Geographic variation in the use of continuous outpatient inotrope infusion therapy and beta blockers.

Background: Continuous outpatient inotrope infusion therapy (COIIT) can be used as palliative or interim treatment in patients with advanced heart failure (AHF). Despite widespread use, there is a relative lack of data informing best practices. This study aimed to examine whether patterns of COIIT use differed by region and to explore whether observed differences influenced clinical outcomes.

Where Do We Go From Here? A Framework for Using Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered Models for Policy Making in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Objectives: Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, susceptible-infectious-recovered (SIR) modeling has been the preeminent modeling method to inform policy making worldwide. Nevertheless, the usefulness of such models has been subject to controversy. An evolution in the epidemiological modeling field is urgently needed, beginning with an agreed-upon set of modeling standards for policy recommendations.

A US Population Health Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 Using the EQ-5D-5L.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in negative impacts on the economy, population health, and health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL).

Objective: To assess the impact of COVID-19 on US population HRQoL using the EQ-5D-5L.

Design: We surveyed respondents on physical and mental health, demographics, socioeconomics, brief medical history, current COVID-19 status, sleep, dietary, financial, and spending changes.

Characterizing the Validity and Real-World Utility of Health Technology Assessments in Healthcare: Future Directions Comment on "Problems and Promises of Health Technologies: The Role of Early Health Economic Modelling".

With their article, Grutters et al raise an important question: What do successful health technology assessments (HTAs) look like, and what is their real-world utility in decision-making? While many HTAs are published in peer-reviewed journals, many are considered proprietary and their attributes remain confidential, limiting researchers' ability to answer these questions. Models for economic evaluations like cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) synthesize a wide range of evidence, are often statistically and mathematically sophisticated, and require untestable assumptions. As such, there is nearly universal agreement among researchers that enhancing transparency is an important issue in health economic modeling.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of dapagliflozin versus glimepiride as monotherapy in a Chinese population with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term cost-effectiveness of dapagliflozin (a novel sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor) versus glimepiride (a widely used sulfonylurea), when applied as monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in China.

Methods: Literature screening, meta-analysis and indirect comparison were used to compare efficacy and safety between dapagliflozin and glimepiride. Direct medication costs and medical expenditure on treating diabetes related comorbidities were calculated based on published and local sources and reported in 2015 Chinese Renminbi (RMB).