Incorporating the Environmental Impact into a Budget Impact Analysis: The Example of Adopting RESPIMAT^® Re-usable...

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Environmental Science
• Respiratory Medicine

Background:

• The reusable RESPIMAT inhaler allows for patient reuse, decreasing the total number of inhalers required and minimizing associated waste.
• This addresses the growing concern of medical device waste within healthcare systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an economic evaluation of the reusable RESPIMAT inhaler's adoption into Germany's healthcare system.
• To incorporate the ecological impact alongside financial considerations.

Main Methods:

• A budget impact model was used to estimate inhaler costs and environmental impact over five years in Germany.
• Carbon emissions were calculated across the entire product lifecycle (cradle-to-grave) for both reusable and non-reusable scenarios.
• Societal cost per ton of carbon emission was applied to quantify the economic value of reduced emissions.

Main Results:

• Introducing the reusable RESPIMAT inhaler in Germany is projected to decrease inhaler usage by over 5.7 million by 2023.
• This reduction lessens the environmental burden associated with inhaler use.
• The measure also leads to a decrease in overall medical costs for inhalers.

Conclusions:

• Adoption of the reusable RESPIMAT inhaler presents a potential cost-saving strategy for national healthcare services.
• It offers the added advantage of reducing the societal cost attributed to carbon emissions.
• This highlights the dual benefit of economic efficiency and environmental responsibility.