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In Search for Comparability: The PECUNIA Reference Unit Costs for Health and Social Care Services in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne Mayer

    (Department of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria)

  • Michael Berger

    (Department of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria)

  • Alexander Konnopka

    (Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
    Department Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, 20457 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Valentin Brodszky

    (Department of Health Economics, Institute of Economic and Public Policy, Corvinus University of Budapest, 1093 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Silvia M. A. A. Evers

    (Department of Health Services Research, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands
    Centre of Economic Evaluation & Machine Learning, Trimbos Institute, 3521 VS Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Leona Hakkaart-van Roijen

    (Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Mencia R. Guitérrez-Colosia

    (Department of Psychology, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, 41704 Dos Hermanas, Spain
    Asociación Científica Psicost, 41704 Dos Hermanas, Spain)

  • Luis Salvador-Carulla

    (Health Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra 2617, Australia
    Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia)

  • A-La Park

    (Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK)

  • William Hollingworth

    (Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 1-5 Whiteladies Rd, Bristol BS8 1NU, UK)

  • Lidia García-Pérez

    (Servicio de Evaluación, Servicio Canario de la Salud (SESCS), Camino Candelaria Nº 44, 1ª Planta, El Rosario, 38109 Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain)

  • Judit Simon

    (Department of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
    Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK)

  • on behalf of the PECUNIA Group

    (Membership of the PECUNIA Group is provided in the Acknowledgments.)

Abstract

Improving the efficiency of mental healthcare service delivery by learning from international best-practice examples requires valid data, including robust unit costs, which currently often lack cross-country comparability. The European ProgrammE in Costing, resource use measurement and outcome valuation for Use in multi-sectoral National and International health economic evaluAtions (PECUNIA) aimed to harmonize the international unit cost development. This article presents the methodology and set of 36 externally validated, standardized reference unit costs (RUCs) for five health and social care services (general practitioner, dentist, help-line, day-care center, nursing home) in Austria, England, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, and Spain based on unambiguous service definitions using the extended DESDE PECUNIA coding framework. The resulting PECUNIA RUCs are largely comparable across countries, with any causes for deviations (e.g., country-specific scope of services) transparently documented. Even under standardized methods, notable limitations due to data-driven divergences in key costing parameters remain. Increased cross-country comparability by adopting a uniform methodology and definitions can advance the quality of evidence-based policy guidance derived from health economic evaluations. The PECUNIA RUCs are available free of charge and aim to significantly improve the quality and feasibility of future economic evaluations and their transferability across mental health systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Mayer & Michael Berger & Alexander Konnopka & Valentin Brodszky & Silvia M. A. A. Evers & Leona Hakkaart-van Roijen & Mencia R. Guitérrez-Colosia & Luis Salvador-Carulla & A-La Park & William , 2022. "In Search for Comparability: The PECUNIA Reference Unit Costs for Health and Social Care Services in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-15, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:6:p:3500-:d:772176
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Susanne Mayer & Agata Łaszewska & Judit Simon, 2022. "Unit Costs in Health Economic Evaluations: Quo Vadis, Austria?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.

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