Visualizing value for money in public health interventions.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Public Health Policy
• Health Economics

Background:

• The Socio-Technical Allocation of Resources (STAR) framework was developed for value for money analysis in health services.
• STAR utilizes stakeholder workshops to assess health service interventions.
• This study applies STAR to prioritize interventions within public health programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report on the application of the STAR tool for prioritizing public health interventions.
• To assess the utility of STAR in informing commissioning decisions for public health programs.
• To understand the relative value of local public health interventions.

Main Methods:

• The STAR tool was employed to identify costs and service activities for public health interventions.
• Benefits were estimated using Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) from economic evaluations.
• Consensus on QALY application to local services was achieved with local commissioners.

Main Results:

• Cost-effectiveness estimates were generated for some interventions.
• Methodological challenges included evidence gaps, data matching issues, and varied time horizons for QALY data.
• Adjustments involved using population data and subdividing contracts; STAR proved useful for commissioning decisions.

Conclusions:

• The STAR approach effectively informed commissioning decisions for public health interventions.
• Further work is recommended to enhance the robustness of the STAR process.
• Development of a visualization tool for public health departments is suggested.