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Fig. 4 | Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation

Fig. 4

From: Cost effectiveness of outpatient lumbar discectomy

Fig. 4

Results of probabilistic sensitivity analysis at 6-month assessment with inpatient costs calculated based in the observed admission time. a and b with QALYs computed based in area under curve; c and d based in change from baseline. Right (a and c): Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio scatterplots and 95% confidence interval ellipse. Each point represents a simulation, with indication of the mean incremental cost and effectiveness of outpatient compared to inpatient MD; the oblique dashed line represents the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold; Simulations represented to the left of the oblique dashed line (WTP line) represent those in which outpatient surgery was found to be less costly and less effective than inpatient surgery, with inpatient being the treatment of choice; Simulations to the right of the oblique dashed line (WTP line) and of the vertical line represent those in which outpatient surgery was found to be less costly and more effective than inpatient surgery with outpatient surgery being the treatment of choice. Between dashed lines are those in which outpatient was found to be less costly and less effective, but the effectiveness losses do not compensate the cost savings, and outpatient is the treatment of choice. In this model, and according to €60,000 WTP outpatient is better than inpatient in 68.9% (AUC) or 71.8% (CfB) of simulations. Left (b and d): Cost-effectiveness acceptability curve of outpatient versus inpatient. The Y-axis represents the probability of each comparator being cost-effective at a given willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold, and ranges between 0 and 100%. Outpatient MD has been identified has cost effective throughout all different WTP thresholds depicted

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