Making sensible rationing: the use of economic evidence and the need for methodological standards.

Thailand was increasingly facing budget constraints when a comprehensive package of services was provided literally free to the whole population; therefore rationing is inevitable. 'Good value for money' is among the popular criteria in priority setting as it offers a sensible basis to compare marginal benefits with the resources spent across interventions. The majority of cost-outcome studies in Thailand were subject to bias as they relied on low-quality evidence.

Economic evaluation of computed radiography comparing to film method in quality control of general X-ray machine at Phramongkutklao Hospital.

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of quality control performance for a general x-ray machine between computed radiography (CR) and film method.

Material And Method: CR performance as a quality control method for a general x-ray machine was compared to the film method. Two raters independently analyzed the result of quality control from both methods.

Cost analysis of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the first-year cost ofhematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) program for the treatment of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital (KCMH). The present retrospective study was carried out on 67 AML patients treated with bone marrow transplantation (BMT) or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) at KCMH during the period of 1994 to 2005. The actual total one-year cost from the provider perspective were determined by the reviewing medical records for medical care costs (MCCs) and by adjusting data from the reports of annual cost analysis of KCMH for routine services costs (RSCs).

Cost effectiveness analysis of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis.

The objective was to assess the cost-effectiveness of various DMARDs compared with antimalarials (AM) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment. The data on disease activity, functional status and societal costs were collected from a 1-year cohort of 152 patients with RA receiving at least one DMARD for > or = 6 months. Incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated from the societal costs of DMARD treatment compared with AM per one unit of HAQ improvement.

Cost of primary health care in universal insurance at Health Center 16, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

The purpose of the present study was to illustrate the cost of services in health promotion and prevention, out patient (OPD) and dental care in Health Center (No. 16) Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The analysis of the cost components could be used as key data for future planning, budgeting and resources preparing for the short and long terms.

Cost of producing a medical doctor at Chulalongkorn University.

To illustrate the cost of producing a medical doctor through a 6-year curriculum and the analysis of the cost components of the Faculty of Medicine, could be used as key data for future planning, budgeting and preparation for the autonomous university. The cost centers were categorized to be executive, education support and education unit. The simultaneous equation method was employed to allocate all costs from other associated cost centers to the education unit.

Cost analysis of different types of tuberculosis patient at tuberculosis centers in Thailand.

Tuberculosis (TB) has recently re-emerged as a major public health problem in Thailand. As a consequence of the HIV epidemic in the country, the TB burden has been rising in terms of both morbidity, and mortality which have tremendous socioeconomic impact. However, a study of the cost of various anti-TB drugs in Thailand has never been conducted.