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Allocation of health care resources in the neonatal and perinatal area -CPS Symposium 1996
D McMillan1, S Lee, M Serediak
1University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta;
Insights
Determining neonatal and perinatal healthcare resource allocation in Canada is complex. No single method exists; decisions require balancing population needs, outcomes, costs, ethics, and societal values.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine
- Health Care Economics
- Public Policy
Background:
- Public concerns regarding the cost and allocation of neonatal and perinatal healthcare resources have persisted for 15 years.
- A 1996 symposium convened experts to address resource allocation challenges in Canadian neonatal and perinatal care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore objective methods for determining neonatal and perinatal healthcare resource needs.
- To investigate rationalization strategies for competing healthcare resource demands.
- To examine evidence supporting current and future resource utilization in neonatal and perinatal care.
Main Methods:
- Expert discussions at a Canadian Paediatric Society symposium.
- Exploration of key questions regarding resource determination, rationalization, and evidence requirements.
- Inclusion of consumer perspectives on neonatal and perinatal intensive care outcomes.
Main Results:
- No universally accepted methodologies currently exist for allocating healthcare resources in the neonatal and perinatal sector.
- Effective allocation requires consideration of diverse factors including population characteristics, desired outcomes, feasibility, values, ethics, legalities, cost-benefit analyses, and political goals.
Conclusions:
- The allocation of neonatal and perinatal healthcare resources lacks standardized methods.
- A comprehensive approach integrating population data, outcome goals, ethical considerations, and economic analyses is necessary.
- Family and adolescent experiences with high-cost programs offer valuable insights into societal values complementing cost-efficacy assessments.
Abstract:
There have been publically expressed concerns about the costs and allocation of neonatal and perinatal health care resources in Canada and elsewhere for the past 15 years. This paper reports information from a symposium held during the 1996 Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) annual meeting sponsored by the CPS Section on Perinatal Medicine. Experts in perinatal epidemiology, health care economics, public policy and finance, and consumer perspectives on the outcomes of neonatal and perinatal intensive care explored the following questions: How should the need for health care resources in the neonatal and perinatal area be objectively determined? When there are competing needs between the maternal-newborn area and other areas, how should these be rationalized? What evidence should be used (or should be available) to support the present use of resources? What evidence should be available (or is needed) to change or introduce new uses of resources? The conclusions indicated that there are no generally accepted methods to determine the allocation of health care resources but that considerations need to include population characteristics, desired outcomes, achievable results, values, ethics, legalities, cost-benefit analyses and political objectives. Information from families and adolescents who required the use of high technology and/or high cost programs will contribute individual, family and societal values that complement cost-efficacy analyses.
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