Economic, organizational and budget impact of a new diagnostic plan for HCV detection: what’s “new”?

Background.: Hepatitis C (HCV) is a liver inflammation which, through the activation of the immune defense system, causes the death of liver cells (liver necrosis). Like Hepatitis B, it can become chronic, turning into a long term pathology. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a new technology useful to diagnose HCV, based on a serological kit HCVAg, comparing it with the standard technology, according to a multi-dimensional approach. Methods.: In order to analyze the differences between the two technologies, three dimensions were considered: (i) process costs, (ii) organizational aspects and (iii) budget impact. Data were collected by observational analysis and supported with administrative data. Activity Based Costing methodology (ABC), and a Budget Impact Analysis approach (BIA) were implemented. Results.: The new technology reduced the time needed to complete a medical report to 90 minutes, with a positive organizational impact, and allowed an immediate definition of the presence or absence of HCV infection, with quantitative results. Data showed that its introduction would bring economic savings to the Regional and National Health Service: a hospital could reduce the direct and indirect costs by 47.90% each and contribute to a reduction in funding at Regional or National level by 26.96%. Conclusions.: The introduction of the new technology, if compared with the standard one, would give similar effectiveness, with a lower organizational and economic impact, both for a hospital and for a Regional/National Health Service, with a good equity impact for HCV infected patients.