Cost-Effectiveness and Budget Impact Analysis of Implementing a 'Soft Opt-Out' System for Kidney Donation in Australia

Sameera Senanayake (), Helen Healy, Steven M. McPhail, Keshwar Baboolal and Sanjeewa Kularatna
Additional contact information
Sameera Senanayake: Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Helen Healy: Royal Brisbane Hospital for Women
Steven M. McPhail: Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Keshwar Baboolal: Royal Brisbane Hospital for Women
Sanjeewa Kularatna: Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 2022, vol. 20, issue 5, No 13, 769-779

Abstract: Abstract Introduction There is a severe shortage of donor organs globally. There is growing interest in understanding how a 'soft opt-out' organ donation system could help bridge the supply and demand gap for donor organs. This research aims to estimate the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of implementing a 'soft opt-out' organ donation system for kidney donation. Methods A decision-analytic model was developed to estimate the incremental costs from a health system’s perspective, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and death averted of people who have kidney failure, comparing a ‘soft opt-out’ organ donation system to an 'opt-in' system. This study analysed three scenarios where the 'soft opt-out' system generated a 20%, 30%, and 40% increase in deceased organ donation rates over 20 years. A 5-year time horizon was adopted for the budget impact analysis. Results A 20% increase in organ donation rates could have a cost saving of 650 million Australian dollars (A$) and a 10,400-QALY gain. A 20% increase would avert more than 1500 deaths, while a 40% increase would avert 3200 deaths over a time horizon of 20 years. Over the first 5 years, a 20% increase would have a net saving of A$53 million, increasing to A$106 million if the donation rate increases by 40%. Conclusion A 'soft opt-out' organ donation system would return a cost saving for the healthcare system, a net gain in QALYs, and prevention of a significant number of deaths. Advantageous budgetary impact is important, but understanding the aversion for a ‘soft opt-out’ system in Australia is also important and remains a priority for further research.

Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40258-022-00747-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:20:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s40258-022-00747-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/40258

DOI: 10.1007/s40258-022-00747-8

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Health Economics and Health Policy is currently edited by Timothy Wrightson

More articles in Applied Health Economics and Health Policy from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().