Estimating the economic value of emerging technologies in chronic wound therapy

Estimating the economic value of emerging technologies in clinical medicine presents a number of problems. New technologies may have a limited clinical history, few supportive peer-reviewed publications, and only anecdotal evidence as they enter the market and seek clinician approval and reimbursement from payers. Although clinical efficacy/effectiveness research is a minimal starting point for making the case for adoption of a product, establishing a competitive cost-effectiveness position against other products and establishing the case for economic value must be made as well when presenting to health plans or other payers. Economic valuation methods have been well developed in the business community. Reviewed here are the components of a well-crafted case for the economic value of a product in general and in the wound industry specifically, in a multidomain approach to demonstrate values using demographic, clinical, financial, operational, and intangible assessments.