficiency, clinical effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of private cataract and orthopedic surgery clinics.

Objectives: Many publicly funded health systems use a mix of privately and publicly operated providers of care to deliver elective surgical services. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the role of privately operated but publicly funded provision of surgical services for adult patients who had cataract or orthopedic surgery within publicly funded health systems in high-income countries.

Methods: Electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, OVID Embase, and EBSCO EconLit) were searched on 26 March 2021, and gray literature sources were searched on 6 April 2021.

Cost Analysis of a Transition Care Bundle Compared with Usual Care for COPD Patients Being Discharged from Hospital: Evaluation of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Appropriate management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients following acute exacerbations can reduce the risk of future exacerbations, improve health status, and lower care costs. While a transition care bundle (TCB) was associated with lower readmissions to hospitals than usual care (UC), it remains unclear whether the TCB was associated with cost savings.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate how this TCB was associated with future Emergency Department (ED)/outpatient visits, hospital readmissions, and costs in Alberta, Canada.

Temporal Trends Of Pharmacologic Therapies For Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease In Alberta, Canada.

Objectives: To describe the trends in pharmacologic treatment for patients newly diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: We linked Alberta health databases to identify patients aged ≥35 years with incident COPD between April 2010 and March 2017. Incident cases were defined as those who did not have a hospitalization or outpatient visit with COPD in the previous 2 years.

The Costs of Industry-Sponsored Drug Trials in Canada.

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the provincial and nationwide costs of industry-sponsored drug clinical trials (CTs) in Canada.

Methods: We used the Aggregate Analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov (AACT) database, and included all industry-sponsored drug CTs that were conducted in Canada and completed in 2016.

Publicly funded clinical research in Canada.

Clinical research is funded by industry, governments, charities, and hospitals. It is important to know the economic commitment of the various funding bodies, but until now there has been no national source available which provides these data. We surveyed the major funders to provide such a measure.

The Costs of Industry-Sponsored Medical Device Clinical Trials in Alberta.

Objective: Our objective was to describe the costs of industry-sponsored clinical trials for medical devices in Northern Alberta, Canada.

Methods: We used centralized data to identify all industry-sponsored medical device clinical trials initiated in Northern Alberta from 2012 to 2016. For each arm of each trial, we calculated the price of devices provided by the sponsor and the cost of clinical and administrative services that were incurred to clinically operationalize the treatment.

Forecasting Pharmaceutical Prices for Economic Evaluations When There Is No Market: A Review.

Background: Economic evaluation helps policy makers and healthcare payers make decisions on drug listing, coverage, and reimbursement. When economic evaluations are conducted before a product launch, the prices of the pharmaceuticals have to be forecast.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the methods of establishing proxy prices and their accuracies compared with actual market prices after the product launch.

The Economic Contribution of Industry-Sponsored Pharmaceutical Clinical Trials.

In pharmaceutical clinical trials, industrial sponsors pay for study drugs and related healthcare services. We conducted a study to determine industry's economic contribution of these trials to the Alberta healthcare system.  Methods: We used data from two trial centers for cancer and non-cancer trials at the University of Alberta.

Benefit of adjunct universal rectal screening for Chlamydia genital infections in women attending Canadian sexually transmitted infection clinics.

Adding universal rectal screening to urogenital screening should positively impact rectal Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) incidence in affected populations. A dynamic Markov model was used to evaluate costs and outcomes of three rectal CT screening strategies among women attending sexually transmitted infection clinics in Alberta, Canada: universal urogenital-only screening (UG-only), additional selected (exposure-based) rectal screening (UG+SR), and additional universal rectal screening (UG+UR). The model included two mutually exclusive health states: infected and susceptible.

MEDICAL DEVICE PRICES IN ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS.

Objectives: Economic evaluations, although not formally used in purchasing decisions for medical devices in Canada, are still being conducted and published. The aim of this study was to examine the way that prices have been included in Canadian economic evaluations of medical devices.

Methods: We conducted a review of the economic concepts and implications of methods used for economic evaluations of the eleven most implanted medical devices from the Canadian perspective.

Epimorphin expression in a rat model of pulmonary hypoplasia associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Purpose: The pathogenesis of pulmonary hypoplasia associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) remains unclear. Interactions between the epithelium and surrounding mesenchyme play an important role in normal lung morphogenesis. Epimorphin, a stromal protein, plays a role in epithelial morphogenesis and lung branching, both of which are involved in pulmonary hypoplasia.