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Will differentiated care for stable HIV patients reduce healthcare systems costs?
- Source :
- Journal of the International AIDS Society
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2020.
-
Abstract
- Introduction South Africa’s National Department of Health launched the National Adherence Guidelines for Chronic Diseases in 2015. These guidelines include adherence clubs (AC) and decentralized medication delivery (DMD) as two differentiated models of care for stable HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy. While the adherence guidelines do not suggest that provider costs (costs to the healthcare system for medications, laboratory tests and visits to clinics or alternative locations) for stable patients in these differentiated models of care will be lower than conventional, clinic‐based care, recent modelling exercises suggest that such differentiated models could substantially reduce provider costs. In the context of continued implementation of the guidelines, we discuss the conditions under which provider costs of care for stable HIV patients could fall, or rise, with AC and DMD models of care in South Africa. Discussion In prior studies of HIV care and treatment costs, three main cost categories are antiretroviral medications, laboratory tests and general interaction costs based on encounters with health workers. Stable patients are likely to be on the national first‐line regimen (Tenofovir/Entricitabine/Efavarinz (TDF/FTC/EFV)), so no difference in the costs of medications is expected. Laboratory testing guidelines for stable patients are the same regardless of the model of care, so no difference in laboratory costs is expected as well. Based on existing information regarding the costs of clinic visits, AC visits and DMD drug pickups, we expect that for some clinics, visit costs for DMD or AC models of care could be less, but modestly so, than for conventional, clinic‐based care. For other clinics, however, DMD or AC models could have higher visit costs (see Table 2). Conclusions The standard of care for stable patients has already been “differentiated” for years in South Africa, prior to the roll out of the new adherence guidelines. AC and DMD models of care, when implemented as envisioned in the guidelines, are unlikely to generate substantive reductions or increases in provider costs of care.
- Subjects :
- medicine.medical_specialty
Standard of care
Tenofovir
Debate
decentralized medication delivery
Anti-HIV Agents
Health Personnel
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
Context (language use)
HIV Infections
medicine.disease_cause
Ambulatory Care Facilities
03 medical and health sciences
South Africa
0302 clinical medicine
medicine
Ambulatory Care
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
030505 public health
business.industry
adherence guidelines
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
cost of ART
HIV
Health Care Costs
Antiretroviral therapy
Regimen
Infectious Diseases
Family medicine
Hiv patients
stable patients
adherence clubs
0305 other medical science
business
Delivery of Health Care
Healthcare system
medicine.drug
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17582652
- Volume :
- 23
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of the International AIDS Society
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....26ba161cfbaa55cc9f6546b0cc5e4838