In Search for Comparability: The PECUNIA Reference Unit Costs for Health and Social Care Services in Europe

Susanne Mayer, Michael Berger, Alexander Konnopka, Valentin Brodszky, Silvia M. A. A. Evers, Leona Hakkaart- van Roijen, Mencia R. Guitérrez-Colosia, Luis Salvador-Carulla, A-La Park, William Hollingworth, Lidia García-Pérez, Judit Simon and on behalf of the PECUNIA Group
Additional contact information
Susanne Mayer: Department of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Michael Berger: Department of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Alexander Konnopka: Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Silvia M. A. A. Evers: Department of Health Services Research, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands
Leona Hakkaart- van Roijen: Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Mencia R. Guitérrez-Colosia: Department of Psychology, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, 41704 Dos Hermanas, Spain
Luis Salvador-Carulla: Health Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra 2617, Australia
A-La Park: Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK
William Hollingworth: Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 1-5 Whiteladies Rd, Bristol BS8 1NU, UK
Lidia García-Pérez: Servicio de Evaluación, Servicio Canario de la Salud (SESCS), Camino Candelaria Nº 44, 1ª Planta, El Rosario, 38109 Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain
Judit Simon: Department of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
on behalf of the PECUNIA Group: Membership of the PECUNIA Group is provided in the Acknowledgments.

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: Improving the efficiency of mental healthcare service delivery by learning from international best-practice examples requires valid data, including robust unit costs, which currently often lack cross-country comparability. The European ProgrammE in Costing, resource use measurement and outcome valuation for Use in multi-sectoral National and International health economic evaluAtions (PECUNIA) aimed to harmonize the international unit cost development. This article presents the methodology and set of 36 externally validated, standardized reference unit costs (RUCs) for five health and social care services (general practitioner, dentist, help-line, day-care center, nursing home) in Austria, England, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, and Spain based on unambiguous service definitions using the extended DESDE PECUNIA coding framework. The resulting PECUNIA RUCs are largely comparable across countries, with any causes for deviations (e.g., country-specific scope of services) transparently documented. Even under standardized methods, notable limitations due to data-driven divergences in key costing parameters remain. Increased cross-country comparability by adopting a uniform methodology and definitions can advance the quality of evidence-based policy guidance derived from health economic evaluations. The PECUNIA RUCs are available free of charge and aim to significantly improve the quality and feasibility of future economic evaluations and their transferability across mental health systems.

Keywords: unit cost; reference cost; valuation; service; mental health; health care; social care; societal perspective; economic evaluation; PECUNIA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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