Costs of Palliative Care in Oncological and Non-Oncological Patients with Different Types of Ambulatory-Based Attention: Cost-Study Protocol.

Ambulatory-based palliative care is vital to managing oncological and non-oncological patients. Its economic impact on the healthcare and social system has recently begun to be considered significant. It is essential to agree on the cost types, the methodology for approaching and analyzing these costs, and how to determine the burden imposed by this attention on the healthcare and social system.

Effects of C-reactive protein rapid testing and communication skills training on antibiotic prescribing for acute cough. A cluster factorial randomised controlled trial.

This cluster randomised clinical trial carried out in 20 primary care centres in Barcelona was aimed at assessing the effect of a continuous intervention focused on C-reactive protein (CRP) rapid testing and training in enhanced communication skills (ECS) on antibiotic consumption for adults with acute cough due to lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). The interventions consisted of general practitioners and nurses' use of CRP point-of-care and training in ECS separately and combined, and usual care. The primary outcomes were antibiotic consumption and variation of the quality-adjusted life years during a 6-week follow-up.

Palliative Care Costs in Different Ambulatory-Based Settings: A Systematic Review.

Background: Cost-of-illness studies in palliative care are of growing interest in health economics. There is no standard methodology to capture direct and non-direct healthcare and non-healthcare expenses incurred by health services, patients and their caregivers in the course of the ambulatory palliative care process.

Objective: We aimed to describe the type of healthcare and non-healthcare expenses incurred by patients with cancer and non-cancer patients and their caregivers for palliative care in ambulatory-based settings and the methodology used to capture the data.

Strategic discussion on funding and access to therapies targeting rare diseases in Spain: an expert consensus paper.

Background: In recent years, significant advances have been made in the field of rare diseases (RDs). However, there is a large number of RDs without specific treatment and half of these treatments have public funding in Spain. The aim of the FINEERR project was to carry out a multidisciplinary strategic discussion on the challenge of funding and access to RD-targeted drugs in Spain, in order to agree on specific proposals for medium-term improvement and hence support decision-making in the Spanish National Healthcare System (SNHS).