ECO 605 Assignment 5.1: Cost:QALY

Introduction

The following table gives the cost, increase in life years, and the rating of quality of life for four different treatments.

Table 5.1

Treatment	Cost	Increase in Life Years	Rating of Quality of Life
A	4,600	16	0.16
B	8,600	18	0.22
C	12,600	22	0.28
D	10,000	20	0.25

Assignment Guidelines

Use the Assignment 5.1 Document (Word) (Links to an external site.) to record your responses.

Calculate the QALY for each treatment.
Interpret each QALY calculated for each treatment.
Calculate the Cost:QALY ratio for each treatment.
Interpret each ratio.
Based on QALY only, which treatment would be most effective?
Based on cost:QALY, which treatment would be most effective?

Submission

Upload your responses. Your document should be named using the following convention: Last name_First name_Assignment_5.1.

Submit your assignment and review full grading criteria on the Assignment 5.1: Cost:QALY page.

Week 5: Economic Evaluation and Quality Initiatives of Health Services

Week 5 combines related topics from different chapters in the two texts for this course. One major topic is the economic evaluation of health services. Economic evaluation involves the analysis of new medical interventions and investigates whether these innovations are economically justified. The other major topic is quality initiatives and whether quality improvements make economic sense. In both topics, techniques to assess economic viability are described.

Review a list of all items due this week in your course’s syllabus.

Lesson 1: Economic Evaluation of Health Services

This lesson will identify the different purposes of an economic evaluation. There will also be an identification of the steps involved in an economic analysis. The different types of economic analysis will be described, including a description of choosing the proper analysis. Also, there will be a description of the guidelines of a cost-effectiveness analysis. How to do a benefit-cost analysis is outlined.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify the different types of economic evaluation analysis.
Describe when to use each type of economic evaluation analysis.
Select the proper economic evaluation process for a situation.

Before attempting to complete your learning activities for this week, review the following learning materials:

Learning Materials

Read the following in your Economics of Health and Medical Care textbook:

Chapter 12, “Economic Evaluation of Health Services” (pp. 217–234)

Review the following in your Financial and Business Management for the Doctor of Nursing Practice textbook:

Chapter 8, “Quality Initiatives: Building the Business Case for Quality” (pp. 201–224)

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These chapters provide additional references to economic evaluation and quality initiatives of health services.

Assignment Rubric
Criteria	Ratings	Pts
Responses	5 to >4 pts Meets Expectations Answers to all questions are correct. Graphs are all properly labeled and axes all properly identified. All graphs are properly drawn. (If applicable.) 4 to >2 pts Nearly Meets Expectations Answers to most questions are correct. Graphs are mainly labeled correctly and axes are usually properly identified. (If applicable.) 2 to >0 pts Does Not Meet Expectations Answers to most questions are incorrect. Graphs are not labeled or axes are not properly identified. Graphs are not drawn properly. (If applicable.)	/ 5 pts
Explanations	5 to >4 pts Meets Expectations Provides thorough explanation of rationales and skillfully applies course materials to develop conclusions. There is always a close and strong connection between the explanations provided and the material from the lessons. 4 to >2 pts Nearly Meets Expectations Provides adequate explanation of rationales, but conclusions could be supported more strongly using course materials. There is a connection between explanations and concepts from the lessons but this connection is not always strong or clear. 2 to >0 pts Does Not Meet Expectations Neither provides adequate explanation of rationales nor uses available resources to substantiate conclusions. There is no close connection between the explanations provided and the concepts given in the lessons.	/ 5 pts
Structure and Mechanics	5 to >4 pts Meets Expectations Contains one or two errors in grammar, spelling, and/or APA format. 4 to >2 pts Nearly Meets Expectations Contains several errors in grammar, spelling, and/or APA format. 2 to >0 pts Does Not Meet Expectations Contains many errors in grammar, spelling, and APA format.	/ 5 pts
Total Points: 0

Summary

In the first lesson this week, we reviewed the steps of economic analysis. The different types of economic analysis were described as well as the way of selecting the proper economic analysis.

Improving quality while maintaining an efficient use of resources has become an ongoing objective in the healthcare sector. In the second lesson, two strategies to improve quality were described. These were the structure/process/outcome strategy and the plan-do-check (PDCA) or plan-do-study-act (PDSA) strategy. To determine if a quality improved was achieved, evaluation techniques such as benchmarking, cost per encounter, quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and cost per QALY ratio were described. Lastly, there were descriptions of the techniques of risk adjustment and risk-benefit analysis.

APA Writing Checklist
Use this document as a checklist for each paper you will write throughout your GCU graduate program. Follow specific instructions indicated in the assignment and use this checklist to help ensure correct grammar and APA formatting. Refer to the APA resources available in the GCU Library and Student Success Center.
☐ APA paper template (located in the Student Success Center/Writing Center) is utilized for the correct format of the paper. APA style is applied, and format is correct throughout.
☐ The title page is present. APA format is applied correctly. There are no errors.
☐ The introduction is present. APA format is applied correctly. There are no errors.
☐ Topic is well defined.
☐ Strong thesis statement is included in the introduction of the paper.
☐ The thesis statement is consistently threaded throughout the paper and included in the conclusion.
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Examples of Scholarly Resources include: Academic journals, books written by experts in a field, and formally published encyclopedias and dictionaries.
Peer-Reviewed Journals: Peer-reviewed journals are evaluated prior to publication by experts in the journal’s subject discipline. This process ensures that the articles published within the journal are academically rigorous and meet the required expectations of an article in that subject discipline.
Empirical Journal Article: This type of scholarly resource is a subset of scholarly articles that reports the original finding of an observational or experimental research study. Common aspects found within an empirical article include: literature review, methodology, results, and discussion.
Adapted from “Evaluating Resources: Defining Scholarly Resources,” located in Research Guides in the GCU Library.
☐ The writer is clearly in command of standard, written, academic English. Utilize writing resources such as Grammarly, LopesWrite report, and ThinkingStorm to check your writing.

ECO 605 Assignment 5.1: Cost:QALY