Background information
Sirona conducted a study on the health economic potential of one of its digital products on behalf of a start-up company in the field of preventive eHealth. Financial incentives are needed for municipalities to choose to use the product, and existing follow-up and reimbursement models are not adapted to preventive interventions. The company had therefore experienced challenges in communicating the savings potential to its customers.
Challenge
Against this background, Sirona was commissioned to investigate the health economic potential of the product at municipal level, and identify any positive effects.
Implementation
Data for the study was collected through interviews with a number of municipalities. In addition to this, the data was supplemented with questionnaire responses from further municipalities. The study covered three main impact categories: cost reductions, efficiency gains and tax revenues. The surveyed municipalities were asked to estimate whether the product had contributed to any positive economic effects, and only effects where it could be confirmed with a high degree of certainty that the product had played a decisive role were included in the information produced. The achieved effects reported by the municipalities were converted into SEK based on the municipalities' care day and staff costs. In some cases, additional information was obtained from publicly available sources.
Outcome
A number of health economic effects were identified, for example, costs for municipalities were reduced through fewer days of care. The use of the product was shown in several cases to lead to better health outcomes, faster rehabilitation and shorter periods of sick leave, thus generating more tax revenue for municipalities. The results should not be considered as an exhaustive health economic analysis, but as a preliminary study of an exploratory nature.
