Budget impact of a program for safely reducing caesarean sections in Canada

audits of indications for cesarean section (CS), feedback for health professionals, and implementation of best practices, as compared with usual care (QUARISMA study), resulted in a small reduction in the rate of CS in Quebec and important cost savings from a health care payer perspective. Determining the budget impact would enable estimation of the financial consequences if the program is extended nationwide.

a retrospective pre-post study design was used to estimate cost prior to and after the implementation of QUARISMA in Quebec (105,351 subjects). A prospective analysis was performed to measure the budget impact in Canada's provinces. The primary analytic perspective was that of the Minister of Health, for a 4-year time horizon. Data were taken from the trial for Quebec and extrapolated to Canada's provinces. A sensitivity analysis was conducted by varying more than one probability at a time.

over 4 years, there was a decrease of more than $7.8 million in CS burden in Quebec, $11.9 million in vaginal birth and $9.8 million for neonatal complications. The impact on high-risk women was lower than that on low-risk. In years 1 and 2, the provinces would have to cover the cost of program implementation.

QUARISMA led to savings of $27 million in Quebec over 4 years. In the short to medium term, extending the QUARISMA program nationwide could lead to savings of $150.5 million.