Economic evaluation of Medically Assisted Reproduction: An educational overview of methods and applications for healthcare professionals.

Economic evaluations of the value-for-money of Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR) interventions are increasingly important due to growing pressure on healthcare budgets. Although such evaluations are commonplace in the published literature, the number/methodological complexity of different evaluations available, and the challenges specific to MAR interventions, can complicate the interpretation of such analyses for fertility treatments. This article aims to serve as an educational resource and provide context on the design/interpretation of economic analyses for MAR interventions. Several areas are relevant for first-line providers and decision makers: scope of analysis, comparator used, perspective/time horizon considered, outcomes used to measure success, and how results from cost-effectiveness studies can be summarised and used in clinical practice. We aim to help clinicians better understand the strengths/weaknesses of economic analyses, to enable the best use of the evidence in practice, so resources available for MAR interventions can provide maximum value to patients and society.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors in this manuscript were qualified according to ICMJE criteria and has received no fees for their authorship. ML and TDH are employees of Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Outside of the submitted manuscript, MPC has received honoraria for a lecture from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany; AR has received, individually or as part of his institution, grants, honoraria or consultation fees from Merck Healthcare, Darmstadt, Germany, Ferring and MSD. The remaining authors report no disclosures.
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