Cost Analysis of Orthoptist-Led Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Screening Clinics

To conduct a costing study comparing orthoptist-led with consultant-led clinics screening for optic pathway gliomas (OPGs) in children with neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) attending the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), Melbourne.

Patients with NF1 examined in the orthoptist-led NF1 screening clinic and/or consultant-led clinics during the study period were identified. The workflow management software Q-Flow 6® provided data documenting patient's time spent with the orthoptist, nurse, and ophthalmologist. Time points were converted into minutes and multiplied by the cost-per-minute for each profession. A bottom-up micro-costing approach was used to estimate appointment level costs. Bootstrap simulations with 1000 replications were used to estimate 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the difference in mean appointment time and cost between clinics.

Data for 130 consultant-led clinic appointments and 234 orthoptist-led clinic appointments were extracted for analysis. The mean time per appointment for the consultant-led clinic was 45.11 minutes, and the mean time per appointment for the orthoptist-led clinic was 25.85 minutes. The mean cost per appointment for the consultant-led clinic was A $84.15 (GBP £39.60) compared to the orthoptist-led clinic at A $20.40 (GBP £9.60). This represents a mean reduction of 19.25 minutes per appointment (95% CI, -24.85 to -13.66) and a mean reduction of A $63.75 (GBP £30.00) per appointment (95% CI, (A $-75.40 to $-52.10 [GBP £ -35.48 to £ -24.52]).

An orthoptist-led clinic screening for OPGs in patients with NF1 can be a more cost-efficient model of care for ophthalmic screening in this patient group.